If you’ve been dying for some Disney tea, then you’ll definitely want to check out what former CEO Bob Chapek has to say in his upcoming memoir. Specifically, about his time with the House of Mouse. While I expected him to bring up details about his firing, I never could have predicted the pivot back to my childhood (aka the time when Disney released straight-to-video VHS tapes). I can’t get over how hard Chapek’s new book goes to defend the panned Return of the Jafar.
Following the success of Aladdin, which “netted $217 million in the U.S. and over $500 million worldwide,” Chapek spearheaded the sequel, The Return of Jafar (1994), for Disney’s home video division. In his new memoir, Behind the Castle Walls, he’s calling out the criticism the sequel faced both inside and outside Disney. He explains (via Variety):
The industry press, including publications like The Hollywood Reporter and Variety… did openly criticize the movie. John Lasseter, a founding member and then an executive producer at Pixar, went so far as to call it ‘terrible.’
Even though it was very panned, the movie still made a lot for the company. It reached nearly $300 million in sales, with many children like me who couldn’t get enough of Aladdin and Jasmine’s adventures. That’s without Robin Williams as the Genie, as this was during his conflict with Disney, and before he returned for the final movie in the franchise, Aladdin and the King of Thieves (1996). Plus, the love of the characters was enough for the company to develop a live-action Aladdin.
Obviously, Chapek still has a lot of feelings about the criticism. Although it’s understandable. While I wouldn’t say it’s the best movie, I do remember loving it as a child and it still brings back lovely nostalgia. The former CEO has a few theories about why it wasn’t well-received:
Why was there such vocal criticism aimed at the movie? Likely because a bunch of upstart TV animators in their twenties had created something that generated five times the profits of a typical theatrical release, at the behest of some packaged goods professionals who’d previously worked in the cheese, athletic shoes, and cat food industries.
We’ll probably never know if this is true, especially given Chapek’s rocky time at the company. As you may know, his tenure was quite the rollercoaster. He took over the position of CEO right before COVID hit only to be ousted in 2022 with the reigns given back to Bob Iger. (Iger stepped down earlier this year with Josh D’Amaro replacing him.)
You can read about Chapek’s complicated tenure and his feelings regarding Iger in his memoir. Behind the Castle Walls is available for pre-order, and will be released on September 29.
I’m sure there will be more BTS stories and tea spilled than just his reveal that he’s the head of The Return of Jafar defense squad. Though I do appreciate how hard he defended the sequel.
