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Why Did Bob Iger Lose Faith in Disney Animation?

Ben Gilbert says Bob Iger, during his CEO audition process, had completely lost faith that Disney animation can be fixed from within. He secretly concluded that the only viable path to restore Disney animation to its proper glory was to replace the entire leadership team with Pixar leadership.

The famous moment Bob Iger writes about came at the opening parade of Hong Kong Disneyland in 2005. He watched the floats go by and saw Cinderella, Mickey, and Snow White, then realized there were no Disney characters from the last 10 years in the parade. The parade was stuffed to the gills with Pixar characters. The path was clear: Pixar needed to take over Disney animation. He called Steve Jobs the evening he knew he was going to become CEO.

Grokipedia·Bob Iger·Hong Kong Disneyland

Transcript

Disney: The Renaissance and the Empire ·

Acquired

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