At his best, Eisner was creative, a risk taker, pragmatic when he needed to, and a strong evaluator of talent, and vast expansion. He gave us
Wild expansion in films, jumping movie production from an average of four movies per year to ten per year. His movie strategy was also very effective; low budget movies (singles and doubles) live action movies that are family friendly while also overseeing large large action movies such as Pearl Harbor, Pirates of the Caribbean, etc. He oversaw the resurgence of the Disney animated films of Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, and Lion King. He oversaw the first hits with Pixar as Toy Story, Monster Inc., Finding Nemo, Cars, etc. Though much of his tenure had bad animated movies, the strong brand of the company was able to propel the company past the weak films (i.e. Disney animated films 1995-2005)
New attractions at Parks and resorts, such as Splash Mountain and others...but perhaps most strongly he realized that he may have to go outside the company for a good attraction IP, such as Star Tours, etc. He also opened up new parks (Disney MGM studios, Animal Kingdom, and California Adventure). He also saw the opening of the Disneyland Paris resort.
Consumer products was greatly expanded with the Disney Stores and with the advent of the Internet.
Broadcast networks was also greatly expanded with he purchase of Capital Cities, where the company bought ABC and ESPN, what a deal!
Eisner is sometimes a controversial figure. He is a creative businessman who surely saved the company and established it as a dominant media company, however many feel his focus was never on the quality or detail the company once knew. Under Eisner (and now Iger) the company was clearly out to make a profit at all costs. The "upcharge" was established after continually raising prices. No longer was a Disney vacation a cheap expense, now it's an event that must be saved for.
His pragmatism is also worth commending as he avoided any deal with Time Warner when he believed the soaring stock price was not credible.
Eisner's greatest weakness though was his cling to power and lack of a succession plan. He was forced to take Bob Iger as President, but given his heart condition a succession plan was absolutely necessary. He viewed succession as a threat to his power. However, by putting all the power on himself, he got overworked and his ideas got tired. When the company had a bad spell the writing was on the wall, but once he got rid of Roy E. Disney, the namesake of the company, then the Save Disney campaign went to war with Eisner.
Eisner's tenure was necessary, he should be applauded and thanked for his work. He paved the way for where we are today. There was some recovery that had to happen, but he truly made it a modern company.
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