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The Walt Disney Company has recently been on the receiving end of much criticism for the way in which it’s changed. Many have felt that the Mouse House is pandering to “woke audiences”—criticism that has been particularly highlighted after the casting choices for the upcoming live-action remakes of The Little Mermaid and Peter Pan and Wendy with Halle Bailey playing Princess Ariel and Yara Shahidi playing Tinker Bell. Much of this also comes after the debacle with the “Don’t Say Gay” law (officially termed the Parental Rights in Education) that caused the start of the Reedy Creek back and forth that has been making headlines for over a year now.
Disney characters in Magic Kingdom Park, Walt Disney World Resort/Credit: Disney
However, in the midst of all this, the face of the Walt Disney Company, Disney CEO Bob Iger, has been keeping his head held high and walking strong against the torrential downpour that Disney has been facing. Recently, Bob Iger was named one of TIME’s 100 most influential people of 2023. He even addressed the firing of Isaac “Ike” Perlmutter and talked about Disney and its relationship with the sports betting entity.
Disney CEO Bob Iger / Credit: CNN
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But that wasn’t all. Bob Iger even inadvertently addressed the many fans who feel Disney has “changed” too much. The interviewer asked Mr. Iger, “Can you change a company and keep the values?”
Bob Iger shared, “I actually think that if you study great companies over time and you try to figure out why some companies stand the test of time and others do not, you would quickly conclude that most companies fade away because they’ve abandoned the core values that created the company in the first place.”
Beacons of Magic, Tree of Life, Disney’s Animal Kingdom Theme Park, Walt Disney World Resort / Courtesy of Disney
Related: Iger Compares Himself to Steve Jobs in Interview
Mr. Iger continued that companies “in the interest of staying relevant…distance themselves from the essence of what they were.” The Disney CEO concluded that “There is a way to completely adhere to those same values but to present them to the world to your customers, and to your employees in much more relevant ways.”
It seems like Disney’s “changing ways” are here to stay.
