DisneyWar

“When You Wish Upon a Star,” “Whistle Whilst You Work,” “The Happiest Place on Earth”—these are lyrics indelibly linked to Disney, one of the crucial admired and best-known companies on the earth. So when Roy Disney, chairman of Walt Disney Animation and nephew of founder Walt Disney, hastily resigned in November 2003 and declared war on chairman and chief executive Michael Eisner, he sent shock waves through the entertainment industry, corporate boardrooms, theme parks, and living rooms world wide—in every single place Disney does business and its products are cherished.

Drawing on unprecedented access to both Eisner and Roy Disney, current and former Disney executives and board members, as well as thousands of pages of never-before-seen letters, memos, transcripts, and other documents, James B. Stewart gets to the bottom of mysteries that have enveloped Disney for years: What actually caused the rupture with studio chairman Jeffrey Katzenberg, a man who once regarded Eisner as a father but who became his fiercest rival? How could Eisner have so misjudged Michael Ovitz, a man who was not only “the most powerful man in Hollywood” but also his friend, whom he appointed as Disney president and immediately wanted to fire? What caused the break between Eisner and Pixar chairman Steve Jobs, and why did Pixar hastily abandon its partnership with Disney? Why did Eisner so mistrust Roy Disney that he assigned Disney company executives to spy on him? How did Eisner keep watch over the Disney board for so long, and what actually happened in the fateful board meeting in September 2004, when Eisner played his last cards?