Huayu Entertainment 1995 started with hijacking.

Chapter 263 It's time to go back home.
Many media outlets wanted to interview Disney and Eisner, but Eisner declined all interviews, and a Disney spokesperson also refused to comment.

Online, many Disney investors have voiced their opinions:

"No Eisner! We want Wu Yuchen!"
No Eisner! We want Pixar!

No Eisner! We want Shrek!

Seeing these comments, Eisner was furious: "What do they know?! They know nothing! I led Disney to take over ABC! I expanded Disney's distribution channels to the whole world! Without me, there would be no Disney today!!"

Eisner is no longer the aloof and authoritative figure he once was, sitting high and mighty in his CEO chair. Instead, he paces back and forth in his office with a sense of anxiety.

Although Roy Disney has been ousted from the company, he remains Disney's largest individual shareholder. In fact, he owns less than 1% of the shares, but he has now rallied other shareholders to launch a motion to remove him as CEO.

The current situation is proving very difficult for Eisner. Previously, it was just Roy Disney, so dealing with him alone would be enough, and public opinion could be controlled.

But now that Wu Yuchen, Jobs, Katzenberg, Ovitz, and others are all attacking him at this critical juncture, even if he refutes them one by one, it won't be effective.

In terms of public opinion, he has completely lost ground, and his reputation and image among minority shareholders are probably ruined.

However, this doesn't mean he's truly lost. More than half of Disney's shares are held by funds, conglomerates, and other institutions. As long as they continue to support him, Eisner can maintain his position!
With that in mind, Eisner went back to his desk, picked up the phone, and started dialing.

He believed that these institutional shareholders wouldn't be as mindless as retail investors, lacking their own judgment and easily swayed by Wu Yuchen and his group.

As soon as the call connected, Eisner greeted him politely: "Hello Mr. Bass, this is Eisner. Regarding this shareholders' meeting..."

"Do you want to talk about your proposal?"

“Yes. Mr. Bass, you know, I spent 18 years at Disney, and I led Disney from the brink of bankruptcy to a multi-billion dollar company…”

Bass interrupted him directly: "Eisner, I don't want to hear your history. All I know is that Disney's stock price looks terrible right now! My friends and I are very, very unhappy!"

Eisner immediately explained, "Mr. Bass, the economic climate these past two years has been very unfavorable. First, the dot-com bubble burst, and then there was 9/11. These have been significant blows to Disney, severely impacting the company's business..."

“Only incompetent people make excuses for themselves. Eisner, I don’t want to hear any more explanations. In just two years, my investment in Disney has shrunk by more than half, and I’ve already been very lenient with you! Now it seems that your management level and philosophy at Disney are very worrying!”

"No, Mr. Bass, please don't believe the nonsense spread by those outsiders. You should know that in the process of managing a company, it's inevitable to make enemies with some power-hungry individuals..."

"It's not just outside, is it? Your Disney animation department has quite a few complaints about you!"

"What?" Eisner asked, puzzled.

Bass across from them scoffed:
"You've even lost control of your own company; it seems you're no longer fit for this position."

After saying that, he hung up the phone. Eisner was also taken aback and hurriedly inquired about what else had happened that he didn't know about.

After a while, he received a joint letter, a letter that had already been sent to Disney's major shareholders. This time, the initiator was Disney's animation department.

Almost all former and current employees in the animation department signed the letter.

"...Disney's unique tradition of telling stories with pictures in a humorous and human way has been overturned and replaced by politically correct empty slogans, clichéd linear plots and outdated tropes. Disney's foundation has been destroyed!"
"Get rid of Eisner, save Disney!"

After reading it, Eisner gripped the letter tightly, his face contorted in a grimace, repeatedly muttering, "A bunch of traitors, a bunch of traitors!"

But no matter how harsh his words were, they couldn't hide the fear in his heart. Eisner lay back in his chair, pale-faced. He knew that without the support of the major shareholder, he was doomed this time!
On the other side, Wu Yuchen laughed and said, "Katzenberger, you're really something, you've turned the entire Disney animation department against you!"

Katzenberg clinked his glass against Wu Yuchen's, readily accepting the compliment: "After all, I used to be the head of Disney's animation department, so it's not surprising that I know a few old friends."

Clearly, this mass defection within Disney's animation division was orchestrated by Katzenberg.

Of course, it's not that he, as an outsider, had such great power to turn the entire Disney animation department against him; rather, the Disney animation department itself had a lot of resentment towards Eisner.

Disney Animation has always had a conservative and a new faction. The conservatives insist on the hand-drawn 2D animation of Disney's peak era, while the new faction advocates for 3D animation. This has led to constant disputes within Disney Animation, with neither side able to subdue the other, resulting in internal strife and a lack of significant achievements.

However, with the rise of Pixar in recent years, Disney's entire animation department has been criticized. Conservatives criticize Eisner for failing to uphold Disney traditions, while the new generation believes Eisner hasn't provided enough support and has even nurtured Pixar as an external rival. Both sides are dissatisfied with Eisner.

After Roy Disney launched his vigorous campaign to save Disney, the animation department was also spurred on by Katzenberg. A group of retired animation staff stood up to support Roy Disney, and the animation department jointly signed a letter of opposition to Eisner, which was submitted directly to the major shareholders.

Katzenberg smiled at Wu Yuchen and said, "As far as I know, quite a few major shareholders have expressed their dissatisfaction with Eisner this time. This shareholders' meeting may be his last!"

"Hahaha, I really want to see what Eisner's expression is like right now!"

What was Eisner's expression like? Throughout the entire shareholders' meeting, he wore a blank expression, remaining silent in the face of numerous shareholders' direct accusations against him. He knew that no matter what he said or did, it would be meaningless; the outcome was already predetermined.

When 78% of shareholders voted against Eisner, it meant that the former Disney emperor had been dethroned.

As soon as the shareholders' meeting ended, the Disney board of directors held an internal meeting. They knew they had to act on the voting results and decided to remove Michael from the position of chairman, but temporarily retain him as CEO. Wu Yuchen hung up the phone with a faint smile. He knew this wasn't because they still harbored hope for Eisner, but rather because Disney needed to elect a new leader within six months; this six-month period was for the transition between the old and new leaders.

As for who Disney will choose as its new leader, Wu Yuchen didn't know. Because of his influence, Eisner was dismissed several years earlier than in his previous life, so he didn't know whether Robert Iger would be chosen now, just like in his previous life.

To be honest, who Disney chooses as its new leader doesn't affect him much anymore. Wu Yuchen has reached a point where he no longer needs to consider the opinions of these major studio presidents. Instead, they want to court Wu Yuchen for collaboration.

To put it bluntly, if Wu Yuchen had the influence he has now two or three years ago, Eisner would never have chosen to betray him; he would have simply befriended him.

To be honest, if it weren't for Eisner's actions, Wu Yuchen might not have chosen to film "The Pirate King," and his subsequent collaboration with DreamWorks can be said to have been triggered by it.

The process of Wu Yuchen's confrontation with Eisner over the past two years has also been the process of him gradually rising to the top in Hollywood.

"The Pirate King" directly defeated "Pearl Harbor," causing it to suffer huge box office losses. Then, "A Beautiful Mind" won a great victory at the Oscars, personally sniping Harvey's "Chicago." Disney's live-action film achievements were all crushed by it, and it was declared a failure.

While it can't be said that Eisner collapsed because of him, Wu Yuchen was involved in every crucial step of the process.

Having personally avenged the betrayal he suffered, Wu Yuchen was naturally happy. However, the thought of the once arrogant Eisner now being brought down filled Wu Yuchen with a sense of emptiness, a feeling that came with the satisfaction of revenge.

Wu Yuchen then smiled and shook his head. He had so many commitments waiting for him, and he was still working on winning the Oscar for Best Director. What was there to feel empty about?

The recent resignation of Eisner has made Wu Yuchen deeply realize the meaning of "those who follow the righteous path receive much help, while those who stray from it receive little."

Eisner's arrogance and prejudice, fueled by his power over the years, have constantly offended people, leading to his current predicament. Therefore, Wu Yuchen should take him as a cautionary tale. Eisner is now developing in Hollywood towards becoming a more virtuous figure, establishing relationships with numerous powerful entities that rely on him, thus paving the way for a smoother path for himself.

The public reaction to Eisner's resignation wasn't as strong, as he wasn't a major focus for the general public or movie fans. However, it still caused quite a stir within Hollywood.

After all, he was the president who ruled Disney for 18 years and was once hailed as one of the most powerful figures in Hollywood. Now he has been ousted in such a disgraceful manner, which has shocked and saddened many people who are following this matter.

Although the direct cause of this was Roy Disney's "Save Disney" campaign, those who are interested can find out that several key figures also played a significant role in pushing it forward, such as the anti-Eisner alliance formed by Wu Yuchen and Katzenberg.

Wu Yuchen, Katzenberg, and Jobs—none of them were easy to deal with.

In the process of bringing down Eisner, the group stood united, displaying remarkable teamwork. While it was uncertain whether they would remain so close after Eisner's downfall, none of them wanted to test the waters.

Outsiders may not know, but Wu Yuchen does. Their so-called anti-Esner alliance is not that close. They only managed to cooperate a few times because everyone dislikes Esner.

However, in the process, he also formed friendships with Katzenberg and Jobs.

He is currently collaborating with DreamWorks, which has further strengthened his relationship with Katzenberg. As for Jobs, he was a shareholder of Apple and a staunch supporter of Jobs. This trust and support earned Jobs's deep gratitude. Although the two haven't reached the level of close friends, they are certainly not just casual acquaintances.

"Finally finished production!" Wu Yuchen breathed a sigh of relief. It took him two months from preparation to completion of the movie "The Hours," which was actually quite fast.

Overall, he was quite satisfied with the quality of the film; it was at least an Oscar-caliber film.

However, he also knew that relying solely on "The Hours" to compete for Best Director this year wouldn't be very promising. Therefore, he plans to make another film for the Oscars.

Wu Yuchen picked up a newspaper from the table:
"President George W. Bush reiterates Middle East counterterrorism strategy at West Point!"

Last year, due to 9/11, Bush raised the banner of counterterrorism and launched a "just" war against Afghanistan under the guise of justice. Although Afghanistan was defeated, nothing was gained against the so-called organizations and Bin Laden, which was unacceptable to the public. Domestic opposition began to rise, and discontent with Bush grew.

Therefore, the team led by Bush took another step: since Afghanistan could not open up a new situation, they would start with Iraq and use the Iraq War to divert attention and resolve domestic conflicts in the United States.

In early 2002, George W. Bush emphasized the threat posed by Iraq in his State of the Union address and listed it as a member of the "axis of evil".

Two months later, he pointed out that, according to reliable sources, Iraq possessed terrifying weapons of mass destruction.

Just a few days ago, he went to West Point to give a long speech, stating that there should be a "preemptive" strike against terrorists and hostile countries that possess biological and nuclear weapons.

His intentions were clearly a prelude to war, a fact that made everyone aware of his true intentions.

However, at this time, an anti-war wave also rose in the country. We haven't even finished Afghanistan, and now we have to fight Iraq?

If the previous conflict in Afghanistan was about counterterrorism and revenge for 9/11, and American public support for it was quite high, then this time it's really a bit far-fetched.

Many celebrities have begun to stand up against the war, and Hollywood, as a pioneer, has taken a clear and direct stance in expressing its anti-war attitude and pursuit of peace.

However, Wu Yuchen knew that these voices could not stop Xiao Bu. He was determined to launch this war, and the time would be early next year.

The Oscars are closely related to social trends, and next year's Oscars will focus on anti-war themes.

Therefore, Wu Yuchen has already made up his mind that his next film will focus on this aspect.

It's time to go back home!
(End of this chapter)