"When You Wish Upon a Star," "Whistle While You
Work," "The Happiest Place on Earth" — these are lyrics indelibly linked to
Disney, one of the most admired and best-known companies in the world. So when
Roy Disney, chairman of Walt Disney Animation and nephew of founder Walt Disney,
abruptly resigned in November 2003 and declared war on chairman and chief
executive Michael Eisner, he sent shock waves through the entertainment
industry, corporate boardrooms, theme parks, and living rooms around the world —
everywhere Disney does business and its products are cherished.
DisneyWar is the breathtaking, dramatic
inside story of what drove America's best-known entertainment company to civil
war, told by one of our most acclaimed writers and reporters.
Drawing on unprecedented access to both Eisner
and Roy Disney, current and former Disney executives and board members, as well
as thousands of pages of never-before-seen letters, memos, transcripts, and
other documents, James B. Stewart gets to the bottom of mysteries that have
enveloped Disney for years: What really caused the rupture with studio chairman
Jeffrey Katzenberg, a man who once regarded Eisner as a father but who became
his fiercest rival? How could Eisner have so misjudged Michael Ovitz, a man who
was not only "the most powerful man in Hollywood" but also his friend, whom he
appointed as Disney president and immediately wanted to fire? What caused the
break between Eisner and Pixar chairman Steve Jobs, and why did Pixar abruptly
abandon its partnership with Disney? Why did Eisner so mistrust Roy Disney that
he assigned Disney company executives to spy on him? How did Eisner control the
Disney board for solong, and what really happened in the fateful board meeting
in September 2004, when Eisner played his last cards?
Here, too, is the creative process that lies at
the heart of Disney — from the making of The Lion King to Pirates of
the Caribbean. Even as the executive suite has been engulfed in turmoil,
Disney has worked — and sometimes clashed — with a glittering array of stars,
directors, designers, artists, and producers, many of whom tell their stories
here for the first time.
Stewart describes how Eisner lost his
chairmanship and why he felt obliged to resign as CEO, effective 2006. No other
book so thoroughly penetrates the secretive world of the corporate boardroom.
DisneyWar is an enthralling tale of one of America's most powerful media and
entertainment companies, the people who control it, and those trying to
overthrow them.
DisneyWar is an epic achievement. It tells
a story that — in its sudden twists, vivid, larger-than-life characters, and
thrilling climax — might itself have been the subject of a Disney animated
classic — except that it's all true.
