ECONOMICS REPORT - Walt Disney Company Names New Chief

ECONOMICS¹ REPORT - Walt Disney Company Names New Chief
By Mario Ritter

Broadcast: Friday, April 01, 2005

I'm Gwen Outen with the VOA Special English Economics Report.

The Walt Disney Company is the second largest media company in the United States, after Time-Warner. It is worth fifty-seven thousand million dollars.

Walt Disney and his brother Roy started the company by making short animated² films called cartoons. In nineteen twenty-eight, the brothers produced "Steamboat Willie,‿a cartoon starring Mickey Mouse. The Disney brothers then made several very successful full-length animated cartoon movies. They also began selling products linked to the characters in their movies.

Walt Disney wanted to expand into other forms of entertainment. In nineteen fifty-five, he opened the Disneyland amusement park in Anaheim, California. In nineteen seventy-one, Walt Disney World opened in Orlando, Florida. It is the post popular holiday area in the United States. There are also Disney parks in Tokyo, Japan and Paris, France. Disneyland in Hong Kong is expected to open in September.

 
Michael Eisner
Walt Disney died in nineteen sixty-six. But the company continued to grow. In nineteen eighty-three, Disney started its own cable television channel. The next year, Michael Eisner became chairman and chief executive³.

During the nineteen nineties, Disney grew into a total media company. It bought movie production companies, newspapers and cable television companies. In nineteen ninety-six, Disney bought the American Broadcasting Company, including the cable sports network ESPN.

Mister Eisner remained the company's top executive. But last year, about forty-five percent of Disney shareholders⁴ voted against him. The Disney board of directors removed Mister Eisner from the position of chairman. It replaced him with former Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell. Recently, Disney made an agreement with Pixar Animation⁵ Studios to make five animated movies. The deal produced the extremely popular films "Finding Nemo‿and "The Incredibles.‿nbsp; But, in January of last year, talks to extend the agreement failed. Some shareholders blamed Mister Eisner.

In March, the Walt Disney Company announced that Robert Iger would replace Mister Eisner as chief executive. Robert Iger has been president and chief operating officer of the company for the past five years. Mister Iger will begin the top job at Disney on September thirtieth.

This VOA Special English Economics Report was written by Mario Ritter. I'm Gwen Outen.

1 economics   

n.经济学，经济情况

参考例句：

• He is studying economics,which subject is very important.他正在学习经济学，该学科是很重要的。
• One can't separate politics from economics.不能把政治与经济割裂开来。

2 animated   

adj.生气勃勃的，活跃的，愉快的

参考例句：

• His observations gave rise to an animated and lively discussion.他的言论引起了一场气氛热烈而活跃的讨论。
• We had an animated discussion over current events last evening.昨天晚上我们热烈地讨论时事。

3 executive   

adj.执行的，行政的；n.执行者，行政官，经理

参考例句：

• A good executive usually gets on well with people.一个好的高级管理人员通常与人们相处得很好。
• He is a man of great executive ability.他是个具有极高管理能力的人。

4 shareholders   

n.股东( shareholder的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The meeting was attended by 90% of shareholders. 90%的股东出席了会议。
• the company's fiduciary duty to its shareholders 公司对股东负有的受托责任

5 animation   

n.活泼，兴奋，卡通片／动画片的制作

参考例句：

• They are full of animation as they talked about their childhood.当他们谈及童年的往事时都非常兴奋。
• The animation of China made a great progress.中国的卡通片制作取得很大发展。