Disney CEO Bob Iger has spoken out about the company’s new creative direction. Iger recently sat down for an interview on the British podcast The Rest is History, and he looked back on his many years with the company and also spoke about the inevitable transition of power when someone succeeds him. Iger went into detail about the kind of person he thinks should be running Disney, saying, “Because of the company’s place in the world, I think the person running the company has a special responsibility of sorts, to maintain Disney’s position in the world as a beloved company, as an admired company, as a company that entertains, really, the world, everyone of all ages and from all different walks of life.”
He continued, “More than anything else, I would want to be known as someone who was given the keys to this kingdom, so to speak. And quite a kingdom it is, and that I brought it to a place that even Walt would be proud of. And what that means is more great storytelling to a larger audience, more innovation, more risk-taking, more real creation of happiness. It’s really that simple.” You can find the rest of Iger’s quote below, where he talks about what he initially wanted out of running Disney.
“At one point I thought, Well, OK, you’re now running Disney. What’s the most you want out of it? Well, not don’t screw it up, but it’s much more than that. I really have been mindful of the duty that I feel has been handed to me to make it even better than it’s ever been.”
Disney has been under fire in the last few weeks following the reports about Adam Driver’s canceled Ben Solo movie. News broke not long ago that Driver was working with director Steven Soderbergh on a new Star Wars sequel movie, titled The Hunt for Ben Solo, which would take place after The Rise of Skywalker. Lucasfilm loved the idea, but Disney killed it, claiming that it “couldn’t understand how Ben Solo was alive.”
What Does the Next 50 Years of Disney Look Like?
During the same interview, Iger talked about what he thinks the next 50 years of Disney should look like. “The world is changing so rapidly in such profound ways,” he said. “I would hope that my successors would be respectful of our past and well aware of the values that really created the value of the company in the first place, and carry them forward, but not let anything that’s been done in the past get in the way of bringing the company into the future.”
He continued, “And that’s really constant innovation, a constant exploration, a constant desire to reinvent or to invent even more than anything else. But I think we do occupy a place in the world as great storytellers, perhaps, maybe the greatest in many respects. And I would hope that position would continue for years and years, decades ahead.”
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