TR: Annual Shareholder's Meeting 2/23 Seattle, WA
Jason & Hope Maxwell
stock and I was lucky enough to get to go along since my mom was working.
My parents and Jason & I are NFFC members and a few of the other local
chapter members were going to the meeting so we arranged to go and then have
lunch at nearby Westlake Mall (which is one end of the Seattle monorail,
BTW)
My Dad and I got in line at 8AM and there was a small line, but 10 minutes
later the line was much much longer. At 8:45 we were let into the 5th Ave.
Theater. I was expecting to see Mickey & Minnie, but Mulan, Shang, Mushu,
Flik & Francis were waving from the mezzanine. There were complementary
beverages, tables for people who didn't have their admission tickets, proxy
table, etc. At 9AM we were allowed into the main theater; we got seats 3
rows behind the press area and Board of Directors. The meeting was to begin
at 10AM. In the next hour I wandered back into the lobby and Goofy, Donald,
Pocahontas, Meeko and Shan-Yu (the evil Hun from Mulan). I was really
regretting not bringing my autograph book, and someone else commented, "It's
just like Disneyland!"
At 10AM the lights dimmed, and the video screen showed a "video" for
"Strangers Like Me," one of the songs from Tarzan. It featured clips from
the movie and clips from the production for the movie. Then Michael Eisner
came out. He explained the reasoning behind choosing Seattle for this
year's meeting. It was to coincide with the launching of go.com. (which is
what I expected) Eisner proceeded to introduce the Board of Directors, and
the various top people at Disney. We were sitting pretty close to Roy
Disney, which was cool. Paul Pressler was also sitting a few rows directly
in front of us. Next was the 1st of three video clips for films currently
in development. Toy Story 2. The plot of the new story is that Woody has
been abducted by toy collectors and Buzz and the gang go to rescue him. The
clip we saw showed the gang crossing a busy road, by concealing themselves u
nder those orange construction cones. It was a very funny clip, and if that
is any of the indication of the rest of the film; it should be lots of fun.
My dad didn't like the first Toy Story that much, but he was laughing his
head off during the clip.
Michael introduced Tom Staggs, chief financial officer, who proceeded to run
down the 1998 and 1st quarter 99 numbers; basically the stuff in the annual
report. But here are a few things that jumped out at me: current hotel
occupancy at WDW resorts is 49,000, since 1994 Pooh merchandise revenue has
increased 12 fold, and "A Bug's Life" is 4th most successful animated film.
Basically, of the three segments: Creative Content, Broadcasting and Theme
Parks & Resorts, Theme Parks is in the best shape.
Eisner was back up with a demonstration of go.com. He made a slam at Bill
Gates and the release of Windows '98, and made sure that everyone was aware
that the mouse he was clicking on was not connected to anything; the people
in the back were making sure everything went smoothly. During this section,
Eisner also said that today (or yesterday in China) Mulan was released to
theaters in China, which is a major coup for the Disney company.
Eisner then introduced Roy Disney, and gave him an award in recognition to
his service to the company. I guess there was a banquet last week, buy Roy
was in Central America. Roy then proceeded to show us three parts from
Fantasia 2000. The first clip was from "Carnival of Animals", which as Roy
said, "answers the age old question of what *does* a flock of flamingos do
with a yoyo?" The second clip was from "Pomp and Circumstance" which is the
story of the loading of Noah's ark. This clip stars Donald and Daisy Duck.
The third clip was the first part of the finale, "The Firebird Suite". The
villanous molten lava takes the form of something that looks very similar to
Chernabog (but red :-) ) I thought all three of these clips were fabulous,
and I can't wait to see them on the IMAX (Seattle is lucky to have *two*
IMAX theaters :-P ) Throughout the presentation, you could just hear the
pride in Roy's voice. He is the executive producer for the movie. And
after the "Firebird Suite" he said the best part of his job is getting to
see an entire audience jump at once; and that's exactly what happened. As
for the release of Fantasia 2000, the premiere will be December 17th at
Carnegie Hall. The movie will be accompanied with live music. All in all
there will be 3 live performances at Carnegie. 12/31 will have a live
performance in Pasedena, and there will be a live performances in London and
a few other international cities. On January 1st the movie will premiere at
the IMAX's and will stay there until April 30th.
The next section of the meeting was devoted to the "business" section of the
meeting. The re-election of board members, people speaking on the
shareholder proposals, an initial vote tally for the shareholder proposals,
etc. Voting patterns, followed the recommendations of the board.
The final section was Q&A. There were about 10 questions. 1st question was
a little boy who wanted to know what fun stuff Disney would have on the
internet, and Eisner directed him to DisneyBlast. 2nd question was
regarding the maintence at DL. I knew that Eisner could not say that there
is a problem, he squirmed while answering but claimed that the lightbulbs
are checked every night, and there was no way that sound in Space Mtn. could
not work for weeks at a time. He also said, "you spend too much time on the
internet," but the guy who asked the question, started off by saying, "while
on vacation, I noticed," so Eisner must know about the Disneyland Blues
page. We'll see what happens. Other questions were, "when is LK coming to
Seattle" answer: after an opening in London they will start looking into a
US tour, so about 2 years.
Q: What about owning a basketball and football team.
A: Football, most likely never due to restrictions of corporate ownership.
Basketball, whenever the Clippers want to move to Anaheim.
Q: Will University of Oregon get to keep the Donald Duck mascot
A: They will always get to keep Donald, he was a gift from Walt, but no one
else will ever get Donald.
There were also a few questions concerning the shareholder proposals, why
the proposers get to talk so long at the meeting, etc.
To close the meeting, Eisner introduced a preview for the movie "Dinosaurs"
which is expected to be released Memorial Day 2000. And that was it.
I enjoyed seeing the movie previews, Toy Story 2 looks fun. Fantasia 2000
looks fabulous! I'd go to another Disney stockholder meeting again.
Hope Maxwell
jhma...@earthlink.net
TDC Princess Belle, Rocket Scientist, Builder of All Things That Go BOOM!
Visit my web page at http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Woods/6590
Al Lutz
Jason & Hope Maxwell wrote
> The final section was Q&A. There were about 10 questions. 1st
> question was a little boy who wanted to know what fun stuff
> Disney would have on the internet, and Eisner directed him to
> DisneyBlast. 2nd question was regarding the maintence at DL.
> I knew that Eisner could not say that there is a problem, he
> squirmed while answering but claimed that the lightbulbs are
> checked every night, and there was no way that sound in Space
> Mtn. could not work for weeks at a time. He also said, "you spend
> too much time on the internet," but the guy who asked the question,
> started off by saying, "while on vacation, I noticed," so Eisner must
> know about the Disneyland Blues page. We'll see what happens
I got an e-mail from from the person who actually asked the question,
filling me in on this also.
I am hoping, with that one question, that more may have been done with
getting some action taken than ever before. I do know Eisner is aware of the
site. :)
Let's hope they understand that people do notice these little things.
Again, thanks, you [and in particular the person who asked the questions],
it helped make my day.
Al
--
Al Lutz - [alweho...@aol.com] - FDC & TDC "Deluxe" Chrome Buzz Lightyear
Author of Disneyland Information Guide [D-I-G] http://members.aol.com/alweho
- "Strange how potent cheap music can be." (Noel Coward's "Private Lives") -
Jason & Hope Maxwell
>First, thank you Hope for writing the meeting up!
>
>Jason & Hope Maxwell wrote
>> question was a little boy who wanted to know what fun stuff
>> Disney would have on the internet, and Eisner directed him to
>> DisneyBlast. 2nd question was regarding the maintence at DL.
>> I knew that Eisner could not say that there is a problem, he
>> squirmed while answering but claimed that the lightbulbs are
>> checked every night, and there was no way that sound in Space
>> Mtn. could not work for weeks at a time. He also said, "you spend
>> too much time on the internet," but the guy who asked the question,
>> started off by saying, "while on vacation, I noticed," so Eisner must
>
>I got an e-mail from from the person who actually asked the question,
>filling me in on this also.
>
>I am hoping, with that one question, that more may have been done with
>getting some action taken than ever before. I do know Eisner is aware of
the
>site. :)
>
>Let's hope they understand that people do notice these little things.
>
>Again, thanks, you [and in particular the person who asked the questions],
>it helped make my day.
>
>
My dad and I were talking about the "tone" of Eisner's response. Throughout
the meeting, he would use "we", "us", "Disney"...but when it came to this
question it was "I" and "Paul". We definetly felt like there was a lot of
subtext directed at Paul, and that Eisner did not like being put in the
position of having to deal with this. It was almost as if, Eisner and Paul
had a big discussion about the "situation" and that Eisner was reinforcing
his position with his answer.
Bryan Walton
you mentioned, he could hardly admit to that in a public forum. What I
hoped to get accomplished was to state our views at the highest level of the
company and to get him to agree to look at it, which he essentially did. I
have been a regular visitor to Disneyland for the last 30 years and was even
a CM for 4 years (1780-80, 1983) and never has the park been in such shoddy
shape. Eisner said that he would walk with Pressler on his next visit to
the park and if these problems were true, they would be fixed! What more
could I hope for? The irony about his comment about spending too much time
on the internet was that he had just finished a huge presentation on the Go
network!
Bryan Walton
Jason & Hope Maxwell wrote in message
<7avs9c$a73$1...@ash.prod.itd.earthlink.net>...
>Al Lutz wrote in message <7avhua$r6o$1...@holly.prod.itd.earthlink.net>...
>>First, thank you Hope for writing the meeting up!
>>
>>Jason & Hope Maxwell wrote
>>> The final section was Q&A. There were about 10 questions. 1st
>>> question was a little boy who wanted to know what fun stuff
>>> Disney would have on the internet, and Eisner directed him to
>>> DisneyBlast. 2nd question was regarding the maintence at DL.
>>> I knew that Eisner could not say that there is a problem, he
>>> squirmed while answering but claimed that the lightbulbs are
>>> checked every night, and there was no way that sound in Space
>>> Mtn. could not work for weeks at a time. He also said, "you spend
>>> too much time on the internet," but the guy who asked the question,
>>> started off by saying, "while on vacation, I noticed," so Eisner must
>>> know about the Disneyland Blues page. We'll see what happens
>>
>>I got an e-mail from from the person who actually asked the question,
>>filling me in on this also.
>>
>>I am hoping, with that one question, that more may have been done with
>>getting some action taken than ever before. I do know Eisner is aware of
>the
>>site. :)
>>
>>Let's hope they understand that people do notice these little things.
>>
>>Again, thanks, you [and in particular the person who asked the questions],
>>it helped make my day.
>>
>>
>
>My dad and I were talking about the "tone" of Eisner's response.
Throughout
>the meeting, he would use "we", "us", "Disney"...but when it came to this
>question it was "I" and "Paul". We definetly felt like there was a lot of
>subtext directed at Paul, and that Eisner did not like being put in the
>position of having to deal with this. It was almost as if, Eisner and Paul
>had a big discussion about the "situation" and that Eisner was reinforcing
>his position with his answer.
>
Bryan Walton
you mentioned, he could hardly admit to that in a public forum. What I
hoped to get accomplished was to state our views at the highest level of the
company and to get him to agree to look at it, which he essentially did. I
have been a regular visitor to Disneyland for the last 30 years and was even
shape. Eisner said that he would walk with Pressler on his next visit to
the park and if these problems were true, they would be fixed! What more
could I hope for? The irony about his comment about spending too much time
on the internet was that he had just finished a huge presentation on the Go
network!
Bryan Walton
Jason & Hope Maxwell wrote in message
<7avs9c$a73$1...@ash.prod.itd.earthlink.net>...
>Al Lutz wrote in message <7avhua$r6o$1...@holly.prod.itd.earthlink.net>...
>>First, thank you Hope for writing the meeting up!
>>
>>Jason & Hope Maxwell wrote
>>> The final section was Q&A. There were about 10 questions. 1st
>>> question was a little boy who wanted to know what fun stuff
>>> Disney would have on the internet, and Eisner directed him to
>>> DisneyBlast. 2nd question was regarding the maintence at DL.
>>> I knew that Eisner could not say that there is a problem, he
>>> squirmed while answering but claimed that the lightbulbs are
>>> checked every night, and there was no way that sound in Space
>>> Mtn. could not work for weeks at a time. He also said, "you spend
>>> too much time on the internet," but the guy who asked the question,
>>> started off by saying, "while on vacation, I noticed," so Eisner must
>>> know about the Disneyland Blues page. We'll see what happens
>>
>>I got an e-mail from from the person who actually asked the question,
>>filling me in on this also.
>>
>>I am hoping, with that one question, that more may have been done with
>>getting some action taken than ever before. I do know Eisner is aware of
>the
>>site. :)
>>
>>Let's hope they understand that people do notice these little things.
>>
>>Again, thanks, you [and in particular the person who asked the questions],
>>it helped make my day.
>>
>>
>
>My dad and I were talking about the "tone" of Eisner's response.
Throughout
>the meeting, he would use "we", "us", "Disney"...but when it came to this
>question it was "I" and "Paul". We definetly felt like there was a lot of
>subtext directed at Paul, and that Eisner did not like being put in the
>position of having to deal with this. It was almost as if, Eisner and Paul
>had a big discussion about the "situation" and that Eisner was reinforcing
>his position with his answer.
>
Alan Schaefer
Thanks for a very different and informative TR. I can't wait to see Fantasia
2000. It sounds awesome! Did they mention how the Carnegie Hall tickets would
be distributed? I'd love to catch that!
Al
JIROMI
Wonderful report! Thank you so much for posting this. I especially enjoyed
hearing about the movie previews.
>In the next hour I wandered back into the lobby and Goofy, Donald,
>Pocahontas, Meeko and Shan-Yu (the evil Hun from Mulan).
Shan-Yu!? Man, I gotta buy some Disney stock...... ; )
Ronnie
*TDC Iago, Parrot Royal and Screamer in the Czarina's Ear*
"Somebody stop me! I'm being spontaneous!" - Truman Burbank
rya...@cwnet.com
>
> 2nd question was
> regarding the maintence at DL. I knew that Eisner could not say that there
> is a problem, he squirmed while answering but claimed that the lightbulbs
> are checked every night, and there was no way that sound in Space Mtn. could
> not work for weeks at a time. He also said, "you spend too much time on the
> internet," but the guy who asked the question, started off by saying, "while
> on vacation, I noticed," so Eisner must know about the Disneyland Blues
> page.
If that wasn't meant to be an insult, it sure came off that way. "Gee, you
spend too much time on the Internet." You can practically hear him saying
"Loser" under his breath. And isn't it interesting how he assumes that anyone
who notices the continuing maintenance problems must be an a.d.d.er? <BOING!>
That's the sound of Eisner jumping to conclusions...
Masselin
who wonders if anybody else has read "The Phantom Tollbooth"
-----------== Posted via Deja News, The Discussion Network ==----------
http://www.dejanews.com/ Search, Read, Discuss, or Start Your Own
Al Lutz
> My main purpose was not to get Eisner to admit to
> maintenance problems. As you mentioned, he could
> hardly admit to that in a public forum. What I hoped
> to get accomplished was to state our views at the
> highest level of the company and to get him to agree
> to look at it, which he essentially did.
And thank you again for doing that Bryan. You helped shine a little light
on things. I didn't identify you only because I didn't see you post on this
earlier.
> I have been a regular visitor to Disneyland for the last 30
> years and was even a CM for 4 years (1780-80, 1983)
> and never has the park been in such shoddy shape. Eisner
> said that he would walk with Pressler on his next visit to
> the park and if these problems were true, they would be
> fixed! What more could I hope for?
I feel honestly that Eisner does know exactly what is going on - as does
Pressler, and the rest of the suits. They just made a decision that right
now those things we've been talking about can take a back seat to other
things - primarily as I understand it - to get the new park going.
To be fair to Disneyland, YES, there is a LOT of renovation going on right
now. But much of this was only prompted by such an incredible amount of
neglect over the past five years. Hopefully they will understand there was
a great balance in the past about this kind of stuff, and that they need to
return to it. The park does look worn and people have noticed.
> The irony about his comment about spending too much
> time on the internet was that he had just finished a huge
> presentation on the Go network!
That was something wasn't it? ;) Plus I do understand you did NOT mention
the web at all in your questions - you only identified yourself as a recent
visitor - and he went ahead and brought up the net reference on his own. ;)
My guess here is that he's fully aware of the site and what it shows,
despite the answer he may have given you.
Bryan Walton
Al Lutz wrote in message <7b0eip$c5d$1...@oak.prod.itd.earthlink.net>...
>Bryan Walton wrote:
>> My main purpose was not to get Eisner to admit to
>> maintenance problems. As you mentioned, he could
>> hardly admit to that in a public forum. What I hoped
>> to get accomplished was to state our views at the
>> highest level of the company and to get him to agree
>> to look at it, which he essentially did.
>
>And thank you again for doing that Bryan. You helped shine a little light
>on things. I didn't identify you only because I didn't see you post on
this
>earlier.
>
Thank you for your discretion.
>That was something wasn't it? ;) Plus I do understand you did NOT mention
>the web at all in your questions - you only identified yourself as a recent
>visitor - and he went ahead and brought up the net reference on his own.
;)
I made it a point of not mentioning the net, which goes to show something.
Steve Soares
Thank you SO MUCH for posting this! I've gone to a couple of these when they
held them in Florida. I know they're a lot of fun. I hope they hold them in
Florida again some day. It was nice to read a first-hand account. Thanks
again!
Jason & Hope Maxwell wrote:
Bryan Walton
knows that Eisner spends a great deal of time on the internet, both at work
and at home. The irony of the whole thing is that Eisner gave a huge
presentation on the Go Network at the meeting.
Bryan Walton
rya...@cwnet.com wrote in message <7b0c3m$2mj$1...@nnrp1.dejanews.com>...
>"Jason & Hope Maxwell" <jhma...@earthlink.net> wrote:
>>
>> 2nd question was
>> regarding the maintence at DL. I knew that Eisner could not say that
there
>> is a problem, he squirmed while answering but claimed that the lightbulbs
>> are checked every night, and there was no way that sound in Space Mtn.
could
>> not work for weeks at a time. He also said, "you spend too much time on
the
>> internet," but the guy who asked the question, started off by saying,
"while
>> on vacation, I noticed," so Eisner must know about the Disneyland Blues
>> page.
>
blus...@my-dejanews.com
"Bryan Walton" <brya...@email.msn.com> wrote:
> My main purpose was not to get Eisner to admit to maintenance problems. As
> you mentioned, he could hardly admit to that in a public forum. What I
> hoped to get accomplished was to state our views at the highest level of the
> company and to get him to agree to look at it, which he essentially did.
Bryan, thank you from the bottom of my heart for having done that. I take it
as a personal favor and appreciate it as such. :)
blusilva (who spends too much time on the Internet, and has no intentions of
spending any of it utilizing the Go Network)
Justin
Al Lutz wrote:
> First, thank you Hope for writing the meeting up!
>
> Jason & Hope Maxwell wrote
> > The final section was Q&A. There were about 10 questions. 1st
> > question was a little boy who wanted to know what fun stuff
> > Disney would have on the internet, and Eisner directed him to
> > DisneyBlast. 2nd question was regarding the maintence at DL.
> > I knew that Eisner could not say that there is a problem, he
> > squirmed while answering but claimed that the lightbulbs are
> > checked every night, and there was no way that sound in Space
> > Mtn. could not work for weeks at a time. He also said, "you spend
> > too much time on the internet," but the guy who asked the question,
> > started off by saying, "while on vacation, I noticed," so Eisner must
> > know about the Disneyland Blues page. We'll see what happens
>
> I got an e-mail from from the person who actually asked the question,
> filling me in on this also.
>
> I am hoping, with that one question, that more may have been done with
> getting some action taken than ever before. I do know Eisner is aware of the
> site. :)
>
> Let's hope they understand that people do notice these little things.
>
> Again, thanks, you [and in particular the person who asked the questions],
> it helped make my day.
>