Bob Iger rocks Disney

    Franchises writ large

    Several years ago - with Eisner's blessing - Iger began convening monthly meetings with the company's top executives in which binders are handed out for particular brands, showing how they are doing across divisions and in different markets. Recent topics have included new animated shorts for Winnie-the-Pooh, and brand extensions of the Pixar films "Toy Story" and "Cars."

    "Cars" may be exhibit A of Disney's franchise machinery at work. Three years after the movie came out, sales of licensed merchandise are running at more than $2 billion annually. A "Cars" sequel is in production. Disney will soon launch an elaborate Cars virtual world. But the biggest bet on "Cars" is Cars Land, a 12-acre stretch of Disney's California Adventure theme park set to open in 2012.

    On a Monday afternoon not long after Iger's trip to London, he was at Disney's famed (and so hush-hush there's no sign outside) Imagineering offices in Glendale, Calif. He was joined by John Lasseter, who was enjoying the early buzz on "Bolt," the first decent Disney animated film in years, and one on which the Pixar folks had made major modifications.

    Lasseter and Iger were eyeballing wood and foam scale models of Cars Land. The biggest draw in the mini-park will be a ride featuring animatronic characters from the movie and "cars" that go 40 miles an hour but seem much faster in places, thanks to new projection technology. Lasseter crouched as he made his way through the 1/8 scale mockup, adding his own sound effects for each twist and turn. "Look at this! Have you seen this, Bob? Lean down and take a look. It's like the movie, except you're there."

    Upstairs, designers were doing what's called "pre-viz" work, wearing headgear that allowed them to explore a virtual 3-D rendering of the ride and stroll around (or fly above) Cars Land.

    In an industry with a miserably low success rate for mergers, Iger gets high marks for Pixar. And he notes that Cars Land would not have been possible on this scale - or with Lasseter and his colleagues' hands-on input - if not for the acquisition.

    Iger isn't done buying. He says he hopes to use Disney's position of relative strength and a reasonably clean balance sheet to make further acquisitions along the nontraditional lines of videogame publishers and Club Penguin, the kids' social network it purchased last year. (Electronic Arts (ERTS) and Discovery Communications (DISCA) are often mentioned as potential fits for Disney - not that Iger is telling.)

    One thing that's definitely not in the cards - sorry, conspiracy theorists - is some kind of Jobs master plan leading to an Apple-Disney merger. Asked what his long-term intentions are as the company's largest shareholder, Jobs says, "I think there are some companies that transcend just being businesses. Disney is one of those very special companies, and I think it's very special companies that prosper in the long run. I've never worried about my investment. I know that it's going to be just fine. Family is a renewable resource."

    Iger, meanwhile, perhaps best sums up his mission at Disney as he walks out of the Cars Land meeting and pauses to say hello to a woman who works in the building. "It's the happiest place on earth," Iger tells her as he turns to go. "Let's keep it that way."