Eisner's year stint at Disney saw the revitalization of the company's poorly performing animation studios with successful films such as The Little Mermaid , Beauty and the Beast , Aladdin , and The Lion King , a period known as the Disney Renaissance. Eisner's final years at Disney were tumultuous: a string of box-office bombs in the early s, public feuds with former associates such as Jeffrey Katzenberg and Steve Jobs , and dissatisfaction with Eisner's management style culminated in the "Save Disney" campaign organized by Roy E.
Disney , during which Eisner rapidly lost the confidence of much of Disney's Board of Directors. As a result of the pressure from the campaign, Eisner announced in March that he would step down as CEO prematurely, handing day-to-day duties to Bob Iger before formally leaving the company in September He was raised on Park Avenue in Manhattan. Eisner moved up the ranks, eventually becoming a senior vice president in charge of programming and development. When he was passed over for the job, though, he left to look for work elsewhere and lobbied for the position of CEO of the Walt Disney Company.
Following the deaths of founders Walt Disney in , and Roy O. Disney in , the Walt Disney Company narrowly survived several takeover attempts. Its shareholders Sid Bass and Roy E. Miller in and strengthen the company. A couple of years after becoming chairman and CEO, Eisner became the host of The Wonderful World of Disney , making him the public face of the company as well as its top executive. Eisner was not a performer by profession, and studio management did not believe he could do the hosting job.
After filming a test video with his wife Jane and a member of his executive team which required multiple takes Eisner "came across as stiff and awkward Disney executives Eisner stubbornly persisted in the face of almost unanimous criticism.
Senator Bill Bradley , to help him improve his on-camera performance. During the second half of the s and early s, Eisner revitalized Disney. Beginning with the films Who Framed Roger Rabbit which was brought to Disney by Jeffrey Katzenberg and The Little Mermaid a Ron Clements idea that Eisner originally panned, [ 20 ] its flagship animation studio enjoyed a series of commercial and critical successes.
