From: winter@Apple.COM (Patty Winter)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.disney
Subject: Re: Why I love Disney, Part 47
Date: 6 Sep 92 01:38:59 GMT
Organization: Apple Computer Inc., Cupertino, CA

In article <18903dINNadk@agate.berkeley.edu> sherw@ocf.berkeley.edu (Gregory Sherwin) writes:
>
>Well, Patty - hope this doesn't come as a shocker as I'd hate to burst
>your Disney balloon, but I think in all fairness I had to add a list
>of "Why I think Disney represents everything that's wrong with America,
>part 47".  Okay - I am being a little facetious here, but I don't think
>you know the real story about Disney - at least both sides.

As a matter of fact, I *do* know about most of the incidents you mentioned.
They've been discussed here on the net--often by people who have just as
high an opinion of the company overall as I do.

If Disney does some things wrong (and Ethan mentioned additional concerns
about some of their employee policies that I share), that doesn't change 
the fact that they do a hell of a lot of things right.

>Well - I could go on here, but I think you get the point - AND I have
>work to do.  The fact is that Disney isn't necessarily any worse than
>your Exxon's, your Drexel Burnham Lamberts, etc. - but they are no better
>either. 

I haven't had direct experience with Exxon (except through franchises)
or Drexel-Burnham, but somehow I doubt that they--or many companies in
this country--have anywhere near the customer satisfaction record that
Disney does.

>  People shell out $30 a ticket, and Disney puts on
>the grand illusion to think that the world is beautiful, everyone is

Their part of it *is*--thanks to thousands of cast members who work
very hard to make it so. 

And what's wrong with a company selling illusion? I don't know anyone 
over the age of ten who doesn't realize that's what Disney's business is.

>Disney isn't on this planet to make everyone happy and nice, it is here
>so they can tell their stockholders that the public believes Disney
>is here on the planet to make everyone happy and nice - and that means
>more profit dollars.

They *are* in the business of making things happy and nice for their
customers. For the most part, they succeed fantastically. The other
51 weeks of our lives every year aren't their problem.

>I wish the public wasn't so naive - that we weren't all looking for something
>to hold onto in this world that we can say is there just to make us happy
>(be it religion or Disney or a significant other or whatever) - but that's
>part of being human.  We often WISH for those things, even if they aren't
>true.  Believe in your Santa Clauses, your Easter Bunnies - if it makes
>you smile, great.  Maybe it's a lot easier to look the other way when
>something bad happens than to face up to the fact that institutions
>like Disney are merely an illusion, and an illusion perpetrated to
>take your cash.  Love from within yourself is the only thing you can
>trust, don't misplace it on a corporation.

Oh for heaven's sake, I don't have a Michael Eisner shrine in my house!
And I'm not looking for love from Mickey Mouse. I simply appreciate any 
company that does its job excellently, and The Walt Disney Company
is definitely one of them. Let's not blow this out of proportion...


Patty

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Newsgroups: rec.arts.disney