The Keys to the Kingdom (64 page)

Kevin Fedarko, “Mirror, Mirror, on the Wall…”
Time,
August 1, 1994.

Bernard Weinraub, “Pressure Growing at Disney,”
New York Times,
July 18, 1994.

Alan Citron, “Eisner Situation Raises Questions of Firm's No. 2s,”
Los Angeles Times,
July 19, 1994.

Joann S. Lublin, “Eisner's Surgery Underscores the Lack of Succession Planning at Many Firms,”
Wall Street Journal,
July 19, 1994.

Army Archerd, “Just for Variety,”
Variety,
July 29, 1994.

23:
A BITTER DIVORCE

AI: Pat Scanlon, John Dryer.

Auletter, “The Human Factor,” op. cit.

Bernard Weinraub with Geraldine Fabrikant, “Now Playing: Disney in Turmoil,”
New York Times,
September 23, 1994.

24:
BIG DREAMS

AI: Rich Frank, Dean Valentine.

Robert Sam Anson, “Heave-ho, Heave-ho! Mike Eisner Drives TV Head Out of His Grumpy Kingdom,”
New York Observer,
March 27, 1995.

Thomas R. King and John Lippman, “Stalwart Disney Is Roiled by Defections,”
Wall Street Journal,
March 13, 1995.

Bernard Weinraub, “Clouds over Disneyland,”
New York Times,
April 9, 1995.

Huey, McGowan, and Eiben, “Eisner Explains Everything.”

Katy Harris, “The Loneliest Man in the Kingdom,”
Los Angeles Times Magazine,
March 26, 1995.

Peter Biskind, “Win, Lose—but Draw,”
Premiere,
July 1995.

Lisa Gubernick, “We Will Not Dilute,”
Forbes,
February 27, 1995.

Bernard Weinraub, “Attack of the Killer Mogul,”
Playboy,
1995.

Bernard Weinraub, “Three Hollywood Giants Team Up to Create Major Movie Studio,”
New York Times,
October 13, 1994.

Bernard Weinraub and Geraldine Fabrikant, “A Hollywood Recipe: Vision, Wealth, Ego,”
New York Times,
October 16, 1994.

25:
THE DOMINOES FALL

AI: Sid Sheinberg, Edgar Bronfman.

Geraldine Fabrikant with Andrew Pollack, “MCA's Impatience with Wary Parent,”
New York Times,
November 4, 1994.

Richard Turner, “Matsushita Appears to Tackle Dispute with MCA Officials by Hiring Advisors,”
Wall Street Journal,
November 18, 1994.

Geraldine Fabrikant, “Wasserman May Leave If Ovitz Joins MCA,”
New York Times,
May 30, 1995.

Geraldine Fabrikant, “Walt Disney to Acquire ABC in $19 Billion Deal to Build a Giant for Entertainment,”
New York Times,
August 1, 1995.

Floyd Norris, “Disney's Stock Defies Usual Rules of the Game,”
New York Times,
August 1, 1995.

Bernard Weinraub, “Don't Say No to Jeffrey,”
New York Times Magazine,
June 30, 1996.

Thomas King, “Eisner, Katzenberg May End Feud, Saving DreamWorks, Cap Cities Venture,”
Wall Street Journal,
August 7, 1995.

Claudia Eller, “Time for Eisner to Make Nicey-Nice,”
Los Angeles Times,
August 8, 1995.

Ken Auletta, “Awesome,”
New Yorker,
August 14, 1995.

Nancy Gibbs, “Easy As ABC,”
Time,
August 14, 1995.

Richard Turner, “Hi-Ya!,”
New York,
August 14, 1995.

26:
SUPERMAN STUMBLES

AI: Sid Sheinberg, Edgar Bronfman.

Robert Slater,
Ovitz
(McGraw-Hill, 1997).

27:
A PLATINUM PARACHUTE

AI: Michael Ovitz, Jeffrey Katzenberg.

Slater,
Ovitz.

Bryan Burrough and Kim Mooter, “The Mouse Trap,”
Vanity Fair,
December 1996.

A. M. Rosenthal, “Hardtack for the Journey,”
New York Times,
December 17, 1997.

James Bates and Claudia Eller, “Ovitz to Leave Disney After Rocky Year as President,”
Los Angeles Times,
December 13, 1996.

Holman W. Jenkins Jr., “Beavis and Butt-head Do the Disney Shareholders,”
Wall Street Journal,
January 7, 1997.

Nikki Finke, “Poof! Mike Ovitz, from Sorcerer to Schmo,”
New York Observer,
September 23, 1996.

James Bates, “Disney's Eisner Gets Contract Extension Fit for a Lion King,”
Los Angeles Times,
January 10, 1997.

Bruce Orwall and Joann S. Lublin, “If a Company Prospers, Should Its Directors Behave by the Book?,”
Wall Street Journal,
February 24, 1997.

Bruce Orwall and Joann S. Lublin, “Disney Chief's Stock Options Exercise Irks Some, but Street Remains Calm,”
Wall Street Journal,
December 5, 1997.

Maureen Dowd, “Stocks and Socks,”
New York Times,
February 27, 1997.

Claudia Eller, “Awful Truth,”
Los Angeles Times,
February 28, 1997.

28:
SQUARING OFF

AI: Patricia Glaser, Jeffrey Katzenberg, Bert Fields, Ted Harbert, Janet Sphrintz. Nikki Finke, “Curtain Up on Dirty Disney Trial: Geffen, Spielberg May Take Stand,”
New York Observer,
November 10, 1997.

Associated Press, “Disney Sees Profit from $600 Million TV Deal with National Hockey League.” Published by the
Wall Street Journal,
August 25, 1998.

Bruce Orwall, “After Several Years of Good Times, Theme Parks Find Troubleland,”
Wall Street Journal,
September 21, 1998.

Lawrie Mifflin, “A Hit from the 70s Is Fading in the 90s,”
Wall Street Journal,
September 21, 1998.

Daniel Machcalaba and Bruce Orwall, “Slow Boat: Disney's Perfectionism Frustrates Cruise-Ship Contractors,”
Wall Street Journal,
June 22, 1998.

Paul Lieberman, “Disney Opens Portal to Internet,”
Los Angeles Times,
January 13, 1999.

Claudia Eller, “Disney Shifting Its Movie Focus to Family Fare,”
Los Angeles Times,
February 2, 1999.

Leslie Helm and James Bates, “‘Full Power' of Disney on Net Project, Eisner Says,”
Los Angeles Times,
February 24, 1999.

Chris Petrikin, “In Nomads Land,”
Variety,
June 29, 1999.

29:
KATZ V. MOUSE

Holman W. Jenkins Jr., “Mouse Gets a Whiff of Waterloo,”
Wall Street Journal,
May 19, 1999.

30: “
THAT DARK PERSON
”

Martin Peers, “Net Setbacks Put Media Companies in a Spin,”
Variety,
April 13, 1999.

Michael Hiltzik, “Disney Picks ABC Chief to Lead Internet Group,”
Los Angeles Times,
September 9, 1999.

“Disney Becomes Poacher's Paradise for Soaring Internet Start-up Firms,”
Wall Street Journal,
June 9, 1999.

Marc Gunther, “Eisner's Mouse Trap,”
Fortune,
September 6, 1999.

Brian Lowry, “‘NYPD Blue' Likely to Lose Its Tuesday Night ABC Slot,”
Los Angeles Times,
October 14, 1999.

Brian Lowry, “Disney Wondering If It's a ‘Wonderful World' After All,”
Los Angeles Times,
October 13, 1999.

Jim Rutenberg, “Eisner Squeezes ABC—Adds Commercials to Prime-time Lineup,”
New York Observer,
September 9, 1999.

Michael Wolff, “Eisner Un-Moused,”
New York,
July 12, 1999.

Geraldine Fabrikant, “Hey There! Hi There! It's a New Michael Eisner,”
New York Times,
August 14, 1999.

Mark Landler, “Mickey and Minnie Go to Hong Kong,”
New York Times,
November 3, 1999.

I WOULD LIKE
to thank the many people who made themselves available for interviews—some of whom asked not to be identified by name—and acknowledge the wonderful work of the journalists mentioned in the source notes. Others whose contributions have been invaluable include: Henry Ferris, a devoted editor; Kris Dahl, a great agent who worked it all out; and Graydon Carter, who offered inspiration and the opportunity to cover many of the events depicted in this book. My gratitude also to Kristine Kwon for her excellent research.

Most of all, I want to thank the wonderful Wine family—Nancy, Brian, Devin, and Tiffany—who gave me the best possible reason to write a book. Special thanks also to my long-suffering husband, Gary Simson, and to my family, friends, and colleagues—Karen Spar, Vicky Stamas, Sarah Connick, Bruce Bibby, Elaine Lafferty, Deborah Graham, Nancy Griffin, and Rachel Abramowitz—all of whom kindly listened to a lot of complaining.

ABC

CAA and

Diller at

Disney ownership of

Disney programming on

DreamWorks and

Eisner at

Movie of the Week
at

ratings of
see also
Capital Cities/ABC Abrahams, Jim

Abrams, Garry

Academy Awards

of Miramax

Academy of Television Arts and Sciences

Aconcagua, Mount

Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet, The

Afterschool Specials

Airplane!

Airplane 2: The Sequel

Aladdin

Alassio, Gianni

Allen, Herbert

Allen, Paul

Allen, Tim

Allen, Woody

Allen & Company

retreat of

Allen-Stevenson School

Alley, Kirstie

All in the Family

Amblin

American Gigolo

American Graffiti

American Hot Wax

American International Pictures

American Tail, An

American Tail: Feivel Goes West, An

America's Funniest Home Videos

Amistad

Amos, John

Anastasia

Angelo, John

Angels in the Outfield

animation:

computer

at Disney

at DreamWorks

Katzenberg and

Roy E. Disney and

television vs. film

Another 48 Hrs.

Ansen, David

Antz

Arab-Israeli War (1973)

Arachnophobia

Archerd, Army

Arkin, Alan

Armageddon

Arts and Entertainment Network

Arvida

Ashley, Ted

Ashman, Howard

Auletta, Ken

Aurelio, Richard

Avildsen, John

Aykroyd, Dan

 

Baby Bells

Back to the Future
series

Badham, John

Bad News Bears, The

Baerwald, Susan

Baker, Ian

Baldwin, Alec

Baretta

Barney Miller

Barron, Arthur

Barron's

Basinger, Kim

Bass, Dick

Bass, Sid

Bass Brothers Enterprises

Bassett, Angela

Batman
series

Baumgarten, Craig

Beatty, Warren

Beauty and the Beast

on Broadway

Begelman, David

Belushi, James

Bennett, Harve

Benton, Robert

Beresford, Bruce

Berg, Jeff

Berger, Richard

Bernard, Jean-René

Bernini, Gianlorenzo

Bernstein, Tom

Betts, Roland

Beverly Hills Cop
series

Big Chill, The

Billy Bathgate

Biskind, Peter

Black Cauldron, The

Blake, Robert

Blame It on the Bellboy

Bloom, Jake

Blossom

Bluhdorn, Charles

death of

Diller's relationship with

Eisner's relationship with

management style of

Star Trek
and

Bluhdorn, Yvette

Bluth, Don

Bochco, Steven

Bollenbach, Stephen

Bonfire of the Vanities

Bonney, Al

Bornstein, Steven

Born Yesterday

Bourguignon, Philippe

Boyer, Peter

Boyette, Bob

Boy in the Plastic Bubble, The

Brasmer, William

Braun, Lloyd

Breckenridge, Paul

Brenner, Albert

Brewster's Millions

Brian's Song

Brillstein, Bernie

Brillstein-Grey

Bronfman, Charles

Bronfman, Edgar, Jr.

Bronfman, Edgar, Sr.

Brooks, James L.

Bruce, Lenny

Bruckheimer, Jerry

Buddy Buddy

Buffett, Warren

Bug's Life, A

Buntzman, David

Burger King

Burke, Dan

Burke, Steve

Burns, Allan

Burstyn, Ellen

Burton, Tim

Bus Boys

Business Week

 

Calley, John

Camp Keewaydin

Capital Cities/ABC

Capshaw, Kate

Captain EO

Caravan Pictures

Carpenter, Christine

Carr, Allan

Carsey, Marcy

Cartoon Network

Cash, Jim

Cassidy, Joanna

Cats

CBS

Eisner at

CBS News

Chariots of Fire

Charlie's Angels

Chase, Chevy

Chase-Riboud, Barbara

Checchi, Al

Cheers

Cheil Jedang Corp.

Chemical Bank

Children's Television Workshop

Chinatown

Chirac, Jacques

Chong, Tommy

Chopra, Deepak

Cinderella

Citizen's Band

Citron, Alan

Clark, Pete

Clayburgh, Jill

Clements, Ron

Clinton, Bill

Clooney, George

Close Encounters of the Third Kind

Club Paradise

Coast to Coast

Coca-Cola

Cohn, Sam

Collins, Robert

Color of Money, The

Columbia Pictures

Sony's takeover of

Connery, Sean

Cook, Dick

Cooney, Joan Ganz

Coppola, Francis

Corman, Roger

Cort, Robert

Council of Institutional Investors

Council on Foreign Relations

Court TV

Cox, Penny Finkelman

Crawford, Gordon

Creative Artists Agency (CAA)

Disney and

founding of

as Hollywood power

Ovitz at

Crosby, Bing

Cruickshank, Jim

Cruise, Tom

Crying Game, The

Crystal, Graef

 

Daly, Ann

Daly, Bob

Dammann, Milton

Dammann, Reta Weil

Danson, Ted

Davidoff, Sid

Davis, Martin

Davis, Marvin

Dawson, Luan Phi

Day, Doris

Days of Thunder

Dead Poets Society

Dean, Loren

Deep Impact

De Line, Donald

Delta Airlines

Demme, Jonathan

Dempsey, Patrick

De Niro, Robert

Denison College

DeVito, Danny

Diamond, Neil and Marsha

Dick Tracy

Die Hard
series

Diller, Barry

at ABC

on Eisner

Eisner's relationship with

Geffen's rivalry with

Katzenberg and

management style of

Movie of the Week
and

at Paramount

at QVC

at Twentieth Century Fox

von Furstenberg and

wealth of

at William Morris

Diller, Donald

Diller, Reva

Dirty Harry

Discoveryland

Disney, Diane

Disney, Patty

Disney, Roy E.

animation and

in Disney takeover bid

Katzenberg disliked by

Disney, Roy O.

Disney, Walt

Disney Afternoon, The

Disney Channel

Disneyland

Disneyland Paris,
see also
Euro Disney

Disney Magic

Disney-MGM Studios

Disney Millennium Symphonies

Disney Orchestra

Disney Quest arcades

Disney's America

Disney's Animal Kingdom

Disney Stores

Disney Touch, The
(Grover)

Disney Village

Disney Wonder

Disney World

Dive!

Doctor, The

Doctorow, E. L.

Dolphin hotel

Dorfman, Dan

Dowd, Maureen

Down and Out in Beverly Hills

DreamWorks

ABC and

animation at

Disney's rivalry with

films at

founding of

Katzenberg's trial and

litigation and

MCA/Universal and

merchandising of

Paramount's co-ventures with

television produced by

Dreyer, John

Dreyfuss, Richard

Dukakis, Olympia

Dumbo

Dunaway, Faye

Dunne, John Gregory

 

Eastern Airlines

Eastwood, Clint

Eberhardt, Barbara

Ebert, Roger

Echo of Lions
(Chase-Riboud)

Edwards, Brian

Eisner, Anders

Eisner, Bertha Weiss

Eisner, Breck

Eisner, Eric

Eisner, Jane

childhood of

courtship and marriage of

Eisner, J. Lester “Colonel,”

Eisner, Lester, Jr.

Eisner, Margaret Dammann “Maggie,”

Eisner, Margot

Eisner, Marguerite

Eisner, Michael:

ambition and drive of

charm of

childhood of

duplicity of

education of

family life of

friendships and social life of

heart surgery of

isolation and Nixonian character of

Jewishness of

in Katzenberg trial

mainstream entertainment and

as mercurial and impatient

mile-a-minute ideas of

pessimism of

physical appearance of

plays written by

privileged background of

profit as motive of

self-confidence of

sharing power difficult for

stock options of

subordinates and

thrift of

wealth and income of

Eisner, Monroe

Eisner, Sigmund

Elbrus, Mount

Elephant Man, The

Elizondo, Hector

Eller, Claudia

Emil, Arthur

Empire Strikes Back, The

Encino Man

Enemies: A Love Story

Enemy of the State

Engelberg, Michael

English Patient, The

Epcot

Epps, Jack

Eskenazi, Bonnie

ESPN

Eszterhas, Joe

E.T.

Ethan Frome
(Wharton)

Euro Disney

disaster of

plans for

see also
Disneyland Paris

Evans, Donny

Evans, Robert

Everest, Mount

 

Family Matters

Fantasia

Fantasy Island

Father Knows Best

Fawcett, Farrah

Federal Communications Commission

Fellows, Cheryl

Fields, Bert

Fincantieri Cantieri Navali Italiani SpA

Fink, Dave

Fischoff, Richard

Fitzpatrick, Robert

Flashdance

Fleischer, Charles

Foote Cone & Belding

Footloose

Forbes

Ford, Harrison

Fortune

48 Hrs.

Fosse, Bob

Fox, Michael J.

Fox Network

Frank, Richard

Disney left by

Franzoni, David

Frederick, Ron

Freedman, Norman

Frommer, Arthur

 

Gabo-Eremco

Gang, Martin

Gang, Tyre, Rudin & Brown

Garner, James

Geffen, David

Diller's rivalry with

at DreamWorks

on Eisner

Katzenberg negotiations and

Katzenberg's friendship with

Ovitz disliked by

wealth of

at William Morris

Geffen Records

Gehry, Frank

Gere, Richard

Ghostbusters

Gibson Greeting Cards

Gilmore, Kenneth

Glaser, Patricia

Glimcher, Arne

Godfather, The

Godfather Part II

Gold, Stanley

Disney takeover and

Katzenberg disliked by

Katzenberg trial and

Roy E. Disney and

Goldberg, Gary David

Goldberg, Leonard

Goldberg, Whoopi

Golden Girls, The

Goldenson, Leonard

Goldman, Bo

Go Network

Good Morning, Vietnam

Good Morning America

Gordon, Larry

Gordon, Margie

Gorney, Karen Lynn

Gottesman, Ron