As a stockholder with a big two shares of the company, I am naturally interested in the management of the exalted Disney organization. But I have more of an investment in the firm, as do most of us. The operation Walt founded was and is unique among motion picture studios and entertainment conglomerates due to its tradition and, most of all, its avuncular figure. No one could ever recognize a Warner Brother or tell you what Louis B. Mayer looked like…but most adults know Walt. In a century of filmmaking, he remains the only "star" mogul, not just to the public but to those who still see his surname on their paychecks. On the lot, in the offices, all around the theme parks, he remains a benevolent, haunting presence. Almost everyone who works there has had to make peace with their Inner Walt, deciding to embrace or reject what they know of him. Almost every one of them has had to defend some decision by arguing that it's what Walt would have done. And like a child who needs to break free of a smothering parental figure, they intermittently need to remember that Walt is dead and that we don't know for sure how, for example, he would have organized a DVD marketing campaign.
That's why the current takeover/reform movement by Roy E. Disney is so different from the usual battles for corporate control. Nothing of the sort could happen at Paramount or Sony. It might not even happen at Disney if Roy didn't look so much like his uncle. But the fact that he represents that lineage forces the question: Is the goal here to make a lot of money and uphold the Disney tradition? Or is it to just make as much money as possible? I would sure love to see the shareholders polled on this one. I'm guessing the "money + tradition" votes would win but either way, those on the losing side would probably start selling off their stock and the company's ownership would soon be united under one goal. After spending some time perusing Roy's website, savedisney.com, I know how I'd vote. Then again, I only have the two shares.