Toon Zone Talkback - Dick Cook Resigns as Chairman of Walt Disney Studios

[Old Guy]

http://www.variety.com/article/VR111...goryid=13&cs=1

Mod Note: Please post more than just a link next time please, Old Guy.

[Ioz]

Deadlinehollywooddaily is saying he was fired:

3RD UPDATE: I hear that, after his meeting with Bob Iger, Dick Cook called a staff meeting -- "a big, big room full of people" -- and told them that he'd been fired after 38 years at Disney. Then Dick teared up. He explained his ouster by saying that he and Iger had never had a close relationship where they'd been on the same wave length.

2ND UPDATE: Disney is adamantly telling people tonight that Dick Cook was not fired. But that's not what Cook himself is telling Hollywood. I'm told that he was called in to see Bob Iger and given the news that "it was over". "He got blindsided by Iger. He never saw it coming," one source who just now spoke to Cook tells me. However, several months ago, rumors were floating that Iger was going to fire Cook because of the motion picture division's recent record of failures (along with some big successes) at the box office. When I asked top execs about this, I was given firm denials. (Then rumors began that Oren Aviv would be axed. Again, denials.) Iger himself talked to analysts about the motion picture division problems which pulled down Disney's earnings of late. "Iger has no reason to be happy with the label," a Disney insider tells me. "Choices have been made that not only are unspectacular, but even poor. Not only have the movies lost money, which can happen to anybody, but they've also diminished the live action brand."

There can be no doubt that Cook was one of the most popular executives ever to work in showbiz. Tonight, Hollywood can't believe this has happened, especially on the eve of Rosh Hashanah. "I'm shocked by Dick's ouster. I love him more than life," one Disney insider told me, adding, "I walked out of a meeting and heard this. And, 4 minutes later, you post it." It's reminding old Disney hands of the day when Michael Eisner blindsided Jeffrey Katzenberg by firing him. "If your mandate if is to up the Disney brand, then how do you fire somebody who has 38 years of institutional brand knowledge of Disney?"

Naturally, the guessing game of who would replace Cook began immediately. "I don't know who Iger thinks he can find who'll be able to come in there and already have relations with Spielberg, and Zemeckis, and Bruckheimer, and Lasseter, and Burton, like this guy had." And then there is the fact that so many divisions report to Cook that his replacement also must be an experienced administrator as well as have deep talent relations. And that ain't easy.

There's been a lot of talk that Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige spent a lot of time with Disney CEO Bob Iger during the dealmaking to buy the company, and Feige impressed the hell out of Iger. Of course, there's also the new DreamWorks CEO Stacey Snider whose resume includes running Universal, after all, and who could further cement Steven Spielberg's control at his new moviemaking home. ("But she can't. She's a long-term partner with Steven and Reliance in DreamWorks. She not available," said a DreamWorks spokesperson.)

[The Wolverine]

Yet he himself has issued a statement saying he'd been thinking about leaving for a while.

[Tommy Lawson]

I have updated thread title for clarity, and am going to mirror this to Entertainment, since this applies to both Disney animation and Disney live-action films going forward.

Here's a link to a New York Times article about it, that mentions the weakness of the division despite Disney/Pixar's Up, and Cook's reluctance to create films based on the Disney Channel properties, of which I can think of two that were made in full theatrical movies - High School Musical 3 and Hannah Montana: The Movie.

IMO, this is absolutely consistent with the more aggressive business stance Disney has been taking lately - the Marvel purchase, hiring Alex Seropian for Disney Interactive, getting the airing rights to Naruto Shippunden for Disney XD, etc. So, what do you think this will mean for the future of the film division at Disney?

[The Cartoon]

He got in trouble for not wanting Disney Channel properties to be made into movies? That's just rubbish, he was 100% correct to be against that. I hope he retired because being fired for that reason is unacceptable. I swear, every time it looks like Disney is headed in the right direction again, they do something to ruin it.

[Tommy Lawson]

Originally Posted by The Cartoon

He got in trouble for not wanting Disney Channel properties to be made into movies? That's just rubbish, he was 100% correct to be against that. I hope he retired because being fired for that reason is unacceptable. I swear, every time it looks like Disney is headed in the right direction again, they do something to ruin it.

That's why it's called show business. Like any business, you focus on what's profitable, and the DC properties currently are for Disney. You may not like the fact they are, but the simple fact is that if your work performance is unacceptable, a company can and will make changes to maximize profit, including replacing personnel.

[Zen Man]

Well that's the running theme with Corporate America.It's not about loyalty, it's about..."What have you done for me lately?" And the only thing Disney cares about is making money; which is the main objective of most corporations.

BTW, wasn't he the same guy who managed that Disney Expo thing last week?

[Ioz]

A couple more updates from deadlinehollywooddaily:

5TH UPDATE: Here's what I'm hearing now from deep inside Disney. That today's date to announce his exit was chosen by Dick Cook. That Bob Iger was at Wal-Mart all day so there wasn't an 11th-hour meeting with Cook. Disney insiders continue to insist Dick wasn't fired. Instead, as one of the sources stresses, "He had a choice, He just didn't see eye to eye with Bob on how to run the studio. Dick wanted to run the studio his way." But it didn't come as a surprise to toppers that Cook chose to step down rather than change the way he ran the studio. "In the last 5 years since Bob's been CEO, the biggest resistance to change has came from the studio as an institution. They were the last ones who realized that things needed to change. Even when Bob cited the performance of the motion picture division to analysts last May as one reason for Disney's poor results. (Specifically, Iger said "studio performance was disappointing, something they would be the first to admit.") The insiders also confirm that Dick called the staff meeting, but claim he only said he's stepping down and then read his resignation statement. The insiders also maintain Cook didn't tear up but, yes, he got emotional. And that Dick never characterized his relationship with Iger. "Dick is very likeable, and he and Bob have a very cordial and very good relationship on a personal level," one of the sources just told me. There is also confirmation that the people who work inside Walt Disney studios are upset about Cook's abrupt departure.

4TH UPDATE: I hear that Steven Spielberg is devastated by the news of Dick Cook's ouster. Dick was a major reason why Spielberg and Stacey Snider brought the new DreamWorks to Disney. And now Cook's ouster may imperil a 4th Pirates Of The Caribbean movie. Noting that Cook first enticed him with the Pirates movie idea and there's no firm deal in place for No. 4, Johnny Depp said in a phone interview from London with Claudia Eller: "There's a fissure, a crack in my enthusiasm at the moment," Depp said. "It was all born in that office."

Depp used words like "shocked... very sad" to describe his reaction when Cook called him a few hours ago to break the news. "He is the utmost gentleman, so he made the call himself. He said, 'I'd like you to hear it from me before you hear it from someone else or read it. He said today was my last day. He didn't give me a reason... I didn't see this coming. There was no reason to see this coming." Depp said "I consider Dick a friend inside an insane system. He's instantly trustworthy. And you generally don't meet people at the studios you trust," Depp said. "He's a rare beast."

Johnny Depp interview:
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/ente...departure.html

[Master Toon]

Ok Depp, just wait until your fat paycheck for Pirates 4 comes in the mail. You won't be shocked for long.

[stephane dumas]

it can be interesting to see who could replace Dick Cook? this article http://www.hitfix.com/articles/2009-...over-at-disney mentionned the names of John Lassiter from Pixar or even Kevin Faige from Marvel comics.

[The Cartoon]

I can only pray that John Lasseter will be the replacement. He is one of the ones that still believes in all that Disney used to stand for, and would no doubt take the company in the right direction.

[TKnHappyNess]

Disney is no longer good. They focus on all the live-action movie crap and not enough on what they were good at years ago: Good traditional animated movies, not this CGI garbage. I don't include Pixar though because they're a separate studio. That and unnecessary sequels/prequels. I don't get why they had that 3rd Cinderella movie. All it did was try and screw up the events of the others by having time travel.

[NewcomerDC]

Originally Posted by TKnHappyNess

Disney is no longer good. They focus on all the live-action movie crap and not enough on what they were good at years ago: Good traditional animated movies, not this CGI garbage. I don't include Pixar though because they're a separate studio. That and unnecessary sequels/prequels. I don't get why they had that 3rd Cinderella movie. All it did was try and screw up the events of the others by having time travel.

And yet people liked Cinderella 3 regardless of what everyone thought about the sequel/prequels we had at the time.

Disney is going back to doing 2D films along with CGI movies by themselves and with Pixar. With everything Disney's been doing, we can only hope and pray even if some of their future plans backfire on them.

[Dr.Pepper]

Originally Posted by TKnHappyNess

Disney is no longer good. They focus on all the live-action movie crap and not enough on what they were good at years ago: Good traditional animated movies, not this CGI garbage. I don't include Pixar though because they're a separate studio. That and unnecessary sequels/prequels. I don't get why they had that 3rd Cinderella movie. All it did was try and screw up the events of the others by having time travel.

I agree with the sequel bit, but they are going back to traditional animation. Also not all non-Pixar CGI is garbage. I liked Meet the Robinsons, and even though I haven't seen it, a lot of people like Bolt.

[Rho]

I couldn't help but chuckle at the guy's name.

I can't really tell if this is good or bad. Hopefully they can replace him with someone good.. John Lassiter could be good.

[TheVileOne]

You guys bash Disney and yet they have two theatrical 2D animated features in active production.

Sorry everyone, but this is the nature of the business. Some might not like corporations but if you work for a corporation, this can happen. The corporation is about the corporation. So if you work for one, you have to understand that.

Also some times bringing in new blood can be a good thing. Eisner left and John Lasseter became the CCO of animation for Disney. Was that a bad move?

Sometimes these companies really need change and bring in fresh perspective. Why is that wrong? A lot of the live action movies were rubbish.

[DeanBurrito25]

Originally Posted by Rho

I couldn't help but chuckle at the guy's name.

I can't really tell if this is good or bad. Hopefully they can replace him with someone good.. John Lassiter could be good.

Lasseter already created Princess and the Frog, he's working on a new theatrical Winnie the Pooh movie, and he intends to bring hand drawn animation back to Disney.
Lasseter is good.

[DarthGonzo]

Originally Posted by TKnHappyNess

Disney is no longer good.

Oh please.

They focus on all the live-action movie crap and not enough on what they were good at years ago: Good traditional animated movies, not this CGI garbage.

Ummm what? Disney's big release this holiday season is a traditionally animated feature. If this does well there's no doubt they'll do more. They're already planning a 2D Pooh feature from the feature department. And CGI isn't garbage. There's good and bad no matter what type of animation one uses.

And I'm sick and tired of people complaining about Disney going the live action route these days. They act like it's something new. Walt Disney was producing live action features and TV shows in the 1950s and by the '60s Disney's live action output far outweighed their animated output. Things come and go in cycles. Live action on TV is the name of the game now, but I have no doubt we'll see more animated fare in the future when kids get tired of tween sitcoms.

People need to relax a little. Seriously.

I don't include Pixar though because they're a separate studio.

Did you miss the memo that stated Disney outright bought Pixar a few years ago?

That and unnecessary sequels/prequels. I don't get why they had that 3rd Cinderella movie. All it did was try and screw up the events of the others by having time travel.

Another memo you may have missed. Lesseter put a stop to direct to video sequels. We're not going to get any more of those. I say that's a definite improvement from the days where any and every old Disney movie was getting crummy sequels. I couldn't be happier about that.

[Mr. Freeze]

I'm glad they're starting to make more animated films.

[Old Guy]

The emergence of Depp is surprising, since he was expected to make his next film at Disney, in a fourth installment of "Pirates of the Caribbean" or "The Lone Ranger."

http://weblogs.variety.com/bfdealmem...-tourist-.html