February 3, 2005
The Inside Scoop on the 2005 Annual Meeting of Shareholders

InsidEar has obtained documents relating to The Walt Disney Company's 2005 annual meeting of shareholders, which will be held on Friday, February 11. These documents are a discussion of "talking points" that will be covered at the meeting during Michael Eisner's keynote address. Fans of Disney, as well as concerned shareholders, will be pleased to know that Eisner will finally be answering some very burning questions.

In particular, Eisner is expected to announce the following:

• A tentative agreement with Pixar has been reached, under which Disney will distribute and merchandise Pixar films and promote them in Disney's theme parks, but Pixar retains creative control of their characters. In exchange for returning all creative rights to previous Pixar films to Pixar, Disney will receive a larger-than-normal distribution fee.
• Miramax Pictures and Dimension Films will be sold to Bob and Harvey Weinstein, but Disney will have first option to distribute their current and past films for 10 years.
• Realizing that they "blew it big time" by not scheduling more capital improvements to Disneyland for its 50th anniversary, The Walt Disney Company is making a special gift to the park -- all of Disneyland's income for one year from its anniversary date will be poured back into the park and used to build new attractions, upgrade existing attractions, and permanently improve the guest experience. Although this will upset some shareholders, it is expected that, after hearing this news, Disneyland fans will pour into the park, and the resulting improvements will significantly increase profits in coming years.
• In other theme-park news, the company has decided that it is better to create completely original rides and attractions than to tie everything to a recent film. As a show of good faith, tentative plans to retheme the Disneyland submarine ride after Finding Nemo have been dropped, and the ride's original plot line will be restored, albeit with cutting-edge special effects for a "more genuine feeling of adventure."
• Although Disney is committed to computer animation as the wave of the future, and they will go back to the traditional creative process, eliminating as much "suit interference" as possible. Also, as long as feature cartoons at least break even when merchandising and home video are taken into account, animators will be allowed to explore the medium and not just hunt for blockbuster material. The company will no longer allow theatrical release of what should be direct-to-video features, but it will continue producing these forgettable-but-profitable bits of fluff while Feature Animation creates work with long-term earning potential.
• ABC will concentrate on building viewer loyalty and trust with consistently strong programming and honest, non-sensational news, and will resist the urge to pour all of its assets behind whatever show is currently most popular until everyone is sick of it.
• It has been decided that the next Walt Disney Company CEO really should come from outside the company. As soon as that person is found, Eisner will step down and become a semi-retired interested shareholder, but take no active part in the workings of the company.
• The folks behind Save Disney will be given a heartfelt thanks for their love of the company, and be asked to return to the Board of Directors in 2006.
• And the final, if not completely unexpected, announcement: Eisner is just kidding about all of this. What a wacky guy!