2015 Most Fascinating Disney People
With 2015 coming to a close, we wanted to share our list of the 10 most fascinating Disney personalities of the year. While we are saving our number one pick for our Person of the Year which will be revealed in the coming days, here is our list of the remaining nine. Do you agree with our results? Who else should we have included? Who should we have dropped?
Tom Staggs
Ever since Bob Iger announced his impending retirement, the question has been who will take his place. While nothing is certain, we appear to have an answer, Thomas O. Staggs. Ever since Jay Rasulo and Tom swapped places in 2010, it was perceived as a try-out as to who would be named heir apparent. As we end 2015, Tom is Chief Operating Officer and Jay Rasulo has departed.
Tom joined Disney from Morgan Stanley in 1990 as Manager of Strategic Planning. In just 8 short years he was named Chief Financial Officer. Controlling the company’s finances during the tail end of the Eisner era did not always place Tom in the finest light among Disney fans, but after the Iger initiated role swap Tom, he's gained popularity through a good presence at the D23 Expo and good cast relations. Stories of Tom asking for Imagineering to think bigger on various projects ranging from Disney Springs to Avatar Land to Star Wars have instilled hopes that he may be more than a numbers man.
If Tom does succeed Bob, which man will we get: The fiscally tight controller of the purse strings of the Eisner era or the creative leader of the Iger era? While his main accomplishment since becoming COO has been to lead Disney Consumer Products during its leadership transition and combination with Disney Interactive, it is hard to determine what a Staggs reign would look like. No one expected Iger to turn out the way he did. It will be fascinating to see what kind of leader Tom ends up being.
Patrick Osborne
Patrick Osborne was born in Ohio and earned a degree in computer animation from the Ringling College of Art and Design in 2003. It was in 2008 when his first Disney work hit the screen as an animator on Bolt. But he won his way into our awareness with the success of his short “Feast” that premiered in front of Big Hero 6 and featured the adorable dog Winston.
With Osborne taking home the Oscar for Best Animated Short, his career has been placed into overdrive. He is now attached to direct Fox Animation’s Niomna and the live-action/animation hybrid Battling Boy for Paramount. He is even working with Adam Goldeberg of ABC’s The Goldbergs on a pilot for a hybrid series entitled Imaginary Friend. While the pilot was ordered by ABC, the potential series will be produced by Sony.
What makes Osborne interesting is that he is leaving the Disney fold. It's hard to remember a high-profile Disney animator that found success after leaving Disney, with the exception of John Lasseter. What makes it even more striking is the amount of work coming Osborne’s way following the success of one short.
But with Disney’s continued success, these kinds of defections are inevitable. There are only so many slots for Disney animated features and with successes such as Big Hero 6, Wreck-It Ralph and Frozen, the Disney Animation establishment is not going anywhere anytime soon. Those wanting to continue rising in the ranks may have to seek opportunity elsewhere. It will be interesting to see if Osborne is able to find success outside of the mouse.
Bill Simmons
Despite the success of Star Wars, Disney’s stock has been tempered due to concerns with ESPN. Falling subscriber numbers combined with rising sports costs have caused the worldwide leader in sports to layoff staff members and part with on-air talent. Perhaps the poster boy for this year’s departures is Bill Simmons.
Bill Simmons desperately wanted to be a sports writer, so much so that he begged AOL’s Digital City Boston to give him a column, which was called Boston Sports Guy in 1997. His writing gained a following in 1998 once it was available on the web, resulting in 45,000 hits per day. His success gained the attention of ESPN which offered him a job in 2001. His popularity continued to rise as he was given more avenues to share his perspective. He got his own section of Page 2, a column in ESPN: The Magazine, hosted ESPN.com’s most popular podcast, joined NBA Countdown¸ hosted his own basketball television show, and he was even given his own fiefdom in Grantland; a sports and pop-culture blog of which he was editor-in-chief. He even conceived ESPN’s hugely popular 30 for 30 documentary series which continues to air to this day.
His relationship with ESPN has been tense at times, as Simmons has been suspended several times. Most recently he was suspended three weeks for criticizing NFL commissioner Roger Goodell’s handling of the Ray Rice domestic violence issue. Nine months later, Simmons and ESPN parted ways.
Was Simmons' departure a cost-cutting move or a result of his frequent differences with ESPN management? We may never know the true-answer, but there is no doubt that ESPN lost a key voice as they both try and stay relevant to sport fans. Bill Simmons joined HBO and will launch a weekly talk show in 2016. ESPN pulled the plug on Grantland five months after Simmons’ departure.
Alex Hirsch
Alex Hirsch, a graduate of Disney founded CalArts has made a huge impact in animation while not even being over 30. His first Disney role was working on Disney Channel’s Fish Hooks, but gained greater fame when he created Gravity Falls in 2012. The show, which became a fan favorite though its airing on Disney Channel and Disney XD, was based on Hirsch's own childhood experiences with his twin sister during their summer vacations. Cosplay, internet memes, and fan fiction followed while the series became a cornerstone of Disney XD’s lineup.
Then Hirsch did something more mysterious than anything that happens in his series. He announced that he is ending the series after Season 2: “The first thing to know is that the show isn’t being cancelled- it’s being finished. This is 100% my choice, and its something I decided on a very long time ago. I always designed Gravity Falls to be a finite series about one epic summer- a series with a beginning, middle, and end. There are so many shows that go on endlessly until they lose their original spark, or mysteries that are cancelled before they ever get a chance to payoff.”
Of course Disney would have preferred for the show to continue. Will Hirsch return to the Disney family with his next project? Who knows… But I can tell you that many Disney executives hope that the answer is yes.
Scott Trowbridge
Scott Trowbridge leads a portfolio of teams and initiatives at The Walt Disney Company. He heads a first-of-its-kind franchise-based studio that oversees the global strategic and creative development of the Star Wars franchise in Disney’s Parks & Resorts around the world. In addition, Scott also acts as the overall portfolio creative executive for the Disneyland Resort. Before that he oversaw Disney’s research and development arm as well as their Blue Sky Studio.
Why, you may ask, would Scott, whose major tangible contribution to the Disneyland Resort was some attraction enhancements for the park’s 60th anniversary, be entrusted with such a major project such as Star Wars Land? It is because of his pre-Disney work.
From 1992 to 2007 Scott worked for the folks behind Universal’s theme parks and played a key role in the creation of Universal Islands of Adventure. He also laid the groundwork for the Wizarding World of Harry Potter which took the themed entertainment industry into new heights of immersive storytelling. Disney wants to replicate the success of Harry Potter with perhaps one of the few franchises bigger than the boy wizard. Star Wars Land will be more than a collection of Star Wars themed attractions, it will be an experience that brings you into the world of Star Wars.
How will Trobridge execute inside a much larger bureaucracy than what he dealt with at Universal? Will Scott’s Universal sensibilities mesh with the more restrained Disneyland form of storytelling? Will all the Star Wars attractions get you wet in what has become a Universal tradition? These questions will be answered upon the lands opening at the Disneyland Resort and Disney’s Hollywood Studios. If successful, he will join the ranks of Joe Rhode and Tony Baxter as Imagineers that the fans fawn over. Let’s hope that the force is strong with Scott.
Maria Elena Lagomasino
Maria Elena Lagomasino was named to the board of The Walt Disney Company. She is currently the Chief Executive Officer and Managing Partner of WE Family Offices, a global family office serving high net worth families, and has held these positions since March 2013. She has a long history of positions in the financial sector, but perhaps most interesting is her long history in serving on other cooperate boards. She served as a director of the Coca-Cola Company from 2003 to 2006 and from 2008 to the present, and she has served as a director of Avon Products, Inc. since 2001. She is also a director of the Americas Society and served as a Trustee of the National Geographic Society from 2007 to 2015.
Some might say she was brought on to maintain a Latina voice since Monica Lozana, who has been a director since 2000, has to step down due to term limits that are part of the company’s corporate governance guidelines. Of course, Disney would never cheapen a director by saying they are there to fill a racial token. In Disney’s word’s, they say “Ms. Lagomasino contributes to the mix of experience and qualifications the Board seeks to maintain primarily through her experience in leading a variety of firms in the wealth management industry and her experience on other public company boards. In leading firms in the wealth management industry, she has gained a deep understanding of finance, investment and capital markets and experience in leading complex organizations and in evaluating the strategies of businesses in a variety of industries with varying size and complexity. Her experience at JP Morgan Private Bank included management of that firm's international operations and this experience contributes an understanding of conducting business internationally, particularly in Latin America. Through her service on other public company boards, she brings to our Board extensive experience with and a keen understanding of global brands as well as her ability to use her experience in providing insight and guidance in overseeing executive management, including executive compensation.”
Serving under Susan Arnold on the compensation committee, Ms. Lagomasino will have to balance the needs of retaining successful leaders while restraining excessive executive compensation which has been a growing concern in the corporate world. With her wide-ranging experience, it will be interesting to see what perspective she brings to the table.
Viola Davis
It is hard for a broadcast network to win an Emmy Award. Cable, premium channels, and streaming services seem to have a lock on bringing home trophies with their less restricted forms of storytelling. So when an actress on an ABC show wins an Emmy, we notice. Viola Davis did just that with her portrayal of Professor Annalise Keating on How to Get Away with Murder.
Why would an Oscar-nominated actress do television? According to Davis, ““I have gotten so many wonderful film roles, but I’ve gotten even more film roles where I haven’t been the show. It’s like I’ve been invited to a really fabulous party only to hold up the wall. I wanted to be the show.” Of course, I am sure there was appeal to work with mega-producer Shonda Rhimes who owns one whole night of ABC’s programming under the “TGIT” branding.
Of course, Davis is not done with film. Her desire to still produce film projects limits the series to 16 episode seasons, short of the typical 22. The longer summer hiatus allows her to still act in a film. One of the projects that she filmed during her break? Suicide Squad, which is part of DC’s cinematic universe and a competitor to Disney’s Marvel juggernaut.
Christine McCarthy
Not many Disney fans are probably familiar with Ms. McCarthy, but as Disney’s new Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, they should. Perhaps it is due to her just beginning to become a public face for the company, but by all accounts she is an extremely qualified CFO, though in her early life one would think she would be more suited for Epcot’s Land Pavilion than the top floors of Team Disney.
McCarthy earned her Bachelor’s Degree in Biological Sciences at Smith College, where she received an award for excellence in botany, but went on to earn her MBA from UCLA. She joined Disney as Treasurer in 2000, a role that has great power but generally flies below the radar as the CFO takes all the glory. Since being named CFO she has led efforts to recapitalize Disneyland Paris so it can continue the park’s enhancements and maintenance efforts. McCarthy also has led the shareholder capitalization and project financing of Shanghai Disneyland.
But perhaps as impressive as her Disney credits, is Christine’s extracurricular activities. Christine is also a Trustee of the Westridge School for Girls in Pasadena, Calif., and a mentor for the National Math and Science Initiative’s STEM program. She was a former board member of the Phoenix House California and the Los Angeles Philharmonic Association, and served as both the Treasurer and a Director of the Alumnae Association of Smith College, as well as a member of the Smith College Investment Committee. She has been named multiple times to Treasury & Risk magazine’s “100 Most Influential People in Finance” and in June 2015 was named Treasury Today magazine’s Woman of the Year, one of the profession’s most highly regarded benchmarks. Christine McCarthy will become the face of Disney to the investment community. She has to convince them that all the money Disney spends on all of their creative endeavors will pay dividends in the future. It appears Ms. McCarthy seems up to the task.
Don Hall
Don Hall is a Disney veteran, having worked on films such as Tarzan, Brother Bear and even Home on the Range. But when Disney Animation’s leadership was shaken up after the Pixar acquisition, Hall’s contributions have been more pronounced. He even became a director for the first time on the under-appreciated 2011 Winnie-the-Pooh film with Stephen J. Anderson.
But it is following Disney’s 2009 acquisition of Marvel Entertainment that Don was able to combine two of his loves. Looking for a Marvel story that he could tell through the magic of Disney Animation, Hall came across an obscure 1998 super hero team. Due to the team’s obscurity within the Marvel Universe, Hall was empowered to bring Disney’s own DNA into the story. In fact, many members of the story team never even read the comic that the film was based upon.
A key decision was made by Hall and his team to not set Big Hero 6 inside the Marvel Cinematic Universe with all of its restrictions and reality-based explanations. This empowered Hall to create the fictional world of San Fransokyo whose dynamic look plays a key part of the film’s charm. While there are still ties to the world of Marvel from Stan Lee and after-credit tags, this combination of Marvel and Disney’s DNA is the first time anything of this sort was attempted.
Hall’s efforts paid off. With an 89% Rotten Tomatoes score and over $220 million in domestic gross, Big Hero 6 was an unqualified success. This February, Hall received the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature along with his collaborators Chris Williams and Ron Conli.
What’s next for Mr. Hall? First was a long deserved vacation. Who knows what his next project will be, but many fans are hoping that it will be a sequel to Big Hero 6.
That's our list. Be sure to check back to see who our Disney person of the year will be. Any guesses?