"Magic is about deception," Eisner told NEWSWEEK

[Luv2Roam]

Well doesn't this just warm you up to Ei$ner even more?

"Magic is about deception," Eisner told NEWSWEEK in a lengthy interview last year?a comment that elicited a panicked rebuke from his spokeswoman, who reminded him that " 'deceive' is really a bad word" and he might want to use the term "create."

What he meant was that Disney has found a way to cut costs and still put on a good show.

mmmm... yeah....

Full story:
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/4468640/

 

[WebmasterCricket]

"Our whole job is to deceive you into having a good time."

I'm not sure what that even means.

 

[dcentity2000]

Magic is about deception

You fool the eyes, delight the senses with a shroud of displays, masking the mechanism behind it and hope that your audience is touched by the performance

I think it's one of the few times where a deception can actually be justified - a good natured deception, when those being decieved know that there is a trick involved and gain something from it - a smile perhaps?

Luv2Roam, I still think that the displays are brilliant, so no argument there!

Overall, this sentiment could be even more telling for the entire company - a serene swan on the surface, a frantic force swimming desperately through the rapids that are corporate America underneath

If we think that Disney - a large corporation - is all love and trust in THIS world then we are very happily decieved



Rich::

 

[toefungus]

I think Eisner is correct, Magic IS deception.
When you ride Star Tours, they are deciving you into thinking you're taking a trip through outer space. When you walk into Animal Kingdom you're being decieved into thinking you're in Africa or Asia. It's not a bad deception, but a very fun one. Disney is very good at it as well.

 

[BRERALEX]

"Obsessive to a fault, the real-life Walt Disney had touch-up painters roaming Disneyland each night while seamstresses mended clothing of animatronic children inside It's a Small World. To trim costs, Eisner did away with the compulsive cleanliness, and now those once ubiquitous street sweepers seem like a faded memory. "The deterioration in the appearance of the parks is awful," says Roxann Grzetich of Chicago, who attended Roy's Save Disney shareholders' rally last week clad in a red vest embroidered with a sequined Mickey."

"For the decade that Eisner and Wells worked together, Disney was unstoppable. Along with studio chief Jeffrey Katzenberg, they churned out a series of low-cost sleepers like "Down and Out in Beverly Hills" and rebuilt the animation department by marrying classic Disney storytelling with Broadway musical pizzazz to deliver new hits like "Beauty and the Beast." When the company lost the quiet, understated Wells in a tragic helicopter crash in 1994, it became painfully apparent that he'd been much more than the bean counter to Eisner's creative genius. "In retrospect, we all realize that Frank was the glue that kept Michael's dark side hidden from other managers," Gold said last week."

Theres that Wells guy coming up again

When you walk into Animal Kingdom you're being decieved into thinking you're in Africa or Asia.

When you walk into Animal Kingdom you're being decieved into thinking you're in a full day park lolol i had to it just felt right.

 

[Bob O]

Eisner intent is to "deceive" people into thinking that he isnt cutting back on the "magic: while he increases the costs to visit and then closes parts of the park during regular hours/cuts park hours and cuts back on the cleaning crew and other safety matters that results in SM type incidents.
And from some responses on this site he is, sadly sucessfull!!!

 

[AllisonG]

I was just on my way over here to post this article.
Can you believe the audacity of this fool? Why on earth would he say such a stupid thing? Telling people exactly how he's stringing people along, tricking them with smoke and mirrors? (and cut backs?) You don't go around flaunting your arrogance and lack of interest in your company. It's shameful, he should be disgusted with himself.

"Our whole job is to deceive you into having a good time."

All I can do is sit back and shake my head. This man is just disgusting.

 

[PKS44]

My favorite Eisney admission from that same article:

Eisner told NEWSWEEK last year: "If I had done nothing, I would have been a hero, just being there to catch the fruit."

Even he acknowledges that the early success was not due to anything he did--he was at the right place at the right time and rode the wave of Demand for Disney type entertainment created by the tykes of the Baby Boom.

Now that he actually has to MANAGE and steer the company through the choppy waters of a changed marketplace it is clear that this Captain Bleisner needs to be replaced at the helm before he scuttles the ship. All hands on deck. MUTINY!

 

[DisneyKidds]

What exactly is the full context in which this Eisner quote was made? No intent to defend Eisner here..............anyone who has followed my Disney position will know that is not what I am about at this point. However, I'd like to evaluate this quote and make sure it isn't taken out of context. So what were his actual words and the paragraph iin which they were spoken?

If he truely meant to say......................

he's stringing people along, tricking them with smoke and mirrors

..............that is pathetic and he is a fool.

If his actual quote was ..............................

You fool the eyes, delight the senses with a shroud of displays, masking the mechanism behind it and hope that your audience is touched by the performance

..............then he is quite right. Heck, we all know there is a man behind the curtain. If he can bring delight and touch us with a performance while keeping that man concealed then he has done what he is supposed to have done.

BTW, I don't think he has done a good job of hiding the man behind the curtain.

 

[PKS44]

If you read the article you sense that he actually meant something sort of in between--he comments about turning around on a ride and seeing that stuff is actually just two dimensional cut-outs rather than full figures and their job is to delight you so much that you don't turn around to see that--thus they save on costs and you still have a "magical experience.' The problem is as the article points out -this is not what the Disney experience is about--as created by Walt--and I have quoted this story before- not sure if it is apocryphal or not--that Walt noted that the hand strap on a horse drown carriage was not real leather and he wanted it changed...someone said. to him that no one would notice to which Walt replied, "I will notice." Walt was about putting on the best show-- getting all the details right no matter if you turned around or not, I suspect...Walt was about putting on the best show possible--period---Mike is about trying to do the best he can but with as little money as possible. A subtle difference in detail that like so many little details makes all the difference in the WORLD and in the long term health of the "brand."

 

[dcentity2000]

OK, this is actually an affront to logic.

I know some of you are just itching to see this quote as an admission to all charges, but WHY WOULD ANYONE EVER EVER DO THAT?

Show some regard to reasoning as opposed to love of conspiracy.

No man would ever say "I decieved you all" or even hide it away in an epic show of complacency - he's not actually that stupid.

And before someone does a pac-man on that comment and says "Oh yes he is!" you should stop to consider why he's still there after 20 years - surely YOU would have seen straight through him and OF COURSE voiced your concern here on DIS Boards, prior to the SaveDisney rebellion .





Rich::

 

[airlarry!]

I disagree with you vehemently (not for the first time recently). In fact, there is a part of me that does not think Ei$ner is the blackhearted ogre I believe him to be....instead that he is a talentless hack who is so far in over his head, that he treads water in 10 foot seas and pretends he's bodysurfing.

Comments that he made at the annual shareholders meeting which implicate his lack of understanding of the core nature of Disney's business, coupled with the inane remarks in the Newsweek article, underscore this point.

He's not an evil genius, he's a lightweight moron with a good sense of humor who deep down inside knows he's not Walt (or is dumb enough to think he can be Walt) and so will hold out for the big, big, big, big prize (selling the company for the biggest amount of money possible.)

 

[airlarry!]

Oh yeah, and one more thing, there is a search button...click 'search' and type in Baron or AV...you'll see that the Element has been around a lot longer than SaveDisney.

Go to the Motley fool website, you'll see there were people telling the truth back in even before Katzenberg left. Search the usenet for RADP, and you will see people that have been warning folks about Ei$ner for years.

Is he stupid, and in way out of his league?
Or is he a greedy little maniacal SOB who is out to destroy the empire to build his own little stack of gold?

Who cares? He needs to go.

 

[DVC-Landbaron]

dcentity2000,

Did you think that we all suddenly decided to turn off our brains and blindly follow Roy? Did you think that prior to your arrival we sat around here and tossed pixie dust on each other.

Oh yeah, and one more thing, there is a search button...click 'search' and type in Baron or AV...you'll see that the Element has been around a lot longer than SaveDisney.

Check out my registration date. I lurked a good half year before that. And in one of my first posts I called Ei$ner – INEPT. A view that hasn’t changed and in fact has been solidified over the past four years.

Some of us have been free thinkers for a while now. And some remain loyal to the ‘brand’ no matter what the evidence. You sir, are just starting your “Disney” education.

Although I haven't seen any evidence of it in recent posts I hope you keep an opened mind. You will find it invaluable.




PS: STOP CHANGING THE SIZE OF YOUR FONT!!!! IT IS IRRITATING!!!!

 

[BRERALEX]

ya what he said.

I looked myself up and saw the company slippin for me in 06-10-2001 about my tenth or so post and didn't realize until comming here how some things had changed especially how hours were totally different from when i was a kid.

 

[flyinglizard]

Excellent thread everyone!

I don't remember when my dislike for Ei$ner began: was it the first time I saw him trying to be "Uncle Walt" introducing the Disney Sunday evening TV show? Or was it when I realized the amount of his compensatiion package was nothing but arrogant, and an abuse of power? Certainly not earned...

I was unaware of the of the quote from NEWSWEEK where Ei$ner said, "MAGIC is about deception".

True, magic, as performed by a magician is in fact deception, but what we are talking about here is "DISNEY MAGIC", and that is an entirely different thing. It's not slight of hand.

For me, Disney Magic is a family being able to enjoy the excitement and adventure of a theme park vacation together, and have a great time doing it. It began when my kids were little and continues today, even as they have become adults.

DISNEY MAGIC is an animated movie that tells a tale and makes me laugh, and that I know in the end, will warm my heart.

It's knowing that if products say "DISNEY", I know it's high quality.

It's watching a child I don't even know hug Mickey Mouse for the first time...

Yeah, for me, DISNEY MAGIC is a very real thing; not something I can hold in my hands, or usually explain to other people or something I can spend. But I assure you, DISNEY MAGIC has long been of great value in my life.

Others, like me, have finally realized that there has come a time for change. The theme parks are not carnivals, the classic films don't need sequels to replace a lack of creativity. The "money minders" have recognized a lack of talent, and return on investment. They don't understand Disney magic! The only thing left for Mr. Ei$ner is the protective walls he has built around his "kingdom". I really do think that the lack of profits will crumble those walls.

It's us to people like us to keep the "magic" alive!

I'm sorry that the good that M.E. did for the company in the first ten years, will be forgotten in his rape and stagnation of the company during his second ten years.

I am sorry that Mr. Ei$ner thinks that the "magic" is simply "deception". I feel a little bit sad that he never really understood what it's all about, and that the real DISNEY MAGIC never made it to HIS family.

Now we see he was only in it for the money...

 

[crusader]

You could line up hundreds of people and ask them to define magic as it relates to Disney and you'll never get a consensus.

To use this quote as the basis for an article certainly makes for good "show" in this arena of turmoil, though. (I do believe I sat in the vicinity of this reporter last Wed. - as there was only one individual I saw with a stock certificate asking Roy to sign it) What he doesn't know is how much that person was emphatically opposed to the idea - mainly because Roy, Jr. isn't Walt - and gave in only when her husband insisted she do it.


He does explain himself briefly:

What he meant was that Disney has found a way to cut costs and still put on a good show............................................
That approach—one eye on the creative and the other on cost—is exactly what has made each share of Disney 19 times more valuable than it was when Eisner took over in 1984.

The problem is:

Determined to milk the most profit out of Disney with his beloved "synergy," spitting out endless iterations of existing properties, Eisner lost sight of the fact that what people really want from Disney are original dreamscapes that fire their emotions first, and their stock portfolios second.

Which doesn't appear to be true when I listen to the many individuals here complaining about the performance of the stock over the past 5 years. This author is implying that you can't have it both ways and the loyalist shareholders don't care about the latter.

He's wrong. There were some individuals who spoke last week that would absolutely fit this profile. I don't believe they are the majority.

 

[dcentity2000]

We DO all love conspiracy, don't we?


Rich::

 

[raidermatt]

We DO all love conspiracy, don't we?

Not in this case.

I don't know what the heck he meant in that one particular quote. I just know what his actions say.

He's wrong. There were some individuals who spoke last week that would absolutely fit this profile. I don't believe they are the majority.

Regardless, they would all be happy if the company focused on those silly emotions as it would bring the financial rewards as well.

 

[dcentity2000]

Oh, come on! We're all chipping in, saying "I knew he was decieving us!" when in all probability it was a careless comment on how the magic is done, deep down

Occams Razor: All things being equal, the most likely explanation tends to be the right one




Rich::