One Disney Strikes Again

[bfdf55]

Recent reports coming from various divisions within the Disney Company: for the new fiscal year, everyone will be getting new stationary and business cards.

The various divisions the Disney Company used to have their own unique versions of Mickey for their stationary and nametag logos:

Animator Mickey for Feature Animation,

Clapboard Mickey for Disney Studio,

Sorcerer Mickey for Imagineering,

Maestro Mickey for Wald Disney Records,

Etc.

Apparently, due to the initiative, the new logos for the divisions will no longer have their various unique identifying Mickey. They will now display a generic Mickeys current focus on the Disney Brand down to essentially just being Generic Disney

[Mr Wiggins]

Re: One Disney Strikes Again

September 19, 2009


Dear ___bfd55___:

Thank you for your interest in our One Disney Initiative.

As you may know, Walt Disney's support of ODI is echoed in the song he commissioned for the famous attraction, "It's a Small World:"

There is just One moon
And One golden sun
And a smile means friendship
For every One.

We at the Walt Disney Corporation are excited to participate in an Initiative that Walt would have wanted, and are grateful for your support.

Sincerely,
Betty Jones
One Disney Administration

[DisneyMickey]

Re: One Disney Strikes Again

Recent reports coming from various divisions within the Disney Company: for the new fiscal year, everyone will be getting new stationary and business cards.

The various divisions the Disney Company used to have their own unique versions of Mickey for their stationary and nametag logos:

Animator Mickey for Feature Animation,

Clapboard Mickey for Disney Studio,

Sorcerer Mickey for Imagineering,

Maestro Mickey for Wald Disney Records,

Etc.

Apparently, due to the initiative, the new logos for the divisions will no longer have their various unique identifying Mickey. They will now display a generic Mickeys current focus on the Disney Brand down to essentially just being Generic Disney

Half of these people don't even wear their nametags so it really doesn't make a difference.

[SnorkletsMom]

Re: One Disney Strikes Again

It isn't just nametags...it's stationery and business cards. The cards especially mean a lot to a lot of people. There's a prestige and even pride in having your name next to the Mickey that represents your division.

I'm just so saddened to keep reading the little things that the current MBAs are doing that are killing the very things that once made the company different.

btw...Mr Wiggins, you are awesome! :-) That was just an excellent post.

[bfdf55]

Re: One Disney Strikes Again

Half of these people don't even wear their nametags so it really doesn't make a difference.

If you feel the icons don't make a difference, why don't you have your online name just be Mike and eliminate the Mickey avatar?

[bfdf55]

Re: One Disney Strikes Again

Well, the new stationary is out. While they have indeed replaced the unique Mickey's with a generic one, apparently they have decided to source it out to the lowest bidder. The new stationary/cards, outside of being generic, are cheap and don't even retain the proper formatting. They couldn't even copy the formatting from the previous stationary/cards. I think Disney employees will actually be embarrassed to use them.

You might want to keep an eye out for any of the former stationary and business cards as they will probably now become collectables.

[Sosai X]

Re: One Disney Strikes Again

The various divisions the Disney Company used to have their own unique versions of Mickey for their stationary and nametag logos:

Animator Mickey for Feature Animation,

Clapboard Mickey for Disney Studio,

Sorcerer Mickey for Imagineering,

Maestro Mickey for Wald Disney Records,

I don’t know if they have taken into consideration the effect of the morale of their various division CM’s who are attached to their associated logo Mickey’s, but it may be another case of failing to understand their own culture.

it truly would be a shame if they went to one nametag for everybody. Each department having its own nametag is one of the most unique features of Disney. Besides, they already tried the 'One Mickey' gimmick twenty years ago...

For Disneyland:



For Walt Disney World:



For generic Studios use:



And for Disneyland Paris:



And besides, nametags are a piece of the Disney legacy, and have been for 50 years. Each is unique, and preserves a memory of what is happening in Disney at that particular moment.



And with this, 'one Disney' initiative, the Company dies just a little bit more, and slides even further down into mediocrity.

[BlueSkyDriveBy]

Re: One Disney Strikes Again

Well, the new stationary is out. While they have indeed replaced the unique Mickey's with a generic one, apparently they have decided to source it out to the lowest bidder. The new stationary/cards, outside of being generic, are cheap and don't even retain the proper formatting. They couldn't even copy the formatting from the previous stationary/cards. I think Disney employees will actually be embarrassed to use them.

While I can almost (but not really) justify the financial reasoning behind one generic Mickey for all business units and divisions, there is no excuse for poor quality in the formatting. This is Disney, not a struggling indie film group. Big league players should never be perceived as sandlot sluggers.

Is Disney really this desperate, to keep the bottom line artificially propped up, to resort to this level of penny-pinching? What's next? Requiring staff to bring their own office supplies from home? Holding car washes in the Burbank parking lot? Maybe a bake sale in Griffith Park?

Here's an idea... why not auction off Imagineers to work on home improvement ideas for the winning bidders, when the Imagineers are between projects? Who wouldn't pay top dollar for Tony Baxter to revitalize that aging trailer park? "Let's replace those fading flamingos with a nice patina sundial, shall we?" TWDC would clean up. Literally.

If Disney really wanted to accurately represent the company's current direction, perhaps they should have chosen Borg Mickey for the new logo.

"Make all your family's vacation dreams come true. Book your Disney Vacation Package today. Resistance is futile."

[Mr Wiggins]

Re: One Disney Strikes Again

Is Disney really this desperate, to keep the bottom line artificially propped up, to resort to this level of penny-pinching?

Looking at Iger's humongous compensation package... no. This is typical of a division VP trying to impress Burbank with his belt-tightening bottom line and "let them eat cake" 'tude -- both are guaranteed tickets to the next level of the pyramid.

[bfdf55]

Re: One Disney Strikes Again

it truly would be a shame if they went to one nametag for everybody. Each department having its own nametag is one of the most unique features of Disney. Besides, they already tried the 'One Mickey' gimmick twenty years ago...

For Disneyland:



For Walt Disney World:



For generic Studios use:



And for Disneyland Paris:



And besides, nametags are a piece of the Disney legacy, and have been for 50 years. Each is unique, and preserves a memory of what is happening in Disney at that particular moment.



And with this, 'one Disney' initiative, the Company dies just a little bit more, and slides even further down into mediocrity.

That's almost exactly what they're getting!

[bfdf55]

Re: One Disney Strikes Again

While I can almost (but not really) justify the financial reasoning behind one generic Mickey for all business units and divisions, there is no excuse for poor quality in the formatting. This is Disney, not a struggling indie film group. Big league players should never be perceived as sandlot sluggers.

Even sandlot sluggers have their own logos. They aren't stuck with one logo for every team.

[BlueSkyDriveBy]

Re: One Disney Strikes Again

Even sandlot sluggers have their own logos. They aren't stuck with one logo for every team.

Quite true.

This whole thing is depressing. Bit by bit, the Disney Legacy is being sold down the river. I read on another fan site this morning, that Tim Delaney has left Imagineering. As with other long-time Mouse employees, I doubt it was voluntary.

So who's going to be left to educate the newbies and pass the torch of Walt? Or is that no longer important to Burbank?

Yeah, just jump on the latest new fad, spin it Disney-style, make your short-term profit and move on to the next fad. The Disney Legacy is like an ancient old growth forest to be clearcut, not preserved. Forget about the future... focus on what can be taken today.

:verymad: