The 50th Law (with 50 Cent)

Wonderful World of Disney, an hourlong television show from the
fifties and sixties hosted by Walt Disney himself. This time Eisner
would be the host. He was not a natural in front of the camera, but he
felt audiences would grow to like him. He could be comforting to
children, like Walt himself. In fact, he began to feel the two of them
were somehow magically connected, as if he were more than just the
head of the corporation but rather the natural son and successor to
Walt Disney himself.
Despite all his success, however, the old restlessness returned. He
needed a new venture, a bigger challenge, and soon he found it. The
Walt Disney Company had plans to create a new theme park in Europe.
The last one to open, Tokyo Disneyland in 1983, had been a success.
Those in charge of theme parks had settled upon two potential sites for
the new Disneyland—one near Barcelona, Spain, the other near Paris.
Although the Barcelona site made more economic sense, since the
weather there was much better, Eisner chose the French site. This was
going to be more than a theme park. This was going to be a cultural
statement. He would hire the best architects in the world. Unlike the
usual fiberglass castles at the other theme parks, at Euro Disney—as it
came to be known—the castles would be built out of pink stone and
feature handcrafted stained-glass windows with scenes from various
fairy tales. It would be a place even snobby French elites would be
excited to visit. Eisner loved architecture, and here he could be a
modern-day Medici.
As the years went by, the cost of Euro Disney mounted. Letting go
of his usual obsession with the bottom line, Eisner felt that if he built it
right, the crowds would come and the park would eventually pay for
itself. But when it finally opened as planned in 1992, it quickly became
clear that Eisner had not understood French tastes and vacation
habits. The French were not so willing to wait in line for rides,

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