Long-awaited Disney park to open in China
Robert Iger first set foot on the site in China that would become a Walt Disney Co. theme park 17 years ago.
Back then the 963-acre site was mostly agricultural land, but now it has been transformed into Shanghai Disney Resort, a $5.5-billion project that has become an important symbol of Disney’s ambitions in the world’s most populous country.
“It’s kind of hard to believe we’ve been involved so long,” said Iger at the MoffettNathanson Media and Communications Summit in May.
The development, which opens Thursday, means a lot to Disney’s chief, who became CEO in 2005 and is expected to depart the company when his contract expires in 2018. And the stakes couldn’t be higher.
Corporate America’s leading CEOs are typically defined by a signature project. Steve Jobs and the iPhone, Lee Iacocca and the Dodge Caravan, Gerald Levin and the Time Warner-AOL merger — the annals of business history are filled with executives who are arguably best known for a signature success or failure.
Several observers said that Iger’s legacy is already secure. He is almost certain to be remembered for how he transformed Disney through the acquisitions of Pixar, Marvel and Lucasfilm, which created a trove of new franchises for the Burbank entertainment giant.
Still, there is little doubt that the opening of the project in Shanghai’s Pudong area represents an important moment for Iger and could provide a capstone to the 65-year-old’s tenure.
“Just what this can give birth to I believe over a long, long period of time, could be very significant for the company,” Iger said at the May event.
At roughly twice the size of Disney’s resort in Anaheim, California, Shanghai Disney Resort is a behemoth.
The property’s cornerstone Shanghai Disneyland is the third biggest among the company’s dozen theme parks.
The development represents the biggest partnership between a U.S. entertainment company and a Chinese partner. It is a joint venture with the Shanghai Shendi Group, a state-owned investment entity that holds 57 percent of the shares. (Disney retains the remainder.)
Shanghai Disney will help promote the company’s brand to a nation of 1.4 billion people who already have access to its merchandise and films. Movies such as “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” and “Zootopia” have grossed more than $100 million in China in recent years.