Disneywar

by James B. Stewart

Book Overview

The dramatic inside story of the downfall of Michael Eisner--Disney Chairman and CEO--and the scandals that drove America's best-known entertainment company to civil war. "When You Wish Upon a Star,"... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0684809931
• ISBN13: 9780684809939
• Release Date: February 2005
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster
• Length: 572 Pages
• Weight: 1.85 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.7" x 6.4" x 9.5"

Customer Reviews

EVERYONE SHOULD READ THIS BOOK.

In the Prologue, the guy shares some of his own experiences as a Cast Member in the late 70s and early 80s. More interesting, though, is how he describes his pursuit of Michael Eisner to give him access to Disney's inner workings for a full year to write a behind-the-scenes book about the Company. Only a couple months after Eisner finally agreed, though, was when all the Roy Disney/Stanley Gold/Shareholder Revolt stuff started, and the "behind-the-scenes at Disney" slowly morphed into a VERY intriguing book chronicling the company during Eisner's tenure. It is VERY well-written, all factual, and manages to stay surprisingly neutral. It may be hundreds of pages long, but I cannot put it down... and I HATE reading! Yes, Michael Eisner quickly became one of the richest CEOs in America. Yes, he was hell-bent on making money. But everything you don't know about Jeffrey Katzenberg, Michael Ovitz, and his "real" relationship with Roy Disney will truly disturb you. It's acary how much power some people have, and especially scary to learn why some decisions were actually made.

Fabulous Read! Disney lovers unite!!

I'm at the beach in Cabo San Lucas and although this book is heavy, still hard-back, and what some might think dry for beach reading, I am completely loving it. Never have I been so intrigued by the business practices of any company. It helps that I am a Disney fanatic, but I find myself more wrapped up in the dramatic aspect of this story as opposed to a love for the company. It's very interesting to see how a monolithic corporation like Disney has an affect on our daily lives and why they have been so tumultuous in recent years. I would reccommend this book to anyone and if you love Disneyland, this will give you even more reason to as their is so much passion found in most of the people working for Disney. It is also good to know that people make mistakes and we can learn from them. Please read if you have some time!

A brilliant page turner...

I'm not sure the people who rated this book 3-stars read the same book that I did. All I can say is that it has been years since I have read a book that kept me as enthralled as this brilliant work by a pulitzer prize winner. I was amazed at how juvenile and insecure the people who ran the company were...the back stabbing and grab for credit was simply amazing. Eisner comes across as slightly unstable and one has to wonder if he really was the right man to stay and run Disney for 20 years. When Disney hired Eisner it was a sleeping giant with enormous potential that Eisner and his cronies were able to "awaken" with some pretty easy fixes. After the obvious, well, that's when the tough part really began for all of these childish, boorish, and insecure men. In my mind, Eisner's run as CEO will always be tarnished. Every man has flaws but Eisner has a lot more than his share. This book is one heck of an engaging read. I hated to finish and had trouble getting anything done while reading this engaging book. I'm not sure how anyone could not love this business soap opera. Stewart has always been a cut above and I am grateful that a man of his ability tackled this particular project. The reader is the big winner. 5 very enthusiatic stars!

The Mouse King

A fascinating tale of making money, keeping power, and doing whatever a CEO can do to scrimp on a buck. If anyone ever wondered who was at fault on the Katzenberg or Ovitz sagas, wonder no more. Eisner shows himself to be a cutthroat business man that has loyalty to no one. He betrays each of his executives one by one and lies to all of them repeatedly. He isolates each division to maintain power and control over the creative process of each division. One would think that if he would have died when he had his heart operation that the company would have fallen apart. There is plenty of in depth material on how the Disney empire was built after Eisner and Katzenberg showed up from Paramount. They sure knew how to generate income from every source Disney owns. In the early years when billions were being made, Eisner just could not be satisfied with sharing credit with any of his executives. Eisner seems to not like any of his executives even though they are his handpicked choices. Ovitz and Katzenberg were just two of the arrogant princes to Eisner's throne, but they are made to look sympathetic next to the king. Not even Frank Wells when he was alive seemed to be close to Eisner. Eisner comes off as an egotistical tyrant that seems to have no friends in the world, he has only business acquaintances. Eventually all the Eisner inflicted turmoil and pain comes to haunt Disney. Once Katzenberg left, Disney was stuck with Eisner's creative ability which seemed to have went downhill since his Paramount stint. His bad decisions on new projects coupled with not paying his departed executives what their contracts promised, end up costing Disney plenty. Failures such as the Eisner led Euro Disney and losing distribution for Pixar are made to look as if someone else screwed it up other than Eisner. Just think, if he listened to Ovitz, Disney could have made over 30 billion from buying half of Yahoo. After the purchase of ABC, one wonders who was really at fault for all their failures. It appears that all the good people get fired. ABC President Bob Iger is made to look as Eisner's errand boy, and also as a person who could never run Disney as the CEO. All of the players in this book show that they have no ethics. They have no empathy for the working folks at Disney, whether they be actors or just general park personnel. They took as much money as they could get their greedy hands on and shared with no one. Now one knows why it's $60 bucks each to get in to Disneyland and $30 bucks for a lunch for two. Eventually Roy Disney and a few members of the board get revenge on Eisner, but what does Michael really care? He made over a billion dollars from Disney and retirement was getting close anyhow. Disney also has grown to a large diversified company under Eisner that is worth many times more than when he showed up. It loos like he will get his way soon with his successor no matter what the board really wants. A good read and great information on how corporate Amer

An Odd Story from a Burbank, CA Bookstore

I live in Burbank, CA, just up the street from the Disney corporate headquarters. When I heard the DisneyWars was coming out today, I rushed down to the local bookstore to get my copy. As I was making my purchase, the cashier mentioned to me that earlier today, the Disney Company had come to the store and bought out their entire stock of the book. There were a lot of copies on display, so it must have been quite an effort. But then a couple of hours before I came to buy my copy, they returned them all. What strange behavior. The must be afraid of what the Stewart wrote. Their apparent paranoia made me even more eager to read the book. From what I've read so far, they should be afraid. It's quite a scathing expose. So far, it is proving to be an excellent book. What Walt Disney accomplished through the power of his genius and ability to tap into the genius of others is simply amazing. But this book is a stark revelation of the damage the current management has done to the Disney Company. If you are a Disney fan, I HIGHLY recommend this book.