March 16, 2001

1:16 AM

Disney's Michael Eisner on what to do about all those kids who use Napster: Arrest and prosecute the little SOBs. I know I'd sleep better at night knowing that those devious conspiratorial 11-year-olds were behind bars. [second item]
posted by aaron (15 comments total)

HAHAHA, Good luck prosecution all 20 million napster users.
posted by bytecode at 4:15 AM on March 16, 2001

Very interesting approach... alienate 20 million users that may really like what you offer and purchase something from you down the road.
posted by vanderwal at 5:05 AM on March 16, 2001

So listening to a 3-minute song is stealing, but charging $35 for a t-shirt with a Mickey Mouse on it isn't? (Okay, I know it's not, capitalism, blah blah blah, but still. And have you seen what a Coke costs at Disney World lately? Yeesh.)

I guess I'm not surprised that Michael Eisner made this remark, given Disney's mine-mine-mine approach to business.
posted by amyscoop at 5:13 AM on March 16, 2001

Actually, I was at Disney a few weeks ago and found most of the food prices to be quite reasonable. $7-$10 at most of the park's food joints and big-ass servings. (well, to this Canadian's eyes all the food joints in Florida served big-ass servings)
posted by cCranium at 5:35 AM on March 16, 2001

Huh? I don't know what Disney park you've been to. But, in Florida, the prices are horrible. One - no shirts under 20 bucks. No drinks under 5. No main servings (hotdog/burger) under 7 and so on.

I'm thinking that they make their money through all the food and stores, but can't help themselves but do a cover charge at the front.

Disney is rightfully deemed evil. It's been evil for the longest time now. It's only creative development for the last couple of year has been done by Pixar (Toy Story and Toy Story 2), it's own been done in the 50's, Pinocchio, Snow White, Dumbo, now they spin out stuff like AirBud4 or Monkey on ice. And the Disney Channel? Ohh puh-lease!
posted by tiaka at 5:40 AM on March 16, 2001

What few don't know about *The Eyz* (his street name) is that he started learning about biz in the *family*. *Get the kids addicted, the jack up the price*. This has worked well for the controlled Disney *family* entertainment biz. He knows that there are grown kids out there singing the *Tiki Room* theme on the rooftops. They don't know why, but The Eyz knows they sampled the product early and once hooked it is hard to quit.

The Eyz is fearful this Napster gang is getting *his* kids addicted. He fears he does not control the pipeline anymore. Eyz now threatens to bring in his *bangers*, whom he nicknames *The Law* to the put the squeeze on the Napster gang, which is now back-up by another organization, the *BMG Skwad*.


posted by vanderwal at 5:51 AM on March 16, 2001

Also, remember Disney's fairly maverick approach to copyright: exploit public domain stories for your films, while seeking to extend and maintain copyright on your own materials for as long as possible. Um, hypocrisy?

Also, they're responsible for Fake Pooh. Unforgivable.
posted by holgate at 6:45 AM on March 16, 2001

Right, Pooh kinda sucked.
Anyone ever saw the Russian versions? Those were classics, the humor was sharp, it had meanings and so on. The songs were great too.

Here's a site that has some illustrations of the Russian version.
posted by tiaka at 6:56 AM on March 16, 2001

Got a title of one of these Russian versions that one might search for?
posted by rushmc at 7:34 AM on March 16, 2001

I suppose this is Eisner's idea of "family values."

Here's an idea: why not arrest and prosecute every tepid entertainment executive for years of banal entertainment? If the entertainment congolomerates had not jumped beihnd such atrocities as Britney Spears, animated Disney movie soundtracks loaded with endless collections of bland Sting tunes and brain-damaging Michael Bay blockbusters, the world might be a better place.


posted by ed at 7:39 AM on March 16, 2001

Those Russian illos are great, tiaka: especially the Eeyore, who isn't as morose as the classic iteration, but still looks well pissed off.
posted by holgate at 7:58 AM on March 16, 2001

Also, remember Disney's fairly maverick approach to copyright: exploit public domain stories for your films, while seeking to extend and maintain copyright on your own materials for as long as possible.

Not to mention, lifting whole storylines from classic anime without acknowledging the source:

The premise of [Kimba the White Lion] will sound very familiar to anyone who has seen the 1994 animated feature The Lion King. After the King of the Jungle... is killed... his baby son must return to defend his jungle which has been overtaken by a scarred, one-eyed, dark-maned lion.

posted by wiremommy at 9:45 AM on March 16, 2001

Is it more evil to overcharge for food and memorabilia or to financially support the company that does it?
posted by daveadams at 11:12 AM on March 16, 2001

I'm certainly not saying that Disney is great or anything, just that I felt they earned every dollar I spent on food products there.

At the Magic Kingdom I ate at some Alien Cafeteria thing, on the border of Tomorrowland. I paid $7 and got a chicken caesar salad, the likes of which - a generous breast, plenty of real bacon and more than one head of Romaine - would've cost somewhere around $10 or $13 in Canada, depending on where you get it. Even taking into consideration the exchange, it was reasonably priced.

At Epcot I ate at the ritzy place they have there, the restaurant where one wall's an aquarium. I paid $20 bucks for an excellent steak tip dish with some of the best mashed potatoes around.

At MGM I didn't buy any food, 'cause I went there after Epcot. And I didn't go to the Animal Kingdom.

On Paradise Island, drinks made with well liquors (rye, rum, vodka, etc) were $3.50

The memorabilia's pretty rediculously priced I agree with that, and I did keep walking when I saw the hot dog joint in Magic Kingdom that was shilling boiled pig asses for like, $4 bucks, but I really don't feel I overpaid for anything while I was down there.

(It definitely helped that admission tickets were part of the gift my parents gave me though)
posted by cCranium at 11:23 AM on March 16, 2001

Given that Disney actually sued a *preschool* because they had a mural with Disney characters on it, I find this totally unsurprising. Unfortunately (for them), the prospect of jailing affluent white kids is politically infeasible in this country.
posted by electro at 5:33 PM on March 16, 2001