RIHC: Disney's Legacy, with Bob Iger
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
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Hello, everybody. Welcome to this very special Rest Is History bonus episode with the head of Disney, Bob Iger. Now, Tom, normally our bonus episodes are only for members of our much-loved Rest Is History Club, but this one is a little bit different, isn't it?
Yeah, so this week we've done two episodes on Disney. We looked at the man himself and we looked at Disneyland. And also, of course, if you're a member of the club, you would have got to listen to the coda to our epic series on Nelson, where we talked about what happened to Lady Emma Hamilton after Nelson's death. But in this special bonus episode, we are with Bob Iger and we are discussing with him Walt Disney's legacy with the man who now runs Disney.
So a very unusual bonus episode for us, a bonus bonus episode, in fact. Hope you enjoy it. So Bob, here we are, amazing setting, stage one here at Burbank. And we've just come from Walt's office, which you showed us. And you're one of, I guess, really three people in the majority of Disney's history who've run the company. And I mean, no offense, but you're not going to be running it forever. No offense taken. That's good. I hope I'm not. So what do you think, you know, we talked a lot about Wolfe's legacy, but what do you think your legacy will be when you look back on your time as the kind of custodian of this amazing, well, the captain of this fantastic ship?
Yes, I think about this often, actually. And I think because of the company's place in the world, I think the person running the company has a special responsibility of sorts to maintain Disney's position in the world as a beloved company, as an admired company, as a company that entertains really the world, everyone of all ages and from all different walks of life. And I think more than anything else, I would want to be known as someone who was given the keys to this kingdom, so to speak, and quite a kingdom it is. and that I brought it to a place that even Walt would be proud of. And what that means is more great storytelling to a larger audience, more innovation, more risk taking, more really creation of happiness.
It's really that simple. At one point, I thought, well, okay, you're now running Disney. What's the most you want out of it? Well, don't screw it up, but it's much more than that. I really have been mindful of the duty that I feel has been handed to me to make it even better than it's ever been.
And what do you think the years ahead hold for Disney? Because you've been at the forefront of so much technological change, going back to Walt and effectively inventing animation, as we were talking about earlier. but also you're a company rooted in history. So how do you think Disney and your successors will navigate that?
I think you would both probably agree it's hard to project 50 years ahead. Right. About anything, really, because the world is changing so rapidly and in such profound ways. And as I think about the future, one, I would hope that um my successors would be respectful of our past and well aware of the values that really created the value of the company in the first place and carry them forward but not let anything that's been done in the past get in the way of bringing the company into the future and that's really constant innovation a constant exploration you know constant essentially um desire to reinvent and or to invent even More than anything else, that's what I'd want. But I think we do occupy a place in the world as great storytellers, perhaps maybe the greatest.
And I would hope that that position would continue for years and years, decades ahead.
And talking of great storytellers, obviously we're very out of character, Tom, let's not talk about ourselves in this context. So how did you get into the rest of this history, can I ask?
Well, actually, a colleague of mine here at Disney, Christina Shockey, who was our chief communications officer and is a history buff, I think recommended it initially.
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Chapters
5 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:00–5:12
2
What is the significance of Walt Disney's legacy?
5:12–8:11
3
How does Bob Iger view his own legacy at Disney?
8:11–14:08
4
What challenges does Disney face in storytelling today?
14:08–20:20
5
How did Bob Iger get involved with The Rest Is History?
20:20–31:35
Speakers
4 identifiedMore from The Rest Is History
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