The Disney Touch: How a Daring Management Team Revived an Entertainment Empire

After Walt Disney's death in 1966, his family-entertainment empire faltered and eventually became a prime takeover target. Business Week 's L.A. bureau chief Grover here describes the dazzling rescue effort sustained by Michael Eisner's management team, whose previous individual credits included the TV shows Cheers and Family Ties , and the films ET and Star Wars. After five years and an 800% profit rise, the Disney firm encompassed, among other ventures, two subsidiary movie studios; a TV, videocassette and theater licensing network; an international string of theme parks from Tokyo to Paris; a catalogue and retail-shop sales operation for Disney merchandise linked to such hit characters as ``Little Mermaid; and a worldwide publishing enterprise for books and magazines. This comprehensive, sometimes sprawling account also covers the fierce copyright protection of Disney characters; environmental, political and contractual controversies; multimillion-dollar promotion drives; and, importantly, the stretching of the Disney image to include a 1990 movie about a prostitute, Pretty Woman , which became ``the biggest-selling film in Disney history.'' 25,000 first printing; Fortune Book Club selection. (May)