Syd Lexia wrote:

Eisner was good for the company when he first took over. When he took over, Disney wasn't making new movies. They were just re-releasing their classics into theaters for easy money. He was the one got them BACK into animation with projects like The Little Mermaid and Beauty & The Beast. But somewhere along the way, he got lazy, stupid, or crazy. His 21st century vision for Disney for horrible.

You should check out the book "Disneywar," released around the time Eisner got the boot. I read it a couple years ago, it's absolutely fascinating. Chronicles the rise of the Disney machine under Eisner and how it went wrong. SPOILER: Eisner as a person is a big steaming pile of shit. No surprise really.

Disney's return to profitability under Eisner wasn't due to their animated films, not at first. Eisner's idea was to greenlight cheaply-made live-action films chiefly under the Buena Vista banner and release them rapid fire. The production costs were low because they hired has-been actors and kept the budgets tight. Down and Out in Beverly Hills is but one example of what they came up with. While this strategy worked, in that profits increased, it was the first step in Disney becoming something very different from what it was. Whether you think that's good or bad is a matter of personal opinion. The animation division was really the work of Jeffrey Katzenberg, whom people might remember as one of the founders of Dreamworks after Eisner stabbed him in the back multiple times and he left Disney(the book goes into this in detail, it's amazing how Eisner operated, very Machiavellian.) Eisner put him in charge basically to just get The Black Cauldron out the door, as it was WAY over budget and had gone through three total re-writes after animation had begun. It was Katzenberg's initiative after Cauldron's release to get more animated features made that resulted in The Little Mermaid, which was a massive success. The rest is history.

Eisner did preside over the revival of Disney animation, this is true. However, he ALSO presided over the total corruption of Walt Disney's view for the company, in almost every way imaginable. Walt Disney was all-American, whatever you may think of that. He liked making a profit, but he also liked making wholesome entertainment. Disney is the polar opposite of that today, no matter what the facade appears to be.

The Disney star machine takes kids, manufactures them into pre-teen stars with almost no natural talent, and sells the crap to kids. Then, when said stars get older, they transition them into the teen star(still with almost no natural talent,) and sell that crap to teens. Then, as the "star" reaches adulthood, Disney cuts them looses and tosses them to the wolves of Hollywood, where they are fodder for tabloids and drug dealers. The whole way along they are pushing very specific ideals upon kids, and they're not what I'd personally want my daughters absorbing. Britney Spears is the almost perfect example of this. She's real wholesome, right? A great role model for little Shaniqua.

I could go on and on about Eisner-era Disney's "contributions" to society, but it would venture beyond pop-culture, so it would be best saved for another venue.

Anyway, check out "Disneywar." It should be at the public library, that's where I read it.

Satirical wrote:

The last movie I saw was Little Mermaid Ariel's Beginning, I was expecting the music to be up to par with the original man was I dissapointed.

That's because the guys who wrote the music for the original died of AIDS.

Seriously.

The whole Disney Afternoon was great. Added immeasurable value to my childhood.

I would be curious to know just who is responsible for those cartoons being made. I think it was related to the Disney Channel, which at the time was a pay cable channel, similar to HBO. Disney Channel was pretty good back then actually, tons of good old stuff along with the new. No Hannah Montana, that's for damn sure.

Actually, if my memory serves me right(it's been a few years since I read it,) you're spot on in your analysis. It was really quite similar to the Duke Nukem Forever saga. They'd almost get the thing done, and then the script would be re-written, taking them almost back to square one. This happened at least three times, which must have been a nightmare for the animators.