Chapter 548

On December 16, 2009, Roy E. Disney, former vice chairman of Disney, passed away from stomach cancer at the age of 79.

Roy E. Disney was the son of Roy O. Disney, one of Disney's founders, and the nephew of Walt Disney.

The Disney Group held a grand memorial service at Disneyland in Anaheim, California, to commemorate this man's contributions and sacrifices for the Disney Group.

In the Bahamas, on Charles Capet's private island, Evelyn Capet was vacationing with some people.

Charles was also accompanying Evelyn with Megan Fox on Bonds Island, which could host a vacation team of about 30 people at once.

The environment was beautiful, and the scenery was pleasant. The location was also very private and secluded.

"Where's Charles?" Evelyn asked Megan Fox who was getting ready to go surfing.

"Oh, he's in the room watching TV news!"

Evelyn nodded and went directly to the suite where Charles was.

Charles was sitting on the sofa in the room, watching Disney news on the TV. Oren Aviv, the co-president of Disney's film division who managed the production department, had also resigned.

Now, Sean Bailey took over as the president of Disney Films!

"Disney's film division has changed leadership, CEO Dick Cook, co-president Mark Zoradi, and Oren Aviv have all resigned," Charles explained. "Now, Disney's film division is led by the lesser-known Rich Ross as CEO and Sean Bailey as president. It's quite interesting!"

Evelyn was aware of this news after entering the room.

"Maybe it's just a transitional phase. If Disney Films' performance doesn't improve, they'll probably choose someone more suitable," Charles explained, implying high-level executives from other major film companies.

Anyway, the executives of major Hollywood film companies often rotated around.

"Roy E. Disney passed away, do you have any thoughts?" Evelyn asked.

Charles shook his head and smiled, "Not much, his era is too far from mine, but his two actions to save Disney are commendable!"

Perhaps the most successful event in Roy E. Disney's life was taking on the responsibility of reviving Disney's hand-drawn animations after his uncle Walt Disney and his father Roy O. Disney passed away in the '60s and '70s.

In the mid-'80s, when Disney was in turmoil, he advocated challenging Disney's CEO and president Ron Miller at the board of directors' meeting, bringing in Michael Eisner and Frank Wells to become CEO and president.

Michael Eisner brought his friend Jeffrey Katzenberg into Disney to lead the animation division, starting Disney's rise to dominance, which was Roy E. Disney's first rescue of Disney!

The second rescue was in 2005 when Roy E. Disney persuaded the board to oust Michael Eisner, who had ruled Disney for 20 years.

The executive and presidential positions at Disney were taken over by former COO Robert Iger!

"Yeah, Roy E. Disney supported Michael Eisner back then and Disney's performance skyrocketed," Evelyn Capet affirmed his foresight, "Twenty years later, he also coordinated the effort to oust Michael Eisner from Disney!"

Charles knew that Disney's successor, Robert Iger, was no less capable than Michael Eisner. If not for his own plans, Disney's future might truly be unstoppable.

"Disney might not have a Disney family member anymore," Evelyn sighed.

Charles smiled, "But it made the whole world remember the Disney family!"

Evelyn smiled too, "Why did you come for vacation this time? Isn't there good news from Universal Studios in Orlando? And aren't you interested in 20th Century Fox's blockbuster Avatar? It seems to be released today!"

Charles waved his hand, "I'm interested in Lucasfilm and DreamWorks Animation, but George Lucas and Jeffrey Katzenberg are hard to deal with. I just came to relax, only staying for two or three days before going back. As for Avatar, it's James Cameron's decade-long effort. Paying attention to it is quite normal!"

"Lucasfilm and DreamWorks Animation?" Evelyn's eyes widened, "Hey, you sure have a big appetite..."

...

While Charles was on vacation in the Caribbean, Disney in Los Angeles was somewhat troubled.

In Burbank, at Disney's headquarters, Disney CEO and President Robert Iger was chatting in his office with Disney Chairman John Pepper Jr.

John Pepper Jr. furrowed his brows, "The $175 million production cost A Christmas Carol, has only grossed 130 million dollars in North America, and less than 200 million dollars overseas. Capet's Twilight Saga: New Moon grossed nearly 300 million dollars in North America alone after a month of release, and has already broken $300 million overseas!"

John Pepper Jr. looked at Robert Iger while speaking, "Besides Pixar's one animation film Up, Disney's only entry in the top 20 of North America's annual box office chart is A Christmas Carol..."

John Pepper Jr. took over as chairman of Disney in 2006, succeeding George Mitchell who had taken over the position after Michael Eisner stepped down in 2004.

As a transitional chairman, after George Mitchell stepped down, John Pepper Jr. succeeded him.

Meanwhile, Robert Iger also took over the CEO position from Michael Eisner in 2005!

According to Disney's tradition, the chairman and CEO were often the same person, and Robert Iger was basically the next chairman.

Robert Iger sighed, "In the media and entertainment business, Disney's performance is very poor. Don't even compare with Capet, Paramount, 20th Century Fox, Warner Bros., all outperform us! Right now, Capet is vigorously promoting Universal Studios Resort, and they've been contacting DreamWorks Animation and Lucasfilm. Their intention to recruit is very clear."

Ever since Capet merged with Universal, Disney's Robert Iger had been keeping a close eye on them, although he wasn't interested in Capet's innovations in other areas.

But now that Capet had begun promoting Universal Studios, it couldn't be ignored. Capet had bought back shares of Universal Studios Orlando to own it fully and also acquired half the shares of Universal Studios Osaka to operate it themselves.

Especially after learning that Charles Capet had been in contact with George Lucas and Jeffrey Katzenberg, Robert Iger worried Capet might acquire Star Wars and DreamWorks Animation.

Robert Iger knew too well about the significance of Star Wars in Americans' hearts, and he was also aware of the impact Pixar characters had in Disney Parks.

Even though DreamWorks Animation leaned more towards adult content, it was not to be underestimated!

As for the 2100 acres of land that Universal Studios Orlando received from the county council, Robert Iger wasn't too concerned. Instead, he remained focused on the Wizarding World of Harry Potter in Universal Studios Orlando.

With franchise series like Marvel and Transformers, Capet held numerous IPs that would become attractions in Universal Studios.

Additionally, Capet had established the Universal Studios Grand Hotel brand, emulating Disney's hotel group to operate themed hotels. All these moves pointed to Capet prioritizing the development of Universal Studios Resort Group in the future.

*****

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