Chapter 263 It’s Time to Return Home

Many media outlets wanted to interview Disney and Eisner, but Eisner declined all interviews, and a Disney spokesperson declined to comment.

On the Internet, many Disney investors shouted slogans:

“No Eisner! We want Justin Wu!

No Eisner! We want Pixar!

No Eisner! We want Shrek! "

Looking at these remarks, Eisner was furious: "What do they know?! They know nothing! It was me who led Disney to win the ABC TV station! It was me who expanded Disney's channels to the world! Without me, where would we be now?" Disney?”

Now Eisner no longer looks like he used to sit upright in the president's chair, but is walking back and forth in the office with some anxiety.

Although Roy Disney has been kicked out of the company, he is still Disney's largest individual shareholder. In fact, the shares he holds are less than 1%, but now he has joined forces with some shareholders and has launched a proposal to remove him as CEO.

The current situation makes Eisner feel very difficult. Before, there was only Roy Disney, so we only need to deal with him alone, and public opinion can be controlled.

But now Wu Yuchen, Jobs, Katzenberg, Ovitz and others are attacking him at this juncture. Even if he refutes one by one, it will not be effective.

In terms of public opinion, he has fallen completely at a disadvantage. His reputation and image in the hearts of small and medium-sized shareholders are probably ruined.

But that doesn't mean he really lost. More than half of Disney's shares are in the hands of funds, consortiums and other institutions. As long as they still support him, Eisner can still secure his position!

Thinking of this, Eisner walked back to his desk, picked up the phone and started making calls.

He believed that these institutional major shareholders would not be as brainless as retail investors, without any judgment of their own, and would scream when they were fooled by Wu Yuchen and others.

As soon as the call was connected, Eisner took the initiative to say hello politely: "Hello, Mr. Bass, I am Eisner. Regarding this shareholders meeting..."

"Do you want to talk about your proposal?"

"Yes. Mr. Bass, you know, I have been at Disney for 18 years, and I led Disney from the brink of bankruptcy to a large company worth tens of billions..."

Buzz interrupted him directly: "Eisner, I don't want to hear you talk about history. I only know that the current Disney stock price is very ugly! My friends and I are very, very unhappy!"

Eisner immediately explained: "Mr. Bass, the environment in the past two years has been very bad. First the Internet bubble burst, and then 911. These were all big blows to Disney and seriously affected the company's business..."

"Only incompetent people will make excuses for themselves. Eisner, I don't want to hear so many explanations. In just two years, my investment in Disney has shrunk by more than half. I have given you a high tolerance! Now it seems, Your management level and philosophy at Disney are very disconcerting!”

"No, Mr. Bass, please don't believe the nonsense of those outside. You should know that in the process of managing the company, you will inevitably have to form grudges with some guys who are fighting for power and profit..."

"It's not just outside, right? Your Disney Animation Department has a lot of complaints about you!"

"What?" Eisner asked with confusion on his face.

Bass on the other side sneered:

"Even the inside of your own company is out of control. It seems that you are no longer suitable to sit in this position."

After saying that, he hung up the phone. And Eisner couldn't help but feel awe-struck, and hurriedly asked around to find out what happened that he didn't know about.

After a while, he got a joint letter, which had been sent to Disney's major shareholders. The initiator this time is Disney’s animation department.

Nearly every former and current employee of the animation department signed the letter.

“…the unique tradition of telling stories through pictures, humor and humanity created by Disney has been overturned and replaced by empty politically correct slogans, clichéd one-liners and cliched plots. Disney’s foundation has been destroyed. !

Banish Eisner and save Disney! "

After reading it, Eisner clutched the letter in his hand tightly, his face was ferocious and ugly, and he kept repeating: "A group of traitors, a group of traitors!"

But no matter how harsh the curse was, it could not hide the panic in his heart at this time. Eisner lay on his back on the chair with a pale face. He knew that without the support of the major shareholders, he was destined to be doomed this time!

On the other side, Wu Yuchen laughed and said: "Katzenberg, you really instigated the rebellion of the entire Disney animation department!"

Katzenberg clinked the wine glass in his hand with Wu Yuchen's, and happily accepted the compliment: "After all, I used to be the director of Disney's animation department, so it's not surprising that I have met a few old friends~"

Obviously, this collective jump in Disney’s animation department was caused by Katzenberg’s efforts.

Of course, it's not that he, an outsider, has so much energy that he instigated the entire Disney animation department to rebel, but that Disney's animation department itself had quite a lot of complaints about Eisner.

There have always been conservatives and newbies in the Disney Animation Department itself. The conservatives still insist on the hand-drawn 2D animation of Disney's peak period, while the new ones advocate 3D animation. This has also led to constant disputes in the Disney Animation Department. No one can convince the other, and it has been difficult to achieve results due to internal friction.

But with the rise of Pixar in recent years, Disney's entire animation department has been scolded. Conservatives scolded Eisner for not adhering to Disney traditions, while newer factions believed that Eisner did not provide enough support and cultivated Pixar, a foreign enemy. Both parties were unhappy with Eisner.

After Roy Disney launched a vigorous campaign to save Disney, the animation department was also encouraged by Katzenberg. A group of retired animation department employees even stood up to support Roy Disney, so the animation department The department jointly signed a letter of opposition to Eisner and submitted it directly to the major shareholders.

Katzenberg smiled at Wu Yuchen and said: "As far as I know, many major shareholders have expressed dissatisfaction with Eisner this time. This shareholders' meeting may be his last!"

"Hahaha, I really want to see what Eisner's expression looks like now!"

What does Eisner look like? Throughout the entire shareholders' meeting, he had a stern face. Faced with many shareholders' accusations against him in person, he remained silent. He knew that no matter what he said or did, it would be meaningless, and the outcome was already doomed.

When 78% of shareholders voted against Eisner, it meant that the former Disney emperor was pulled from his high position.

Immediately after the shareholder meeting, Disney's board of directors held an internal meeting. They knew they had to act on the outcome of the vote and decided to remove Michael as chairman but keep him as CEO for the time being.

After Wu Yuchen hung up the phone, he showed a faint smile. He knew that this move was not because he still had hope for Eisner, but because Disney would elect a new leader within six months, and this six months was a transition period for the old and new leaders.

As for who Disney’s new leader will choose, Wu Yuchen doesn’t know. You must know that because of his influence, Eisner was dismissed several years earlier than in his previous life, so he did not know whether Robert Iger would be elected now like in his previous life.

But to be honest, who Disney chooses as the new head will not have much impact on him. Wu Yuchen has reached the point where he no longer even needs to look at the faces of the presidents of these major studios. Rather, they wanted to win over Wu Yuchen for cooperation.

To put it bluntly, if Wu Yuchen had the current influence two or three years ago, Eisner would not have chosen to backstab Wu Yuchen at that time, but would only befriend him.

To be honest, if it hadn't been for Eisner's behavior, Wu Yuchen might not have chosen to film "Pirate King". The subsequent cooperation with DreamWorks can be said to be triggered by this.

The process of Wu Yuchen's confrontation with Eisner in the past two years is also the process of his gradually reaching the top in Hollywood.

"Pirates" defeated "Pearl Harbor" head-on, causing it to suffer a huge loss at the box office. Then "A Beautiful Mind" won a big win at the Oscars, personally sniping Harvey's "Chicago", and Disney's live-action films had all the results. He was defeated and defeated.

Although it cannot be said that Eisner collapsed because of him, Wu Yuchen was also involved in the important rhythm of every step.

Wu Yuchen was naturally happy to avenge the backstab with his own hands. Thinking that Eisner, who was so arrogant at the time, has now been removed from power, also makes Wu Yuchen sigh with emotion, and he feels a sense of emptiness after a great revenge is avenged.

Then Wu Yuchen smiled and shook his head. He still has so many schedules waiting for him to be busy, and the Oscar for Best Director is still waiting for him to win. What a waste!

The incident of Eisner's resignation this time also made Wu Yuchen deeply feel what it means to have more help for those who are in the right way, and less help for those who are unscrupulous.

Eisner has been relying on his power for many years, full of arrogance and prejudice, and has constantly offended people, which has led to today's situation. Therefore, Wu Yuchen must use him as a counterexample to warn himself. He is now developing in the direction of a successful person in Hollywood, and has established interest relationships with many forces. If these forces cannot do without him, the road will become smoother. The better to go.

The outside world didn't react that much to Eisner's resignation. After all, ordinary people and movie fans really didn't pay that much attention to him. But it still caused quite a stir in the Hollywood industry.

After all, he was the president who had ruled Disney for 18 years. He was previously known as one of the most powerful figures in Hollywood. But now he was ousted in such a dejected manner. Many people who paid attention to this matter were shocked and lamented. .

Although the direct cause this time was Roy Disney's campaign to save Disney, anyone who is interested can find out that there are several key figures who also played a significant role in promoting it, such as Wu Yuchen and Katzenberg. Anti-Eisner Alliance.

Wu Yuchen, Katzenberg, and Steve Jobs are all not easy people.

In the process of taking down Eisner this time, several people stood on a united front and had a tacit understanding. Although it was unknown whether they would still be this close after Eisner's downfall, no one wanted to test it.

The outside world doesn't know, but Wu Yuchen knows that their so-called anti-Eisner alliance is indeed not that close. It is because everyone hates Eisner that they have only cooperated a few times.

However, in the process, he also formed friendships with Katzenberg and Jobs.

He is now cooperating with DreamWorks himself, and his relationship with Katzenberg has become closer as a result. And with Jobs, he even supported Jobs as a shareholder of Apple. This kind of trust and support made Jobs very grateful to him. Although the two have not been promoted to good friends now, they are definitely not casual acquaintances.

"Finally completed the production!" Wu Yuchen breathed out. It took him two months from preparation to completion of the movie "Every Moment", which was actually quite fast.

Overall, he was quite satisfied with the quality of the film, at least it was an Olympic-level film.

However, he also knows that if he only relies on "The Hours" to compete for best director this year, the hope is not that great. So he plans to shoot another Olympic movie.

Wu Yuchen picked up a newspaper on the table:

"Commander George W. Bush once again mentioned the Middle East anti-terrorism strategy at West Point Military Academy!"

Last year, due to the September 11 attacks, George W. Bush held high the banner of anti-terrorism and legitimately launched a "just" war against Afghanistan. Although Afghanistan has been defeated, nothing has been gained from the so-called organization and pulling the lamp. This cannot be explained to the people. Domestic opposition has also begun to rise, and the mood against Xiaobu is increasing.

Therefore, the team headed by Xiaobu took another step. Since Afghanistan could not open up the situation, it started with Iraq and used the Iraq War to divert domestic attention and conflicts in the United States.

In early 2002, George W. Bush emphasized the threat posed by Iraq in his State of the Union address and listed it as an "axis of evil" country.

Two months later, he pointed out that according to reliable information, Iraq possesses terrible weapons of mass destruction.

A few days ago, he went to West Point Military Academy to give a long speech, saying that "preemptive" strikes should be carried out against terrorists and hostile countries possessing biological, chemical and nuclear weapons.

His thoughts were completely preparatory to war. It can be said that Sima Zhao's thoughts were known to everyone.

But at this time, the domestic anti-war wave also rose. We haven't solved Afghanistan yet, and we want to fight Iraq again?

If Afghanistan was a counter-terrorism operation in the past, and American people had high support for revenge for 9/11, then this time it is really a bit ridiculous.

Many celebrities began to stand up against the war, and Hollywood, as a pioneer, directly expressed its anti-war and pursuit of peace attitudes.

But Wu Yuchen knew that these current voices could not stop Xiaobu. He was determined to launch this war, and the time would be early next year.

Oscar awards are closely related to social trends. During next year's Oscars, the biggest theme will be anti-war.

So Wu Yuchen has also made up his mind that the next movie will focus on this aspect.

It’s time to return home!