 |
WED Enterprises (later renamed Walt Disney Imagineering), the design and development division for the parks, had several projects in the works during the early 1980s. In addition to designing Epcot, it planned Tokyo Disneyland, the first foreign Disney park, which opened April 15, 1983. It was an immediate success in a country that had always loved anything Disney. Now that the Japanese had their own Disneyland, they flocked to it in increasing numbers. Tokyo Disneyland set a range of theme park attendance records and on one memorable day actually sold more mouse ear hats than there were people in the park!
In an effort to expand its business, Disney initiated the Disney Channel in 1983 and established a new film label, Touchstone Pictures, with the release of Splash in 1984. However, because of the widespread perception that Disney stock was undervalued relative to the company's assets, in 1984 there were attempts to stage hostile takeovers of the company. These efforts were rebuffed and, in October, Michael Eisner and Frank Wells became chief executive officer and president, respectively.
The new management team immediately saw ways for Disney to maximize its assets. They established Touchstone Television to produce network TV shows, beginning with the immensely successful Golden Girls, followed in 1986 by a return to Sunday night television with the Disney Sunday Movie (later The Magical World of Disney and The Wonderful World of Disney). Films from the Disney library were selected for the television syndication market, and some of the classic animated films were released on video cassette. Eventually, the company pioneered the "sell-through" approach of pricing video releases at lower prices and Disney classics were suddenly setting a whole new kind of box office record as they reached a new generation of kids, who could watch them in the convenience of their home.
At Disneyland, collaborations with filmmakers George Lucas and Francis Ford Coppola contemporized the park with Captain EO and Star Tours, while Splash Mountain opened in 1989. Walt Disney World experienced a major expansion, with Disney's Grand Floridian and Caribbean Beach Resorts opening in 1988 and, in 1989, the introduction of three new gated attractions: the Disney/MGM Studios Theme Park, Pleasure Island and Typhoon Lagoon.
Filmmaking hit new heights in 1988 as, for the first time, Disney led all the Hollywood studios in box-office gross, with Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Good Morning, Vietnam, Three Men and a Baby each earning more than $100 million at the U.S. box office. In merchandising, Disney opened numerous highly successful Disney Stores.
|
|
