Part III, Chapter XXIV: "Not Disney's Decade"
"I don't think most people realised how close we were to falling apart back then. When Apple went bankrupt, Sidney [Poitier] said to me 'if we're not careful, that's us'. The feeling among the board isn't what I'd call panic, but definitely hightened concern. Nobody wanted to be part of 'the Group that Killed Disney'."
- Michael Eisner in the 2004 documentary "The Happiest Place on Earth".
Disney was not in a great place. While the leadership duo of Eisner and Katzenberg seemed to be a winning combination on paper, it had brought problems. The only remaining Disney family member on the board, Roy E. Disney, did not like Katzenberg at all, and had started a proxy war to replace him and Eisner.
Furthermore, the animated feature films, what should by all means have been Disney’s heavy hitters, were experiencing diminishing returns. Following Robin Williams’ less than amicable departure from
Aladdin, there was some difficulty in getting big names in the cast for the films.
Perhaps most importantly, despite early successes with
The Little Mermaid and
Beauty and the Beast, Disney was having real trouble finding a formula for their animated films that worked consistently.
The Lion King had been a big success, but subsequent films
Pocahontas and
The Hunchback of Notre Dame had been underwhelming.
By this point, much of the company’s revenue came from the theme parks they owned and operated. However, this too was faltering, in no small part due to the presence of competing parks near to theirs. Their main competition came from Universal, who operated parks in both Orlando, Florida and Hollywood. Universal Studios Florida, in particular, was hurting DisneyWorld’s revenues, as the creation of many rides based on popular franchises of the time brought in new visitors. Particular note was given to the
Doctor Who: The Ride, which was highly successful.
So something new was needed for Disney, and fast. At least, that was if Eisner and Katzenberg wanted to keep their jobs. Already, the ABC deal had fallen through, and as time went on, Roy Disney was able to sway more of the board to his cause.
Katzenberg had taken note of a particular phenomenon in entertainment at the time, namely, the success of science fiction material, not on film, but rather on TV. With the huge successes of both the
Doctor Who and
Star Trek franchises, with
Star Wars about to enter the fray, he felt that Disney would be missing a trick by not staking their own claim to that market before it dried up.
Disney had dipped its toe into sci-fi before, but never in a way that was highly successful. There was, however, a certain cult classic film that he felt would lend itself well to the TV.
TRON. [1]
CBS, likewise, were struggling. NBC, Fox, UPN, and The WB all seemed to have “killer apps” in their schedules, while they did not. Their viewing figures were dropping, and the “CBS Block Party” was not bringing in the number of people that they wanted. They needed a hit show, and fast. So, when the offer came in from Disney to help produce
TRON, they jumped at the opportunity.
They would be on the back foot to begin with, no doubt, as the show would be ready for the 1999-2000 season at the absolute earliest. However, they were counting on the cult following that the film had to watch, and by aiming for family audiences, they could stand out more easily.
Bruce Boxleitner, who played Tron in the original film, was quick to sign on, as was David Warner, who played and voiced the main antagonists. The early scripts were set to focus on a new worldwide “grid”, in which a sinister force is lurking and slowly taking control.
But one TV show alone would not save Disney. Over the past decade, they had made numerous acquisitions, many of which were not tailored towards their traditional family audience, such as Hyperion Books, Hollywood Records, and Miramax Films. Rather than trying to tailor these to the family audience, there was some push from the board to diversify, and create a new image of Disney as a company for everyone, not just the family. [2]
As profits continued to falter, with them now dangerously close to the “break even” point, Disney seemed to have a basic plan as to how they were to recover. Still, the future was uncertain, but there was at least a sense of optimism in the board.
Next Time: "The Times, They Are A Changin", 1996-1997 in Music. [3]
[1] TRON is going to stand out among the "big four" of sci-fi. For one, it's not actually set in space, and aims for a different audience.
[2] It's a little difficult to get clear information about what was happening with Disney around this time in OTL, but with the changes that have happened elsewhere in the timeline, it's definitely not looking good for them. They need big change, and even this may not be enough to save them.
[3] More on this in a post that will be going up right after this.