Newly Refreshed Walt Disney Company Website Debuts, Missing Key Historical Moments in Their Lengthy Past

Changes to the official website for The Walt Disney Company not only provide a fresh look, but insinuate that they might be trying to forget a little footnote in their lengthy history. 

What’s Happening: 

• It takes a certain level of Disney fan to frequent the official website of The Walt Disney Company, checking stock prices and the latest news in the world of movies from all their studios, and each of the parks around the globe. 
• Today, that site has been updated, but there is one detail that comes as no surprise to longtime fans of all things Disney. 
• Devotees who visit the site may have noticed that a page dedicated to the history of the company on this website has since been removed. 
• Previously, this archive focused on important dates, year by year, from the company's founding in 1923 all the way to the present day.
• While we don’t know if it will return in some form, we do know that this page used to contain very specific references to former Disney CEO Bob Chapek. 
• Chapek has been somewhat of a controversial figure in the world of the Walt Disney Company. While he joined back in 1993, he rose through the ranks of the Home Entertainment division, helping turn Disney into a physical media giant in the 90s and early ‘00s. He managed VHS and DVD distribution, and oversaw the legendary Disney Vault strategy, as well as the demand for more sequels that would go straight to video. Some might call this an early warning sign. 
• In 2006, he was promoted to the role of Chairman of Walt Disney Studios Distribution, where he was seen as excellent at extracting value from creative output, rather than shaping it. 
• In 2009, he became the chairman of Disney Consumer Products, significantly raising his profile as he expanded Disney’s global licensing business, aggressively monetizing viable franchises like Marvel and Star Wars characters, and when it arrived and proved to be a bigger hit than anyone anticipated - Walt Disney Animation Studios’ Frozen. 
• In 2015, he became even more visible as the chairman of Disney Parks, Experiences, and Products, overseeing massive projects like Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge - an immersive environment themed to the Star Wars film that has two near-identical copies at both Disneyland and Walt Disney World. He also pushed forward early iterations of paid premium experiences, and became more focused on data-driven decisions in the parks, reservations, and per-guest spending. 
• In 2020, he was named CEO of the Walt Disney Company, even though he already had a cost-effective operations executive reputation as opposed to that of a creative leader. His tenure in this position was short, and met with large amounts of criticism. He was increasingly unpopular amongst fans of the Walt Disney Company, becoming the public face of rising prices in the parks, eliminating complimentary services (FastPass, Hotel Parking, etc) and tacking an upcharge to them, and focusing on the then-new Disney+ over much anything else. 
• While there were some positives, like keeping the company afloat during COVID, protecting cash flow during various shut downs, and the acceleration of the aforementioned Disney+, he is largely regarded now as a cautionary tale who was squashed under Disney’s cultural footprint.
• The best example of this is not only the inability to realize (outside of lip service) that the fans are the essential backbone of the media company (arguably more than any other in the world), but how he handled a specific situation in the political world dealing with Florida’s Governor, Ron DeSantis. While initially trying to stay politically neutral, he stayed quiet as Florida introduced the Parental Rights in Education Act, often called the “Don’t Say Gay” bill - seemingly forgetting that a large number of employees of the Walt Disney Company are based in Florida. Choosing not to publicly oppose the controversial law, morale was diminished throughout the company (Florida or otherwise) angering employees and creatives who felt that Disney should defend LGBTQ+ rights. There were protests, walkouts, and more - eventually causing Chapek to reverse course and angering the Florida Governor, who later set out to (and eventually succeeded in doing so) dismantle Disney’s self-governing district, Reedy Creek Improvement District, created by the Florida legislature back in 1967 to function like a county government for the whole of Disney property in Central Florida.
• Creative friction grew around another decision as Chapek reorganized Disney’s media and entertainment divisions, centralizing marketing and budgeting and upsetting top creatives who felt stripped of control over their own projects, damaging relationships with studio leaders and creating internal power struggles.
• This and so much more all led to an eventual weekend decision in November of 2022, when Chapek was ousted by the Disney Board, opting to reinstate former CEO Bob Iger (who remains to this day). 
• Over time, more about this controversial time in the company’s history has seeped out into the media, while also revealing there was definitely more than meets the eye regarding the transition from Iger to Chapek and Chapek to Iger.
• While the history of The Walt Disney Company is so much more than this little blip in time, it’s safe to guess that the website is being reworked as to quietly sweep this little footnote in their history to a less prominent place, as not to bring back the memory of the man who seemingly lacked the cultural, creative, and political instincts that someone leading Disney needs.