In a seeming expression of corporate humility that, more than almost any that came before it in human history, remains to be seen to be believed, Disney CEO Bob Iger has admitted that the House of Mouse’s recent productions focused far too heavily on social messaging and not enough on actually entertaining audiences.
The current steward of Disney’s sinking ship made this admission while speaking to the New York Times’ Andrew Ross Sorkin as part of the outlet’s 2023 DealBook Summit, an annual event wherein the aforementioned reporter hosts public interviews with a number of notable individuals from across the world’s various industries.
Amidst a general discussion with the CEO regarding the current state of the ever-changing movie industry, Sorkin eventually moved to ask Iger what he believed “might be a political question.”
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“We were talking about [Environmental, Social, and Corporate Governance investing] earlier this morning with [Chase Bank CEO] Jamie Dimon,” began Sorkin. “Part of what happened while you were gone from the company was a number of films that were green lit that people were describing as ‘woke’, with ‘woke’ characters, a fight with DeSantis – by the time you got back, I know people saw images of this, there was a morning outside of Disney World where folks literally with Swastika flags, and DeSantis flags, anti-gay flags, and guns, while families were trying to walk into the park.”
This all said, the host ultimately pressed Iger, “I’m curious what you think has happened and how you as a company are supposed to deal with that, and what you feel like what you can say and can’t say given this remarkably polarized climate we’re in.”
Clarifying as to whether or not Sorkin was inquiry was regarding the company’s content or the stances it takes on social issues and being met with the direct answer of “Both”, the Disney CEO then explained, “Let me start with content and your comment about ‘woke’ characters. Our primary objective in creating content as a company — save for ABC News, which is obviously to inform — is to entertain. Whether it’s sports, whether it’s Disney, whether it’s Marvel: make things that entertain people. And the good news is that there’s a marketplace out there that demands entertainment. It’s a fantastic business to be in because of that.”
Turning to address the actual substance of their recent content, Iger asserted, “I think what had happened over a period of time, and was building and building and maybe it reached a peak of some sort while I was gone, is that creators lost sight of what their number one objective needed to be.”
“Often when we entertain and we’ve entertained as a company over the 100 years we’ve been in business, we have entertained with values and with having a positive impact on the world in many different ways – I use Black Panther as a great example of that, just in terms of fostering acceptance, or the movie Coco, which Pixar did about the Day of the Dead,” he continued. “I like being able to do that: entertain and if you can infuse it with positive messages that have a good impact on the world, fantastic. But that should not be the objective.”
“When I came back what I have really tried to do is to return to our roots, which is, remember, we have to entertain first,” the returning Disney executive concluded. “It’s not about messages. Again, if your story can have a positive impact, so there’s that, and I’ve worked hard since I’ve been back, in reminding the creative community who are our partners, our employees, that that’s the objective. And I don’t really want to tolerate the opposite, so there’s that.”
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And while not specifically on the topic of pop culture or entertainment, for those curious, Iger explained in regards to the company’s stances on social issues, “When it comes time to taking positions about issue, I have tried really hard over the years – and I’m not calling them politics because a lot of them are not politics. It’s sometimes it’s what is right and what is wrong – when it comes time to taking positions, I have tried really hard in to apply a standard that asks, “Is this relevant to the company? to our people? to our company? to our shareholders?”
“That’s a very important test,” he said. “So, if we take a position on the environment, we care about the health of our planet, it’s because we believe that if the planet is not healthy, it will be bad for our business. People are not going to go to theme parks if they can’t breathe the air, for instance. That’s not politics, that’s just business. So, if anyone has accused us of being political when it comes to that, they’re just dead wrong.”
Iger then declared, “I could argue the same thing – it was interesting to listen [this morning] to the Vice President [Kamala Harris] – about immigration.”
“We have over 200,000 employees,” he elaborated. “We rely on a workforce that is talented, motivated, and interested in working for our company – the more than more diverse it is, the better off we are – and so a robust immigration policy is something that actually is pro-business for us.”
However, Iger also opined, “There are times when there are subjects that maybe we should not comment on because they’re not relevant. [Not] unless they are of such importance to the world.”
“For instance, I think commenting about terrorist acts is perfectly reasonable for the CEO of a large company,” he wound down his thoughts on the topic, “when by the way I think, you know, it’s interesting when you think about the world and who people listen to and what they expect of leaders, and I just think that there’s a time and a place for companies to weigh in on issues and it’s actually something that I think CEOs get paid to do.”
