Disney CEO Bob Iger Reveals That Steve Jobs Wanted to Shut Down Disney Animation After Pixar Acquisition
As you may or may not know, Steve Jobs was a board member at Disney, and he was also their largest shareholder. So, it’s not a surprise that Disney CEO Bob Iger would go to him to discuss all kinds of things regarding the direction Disney was looking to go. Jobs became a very influential part of the company after Disney bought Pixar.
Iger explained in his book, The Ride of a Lifetime: Lessons Learned from 15 Years as CEO of the Walt Disney Company:
“Whenever I wanted to do something big, I talked it over with him, to get his advice before taking it to the full board. Steve’s voice mattered in our boardroom; they had such respect for him.”
It turns out that during one of these talks, Jobs suggested to Iger that he should shut down Disney Animation because he didn’t think they needed it now that Pixar was involved and making big movie hits. At the time Disney Animation wasn’t at the top of its game, and Iger said, “I didn’t yet have a complete sense of just how broken Disney Animation was.”
“(A few years later, Steve would propose shutting down Disney Animation completely and just making animated films at Pixar. Even John Lasseter and Ed Catmull hated the idea, and I rejected it.)”
Back in 2012, chief creative officer John Lasseter revealed that there was some discussion about shutting down Disney Animation, and he told USA Today:
“We weren’t going to let that happen on our watch. We were determined to save the legacy of Walt Disney’s amazing studio and bring it back up to the creative level it had to be. Saving this heritage was squarely on our shoulders.”
It’s a good thing that fought to save Disney Animation! Could you imagine if Disney actually did shut it down!? That just seems crazy to me, Disney Animation was Walt Disney’s baby! That’s what Disney was built on! Disney Animation is Disney.
It’s a good thing that Jobs didn’t get his way. Disney has been making great animated films that have been both critical and box office successes. Remember, Jobs also didn’t like the idea of Disney buying Marvel. It seems like Jobs really didn’t give the best advice!
Via: /Film