Obviously, the people heading up the Walt Disney Company played major roles in its theme park legacy. Only six have served as Disney’s Chief Executive Officers, and most had definite impacts on Disney’s theme parks. Read about the affects each of them had below.
1. Roy O. Disney (1929-1971)
Image: Disney
Roy O. Disney, Walt Disney’s brother, was the first CEO of the Walt Disney Company. Although Disneyland was very much Walt’s baby, Roy did secure the financial deal with ABC that helped to fund its construction (in exchange for Walt producing and starring in a programme on the TV network). Roy also purchased the very first Disneyland ticket. He arranged the pre-purchase of ticket number 1 from the manager of admissions, Curtis Linberry. That ticket is currently in the possession of Disney archives Dave Smith. You can look at a picture of it here.
Roy O. Disney had a much more significant role in Disney World. When Walt died in the midst of its production, Roy came out of retirement to see the project through to its completion. Not as charismatic or creative as his brother, Roy O. Disney deferred most of the creative decisions to Richard Irvine, a senior member of Walt Disney Imagineering. Roy mainly handled the financials, impressively raising the $400 million necessary for the Magic Kingdom to be made. He also made Walt’s final wishes a priority, refusing to change the location of the park and insisting that the then-titled “Disney World” be renamed to “Walt Disney World” to honor his brother.
So, how significant was Roy’s role in the Disney Parks? A Walt Disney Productions publication called The National Champion: A Report to Participants in Disneyland and Walt Disney World went as far as to declare that Roy had the most significant role in the creation of Walt Disney World. That’s certainly something up for debate among Disney enthusiasts (after all, the conception and early plans mainly came from Walt himself) but it says a lot that something published by the Walt Disney Company would give such high praise to Roy O. Disney.
2. Donn Tatum (1971-1976)
Image: Disney
Donn B. Tatum was the first CEO of the Walt Disney Company not a member of the Disney bloodline. He wasn’t the CEO for a long time, but he did have many years with the company to make an impact on the Disney parks legacy. He was with the Walt Disney Company from 1956, when he served as a production business manager, to 1980, by which point he’d had a number of positions including that of a CEO. He is credited as a major participant in the creation and execution of Walt Disney World, EPCOT Center and Tokyo Disneyland. He is honored on Main Street in the Magic Kingdom, where his name is on one of the windows.
3. E. Cardon Walker (1976-1983)
A top Disney executive, the company’s next CEO also played a big role in the early development of Disney parks in Florida. Another concern for him was expanding Disney’s presence internationally, which included Tokyo Disneyland, the first Disney park not found in the United States. Walker gave the dedications for both Epcot and Tokyo Disneyland.
4. Ron W. Miller (1983-1984)
Ron W. Miller had easily the shortest tenure as the Walt Disney Company’s Chief Executive Officer, and his role in the Disney theme parks is similarly non-extensive. He was the son-in-law of Walt Disney, so nepotism might explain why his time as both the president and CEO of Disney was short-lived. He did produce Tron, a property which has popped up several times in the Disney parks.
5. Michael Eisner (1984-2005)
Image: Disney
Michael Eisner, who followed Ron W. Miller after he was ousted from the company, may be one of the most important CEOs for Disney’s theme park legacy. He presided over the Walt Disney Company during the 1990s, which he named the “Disney Decade” because of his massive plans for Disney and especially Disney theme parks.
In his early years, Eisner poured money into new developments such as Disney-MGM Studios, with spectacular success. But his unbroken run of triumphs was shattered when Euro Disney proven to be a financial disaster on its debut in 1992. As a result, a lot of his theme park ideas never happened, like Disney’s America, Port Disney and WestCOT, but I think most would agree that they’re still a very significant part of the Disney theme parks’ legacy.
Eisner actually ended up under fire because he was so timid about making those theme parks happen following the Euro Disney experience. Roy E. Disney, the son of Roy O. Disney, resigned from his positions as the Walt Disney Company’s vice chairman and chairman of Walt Disney Features Animation, and blasted Michael Eisner on the way out. Roy the 2nd accused him of, among other things, taking the “soul” out of Disney and not being daring enough with his theme park ambitions. A corporate battled named the Save Disney War led to Eisner stepping down from his position as a CEO one year before his contract was supposed to expire.
Two parks that did happen under Michael’s Eisner’s watch were Disneyland Paris and California Adventure. Admittedly, both parks had rough starts, but I say that even the problematic history of the Disney parks is important to the theme park legacy. It’s also important to remember that both parks eventually turned around.
6. Robert Iger (2005-Present)
Image: Wikipedia
The legacy of Robert Iger, Disney’s current CEO, is unfinished. In 2006 Disney acquired Pixar Animation Studios, making it easier for the parks to feature characters from beloved movies like Toy Story, Monster’s Inc., A Bug’s Life, Cars and more. The acquisition of Marvel Entertainment in 2009 meant a lot for Disney as both a creator of feature films and television and also as a theme park empire. Few Marvel attractions have made it to the Disney parks because the rights to the characters had already been sold off, but that lack of movement won’t last forever.
Disney acquired Star Wars in 2013, and that’s expected to result in whole areas devoted to its characters and concepts. Lastly, Iger was a factor in the decision to make Avatar Land in the Animal Kingdom, which doesn’t seem to be a popular decision but might end up being the right one. Iger’s contract goes through June of 2018, so he has a lot more time to expand his legacy – including presiding over the debut of Shanghai Disneyland.
