Production history
How did Disney downsize its management?
Disney's Hollywood Studios
Disney's Hollywood Studios Doug Lipp Dream On Silly Dreamer List of management of The Walt Disney Company The Walt Disney Company
Disney's_Hollywood_Studios-Production_history Doug_Lipp-"Disney_U" Dream_On_Silly_Dreamer-Release_and_reception List_of_management_of_The_Walt_Disney_Company-Walt_Disney_International The_Walt_Disney_Company-1972–1984:_Theatrical_malaise_and_new_leadership
The Walt Disney Company's original concept of the Disney-MGM Studios was to operate it as a full fledged television and motion picture production facility, not just a theme park. In 1988, among the first feature-length movies filmed at the facility, prior to its completion and opening as a theme park, were "Ernest Saves Christmas" and "Newsies". When the park opened in 1989, the studio/production facilities housed two major components, the first of which was Walt Disney Feature Animation Florida, where Disney produced a number of projects, including "Mulan", "Lilo & Stitch", "Brother Bear", and sequences from other 1990s-early 2000s Disney animated features. The second, larger component was Walt Disney Studios Florida, which consisted of three sound stages used for various Disney projects including The Disney Channel's "Mickey Mouse Club", "Teen Win, Lose or Draw" and "Adventures in Wonderland". Several third party productions also used the Studios, including "Superboy" (first season only, from 1988–1989), "Thunder in Paradise", a revival of "Let's Make a Deal", special broadcasts of "Wheel of Fortune" and airplane interior sequences for the feature film "Passenger 57". In addition, a number of music videos and several tapings for World Championship Wrestling (as well as live broadcasts of WCW Monday Nitro) were also shot there. Even The Post Group had a Florida-based post-production facility located on the Studio lot throughout the 1990s. All these production and post-production facilities were constructed to be an integral part of the theme park's Backstage Studio Tour as well. During the closing credits of the "Mickey Mouse Club" (later, "MMC" in its final seasons) and "Adventures in Wonderland", the lit Disney-MGM water tower appeared on the screen and one of the cast said, "(insert show title here) was taped at the Disney-MGM Studios at the Walt Disney World Resort, Lake Buena Vista, Florida." Disney management (including CEO Michael Eisner) decided to downsize Disney's Florida operations by closing the animation studio, laying-off personnel and then moving the operations to the main animation studio in Burbank, California. A radio studio is also located on the lot, appropriately behind "Sounds Dangerous". It originally housed the first children's radio network Radio Aahs which rented the studio. Later, Disney founded Radio Disney and essentially drove Radio Aahs out of business. Radio Disney decided it was no longer profitable to operate in Florida so they moved all of their shows from the Disney-MGM Studios to the Radio Disney headquarters in Dallas, Texas and the once bustling Disney Studios Florida radio studios are now used as remote studios for radio shows that are visiting Disney or the Orlando area and need a broadcast facility.
Lipp and McGraw Hill published "Disney U: How Disney University Develops the World's Most Engaged, Loyal, and Customer-Centric Employees" in March 2013. In this book, he has discussed how Disney University got its start and the secrets to its success. Doug interviewed Disney legends, Disney University founders, Disney executives and visionaries to write the book. The book features interviews with 25 former Disney executives, stories about corporation's early days and 13 lessons from Disney University. Michael Eisner, former CEO and chairman of The Walt Disney Company wrote about "Disney U", "When I first arrived at The Walt Disney Company, I was surprised to find I had to go back to school--at Disney University! There, I learned the fundamentals of guest service that consistently gave Disney a tremendous advantage in the marketplace. Now, anyone can know these secrets of success thanks to Doug Lipp's informative book. No matter what your business, the lessons taught at Disney University will prove invaluable."
Produced and released independently by Lund and West's WestLund Productions, "Dream On, Silly Dreamer" debuted at the Animex International Festival of Animation in the United Kingdom in January 2005, and played at other film festivals throughout the year. WestLund released the film on DVD the following year, along with extended versions of several of the film's scenes and footage of its premieres at several film festivals. A review by Steve Daily of "Entertainment Weekly" gave the film a B+ grade, likening it to "a real-life version of "The Office" The film was produced and released in the midst of a public corporate battle between The Walt Disney Company's CEO Michael Eisner and Roy E. Disney, formerly a Disney board member and the chairman of Feature Animation. Roy Disney, who was calling for Eisner's resignation in the face of a number of issues with his management, including laying off the traditional animation unit, praised "Dream on Silly Dreamer", saying in a statement that "I have to say how very human a face it puts on an institutional tragedy." Following Eisner's resignation in 2005, Roy E. Disney returned to the Disney board, and the studio reinstated a traditional feature animation unit following the merger of Walt Disney Animation Studios with Pixar Animation Studios. 
  Andy Bird – Chairman, Walt Disney International  
While Walt Disney Productions continued releasing family-friendly films throughout the 1970s, such as "Escape to Witch Mountain" (1975) and "Freaky Friday" (1976), the films did not fare as well at the box office as earlier material. However, the animation studio saw success with "Robin Hood" (1973), "The Rescuers" (1977), and "The Fox and the Hound" (1981). As head of the studio, Miller attempted to make films to drive the profitable teenage market who generally passed on seeing Disney movies. Inspired by the popularity of ', the Disney studio produced the science-fiction adventure "The Black Hole" in 1979 that cost $20 million to make, but was lost in "Star Wars wake. "The Black Hole" was the first Disney production to carry a PG rating in the United States. Disney dabbled in the horror genre with "The Watcher in the Woods", and financed the boldly innovative "Tron"; both films were released to minimal success. Disney also hired outside producers for film projects, which had never been done before in the studio's history. In 1979, Disney entered a joint venture with Paramount Pictures on the production of the 1980 film adaptation of "Popeye" and "Dragonslayer" (1981); the first time Disney collaborated with another studio. Paramount distributed Disney films in Canada at the time, and it was hoped that Disney's marketing prestige would help sell the two films. Finally, in 1982, the Disney family sold the naming rights and rail-based attractions to the Disney film studio for 818,461 shares of Disney stock then worth $42.6 million none of which went to Retlaw. Also, Roy E. Disney objected to the overvalued purchase price of the naming right and voted against the purchase as a Disney board director. The 1983 release of Mickey's Christmas Carol began a string of successful movies, starting with "Never Cry Wolf" and the Ray Bradbury adaptation "Something Wicked This Way Comes". In 1984, Disney CEO Ron Miller created Touchstone Pictures as a brand for Disney to release more major release motion pictures. Touchstone's first release was the comedy "Splash" (1984), which was a box office success. With "The Wonderful World of Disney" remaining a prime-time staple, Disney returned to television in the 1970s with syndicated programing such as the anthology series "The Mouse Factory" and a brief revival of the "Mickey Mouse Club". In 1980, Disney launched Walt Disney Home Video to take advantage of the newly emerging videocassette market. On April 18, 1983, The Disney Channel debuted as a subscription-level channel on cable systems nationwide, featuring its large library of classic films and TV series, along with original programming and family-friendly third-party offerings. Walt Disney World received much of the company's attention through the 1970s and into the 1980s. In 1978, Disney executives announced plans for the second Walt Disney World theme park, EPCOT Center, which would open in October 1982. Inspired by Walt Disney's dream of a futuristic model city, EPCOT Center was built as a "permanent World's Fair", complete with exhibits sponsored by major American corporations, as well as pavilions based on the cultures of other nations. In Japan, the Oriental Land Company partnered with Walt Disney Productions to build the first Disney theme park outside of the United States, Tokyo Disneyland, which opened in April 1983. Despite the success of the Disney Channel and its new theme park creations, Walt Disney Productions was financially vulnerable. Its film library was valuable, but offered few current successes, and its leadership team was unable to keep up with other studios, particularly the works of Don Bluth, who defected from Disney in 1979. By the early 1980s, the parks were generating 70% of Disney's income. In 1984, financier Saul Steinberg's Reliance Group Holdings launched a hostile takeover bid for Walt Disney Productions, with the intent of selling off some of its operations. Disney bought out Reliance's 11.1% stake in the company. However, another shareholder filed suit claiming the deal devaluated Disney's stock and for Disney management to retain their positions. The shareholder lawsuit was settled in 1989 for a total of $45 million from Disney and Reliance. 