Bob Iger has stepped down per immediate as CEO of Disney according to a statement made by the company. Iger was the CEO of Disney for 15 years.
Iger, 69 years old, had planned to retire sooner but wanted to make sure that the takeover of 21st Century Fox went well. Next to that Disney+ has launched too so Iger decided it was the right time to call it quits and let someone else take over the duty of CEO.
Iger’s successor is Bob Chapek. Chapek has led the Disney merchandise and Disney theme parks department in recent years. Iger will stay on as chairman of the board until the end of 2021.
Iger took over as CEO from Michael Eisner back in 2005 and has since acquired Pixar, Marvel and Lucasarts including the Star Wars franchise and the Indiana Jones franchise.
Marvel, Star Wars and Pixar under the Disney banner
All of the acquisitions made under the Iger era were bold acquisitions.
Marvel was taken over and it divided fans. Most of them had were afraid that the comics would feature Mickey Mouse cameos or that Marvel from now on would aim for a younger audience in terms of writing. While I agree that the comics of Marvel have declined in quality in both the art department and storytelling, the decline was already set even before Marvel was acquired by Disney. The Marvel Cinematic Universe however turned out to be an undivided succes with The Avengers breaking the record of the Titanic in terms box office money.
The Star Wars reboot however was a total bust. The movies aren’t well liked among the old fans. And I have to agree. The movies miss the old magic of the Force. The Force seems to be an excuse for funky acrobatics and misses the depths of the old philosophies back when Lucas was still in control of the franchise.
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The Star Wars license for videogames went to EA Games and Battlefront 2 was controversial for having microtransactions and lootboxes in game. A panic move by EA Games was that all the lootboxes would be free but Disney did take a closer look at EA Games’ activities regarding the Star Wars license.
Pixar however continued to thrive under the Disney banner and has made many more box office hits. But they have been under fire with the latest installment of Toy Story since most fans find that the franchise should have been put to an end with that third sequel of the movie.
What do you think of Bob Iger’s decisions and acquisitions? Love them or hate them, let me know in the comments!
