评论
打印
Tom Staggs, chief operating officer of Walt Disney, is to leave the company after losing the support of the board to succeed Bob Iger, its chairman and chief executive, in 2018. The move threatens a repeat of Disney’s troubles with succession under Michael Eisner, Mr Iger’s predecessor, which culminated in a shareholder revolt in 2004.
华特迪士尼公司(Walt Disney)首席运营官汤姆•斯塔格斯(Tom Staggs)在失去董事会对自己2018年接替鲍勃•伊格尔(Bob Iger)出任公司董事长兼首席执行官的支持后，将选择离开迪士尼。此举可能使伊格尔的前任迈克尔•艾斯纳(Michael Eisner)执掌迪士尼时期的继任者人选难题再次上演，上次危机最终在2004年招致了股东的反抗。
Mr Eisner’s cultivation and then rejection in turn of Jeffrey Katzenberg and Mike Ovitz as his second-in-command at Disney in the mid-1990s marred his tenure. In his 2005 book about the period, ‘DisneyWar’, James Stewart described the company as a place “deeply rooted in a culture of fantasy” where executives “take on the aura of hereditary royalty”. Mr Iger’s departure date has been put back three times.
上世纪90年代中期，艾斯纳先是栽培，随后又连续否决了杰弗里•卡岑伯格(Jeffrey Katzenberg)、迈克•奥维茨(Mike Ovitz)担任自己在迪士尼的副手，这成为其任期内的污点。在2005年出版的讲述这一时期故事的《迪士尼战争》(DisneyWar)一书中，詹姆斯•斯图尔特(James Stewart)将迪士尼形容为一个“深深地植根于幻想文化”的地方，这里的高管“都戴着世袭王室的光环”。伊格尔的离任日期已经三次被推迟。
Once upon a time in Disneyland, content was king but the king was not content.
曾几何时，在迪斯尼王国，内容为王，但“国王”并不满足。
The magic kingdom had prospered during King Bob’s reign, multiplying severalfold in value and extending its rule over various make-believe empires such as Pixar Animation and Marvel Entertainment. King Bob grasped the value of a franchise better than anyone else. But the crown now sat heavily on the monarch’s head. His past was coming back to haunt him.
这个魔幻王国在“鲍勃大王”(King Bob)的领导下兴旺发展，公司价值翻了好几番，并且收购了多个虚幻帝国，如皮克斯动画(Pixar Animation)、漫威娱乐公司(Marvel Entertainment)。鲍勃大王比其他任何人都更好地实现了特许经营权的价值。但如今，他头上的王冠更加沉重了。过去的经历正回过头来困扰着他。
King Bob thought of his days of struggle as a prince in the court of King Michael, trying discreetly to ascend the throne. Oh, Lord, King Michael had been a piece of work. Bob remembered one bitter day in Sun Valley, where rival monarchs gathered for jousts each year, when the king had promised to introduce Bob as his successor. He had promised! The guy never kept his word.
鲍勃大王回想起自己作为“亲王”在“迈克尔大王”麾下奋斗的日子，小心翼翼地设法登上王位。噢，上帝，迈克尔大王曾经只是一份工作。鲍勃记得在太阳谷令人痛苦的一天（每年的这一天各商业帝国的君主聚在一起进行比拼），那天，迈克尔大王事先承诺要宣布鲍勃为他的继任者。他承诺过！但他从不信守诺言。
Prince Jeffrey, the hot-blooded pretender whom King Michael called his “golden retriever” (perhaps Jeffrey should have taken the hint), and Prince Mike, a chilly Hollywood courtier, had both been discarded. It had taken every ounce of Prince Bob’s self-control and charm to outlive the curse on the princes of Disneyland.
热情洋溢、觊觎王位并被迈克尔大王称为自己的“金毛猎犬”的“杰弗里亲王”（或许杰弗里本应理解这一提示)以及冷面、好莱坞式的侍臣“迈克亲王”都被抛弃了。“鲍勃亲王”凭借全副的自制力和魅力才战胜了迪士尼亲王们身上所背负的诅咒。
When he looked in the Wall Street mirror each morning and asked, “Who is the fairest ruler of them all?” it always answered, “King Bob”. It did not once mention Prince Tom, or even hesitate. Becoming king was not like being Winnie the Pooh and borrowing a magic blue balloon from Christopher Robin in order to float up and take honey from the beehive. You had to climb the Disneyland tree yourself.
每天早上他看着华尔街魔镜，问道：“谁是世界上最公正的统治者？”魔镜总是回答“鲍勃大王”。从未提到过汤姆亲王，甚至从未犹豫过。要成为国王并不像当小熊维尼(Winnie the Pooh)那样简单——后者可以向克里斯托弗•罗宾(Christopher Robin)借一个有魔力的蓝色气球，让自己漂浮起来，然后从蜂巢窃取蜂蜜。你不得不自己爬上迪士尼的大树。
The king could feel his courtiers gazing at him oddly and whispering in corners, as if the mess were his fault and he had turned into King Michael. He recalled the scene in Toy Story when Buzz Lightyear falls from a window and the other toys think that Woody — solid, likeable Woody — got jealous and deliberately pushed Buzz out. It was an accident!
鲍勃大王可以感觉到侍臣们用奇怪的眼神打量着他，并在角落里窃窃私语，好像这件麻烦事都是他造成的，好像他已经变成了迈克尔大王。他想起了《玩具总动员》(Toy Story)中的一幕，巴斯光年(Buzz Lightyear)从窗户跌落，而其他玩具认为是结实、可爱的伍迪(Woody)出于嫉妒，故意将巴斯推出窗外。那只是一场意外！
Selecting a potential successor last year from between Prince Tom and some other prince whose name now slipped the king’s mind had been like making a choice between two dwarfs called Happy and Grumpy. Sure, Tom was happy and he played the trumpet but what could King Bob say? Tom did not grow into the job.
去年，从汤姆亲王和一些如今国王连名字都不记得的其他亲王之间挑选一位接班人选，就像在叫做“欢乐”(Happy)和“暴躁”(Grumpy)两个小矮人之间做出选择。当然，汤姆很欢乐，吹起了小喇叭，但鲍勃大王说了些什么呢？汤姆最终没能成为继任者。
The problem was that Disneyland was a vast empire, stretching far and wide. It took a big guy to run it, if King Bob said so himself. Long ago, the kingdom had been ruled jointly by its founding brothers, King Walt and King Roy. Walt did the creative alchemy and Roy handled the money. That had worked out very well. But King Michael had insisted on ruling over everything and Bob did, too.
问题在于，迪士尼王国是一个庞大的帝国，幅员辽阔。迪士尼王国需要一位强人驾驭，鲍勃大王认为自己就是这样的人。从前，这个王国由其创始人兄弟——“沃尔特大王”(King Walt)和“罗伊大王”(King Roy)共同管理。沃尔特负责为公司带来创造性的魔力，罗伊掌管财务。他们干得非常好。但迈克尔大王坚持自己裁决公司一切事宜，鲍勃也是如此。
King Michael had warned that if a financial wizard were ever put in charge, Disneyland would freeze over and spring never come. Running a creative kingdom was hard. Animators were like princesses: you had to keep kissing them or they fell asleep.
迈克尔大王曾警告称，如果让一名金融奇才来掌管迪士尼，那迪士尼王国将会陷入冰封，而且春天永远不会到来。领导一个创造性的王国很困难。动漫设计师就像公主：你必须不断地亲吻她们，否则她们就会睡着。
King Bob’s thoughts often turned to princesses. It struck him that most princes in Disneyland films were either evil or just phoning it in.
鲍勃大王脑海里的念头经常转向公主们。他意识到，迪士尼电影里的王子们大多或者邪恶，或者只会自以为是。
They thought that it was sufficient to be handsome and unattainable until the time came for them to ride up on a horse and sweep their conquests off their feet. Meanwhile, most of the hard work was being done behind the scenes by the Disney princesses.
他们认为，只要英俊且高不可攀就足够了，直至他们骑上骏马，引人坠入爱河。与此同时，大部分艰苦工作都是由迪士尼的公主们在幕后完成。
That was the problem, King Bob realised. He had remained foolishly blind to the moral of his stories — that women are the true overachievers. They might be dressed in rags, spending their days and nights cleaning up the mess in the scullery, but put them in glass slippers and they are good to go.
这正是问题所在，鲍勃大王意识到。他一直愚蠢地对自己亲身经历的故事的寓意——女人是真正的成功者——视而不见。她们或许衣着破烂，昼夜在后厨清洗碗筷，但如果让她们穿上水晶鞋，她们会表现得很好。
Prince Tom had not filled King Bob’s shoes but perhaps there was someone else who could. Bob knew a princess in the kingdom of Facebook called Sheryl. He had admired Princess Sheryl as she strode through Sun Valley, and had gained permission from King Mark of Facebook to recruit her to his privy council. Bob liked Princess Sheryl’s style; he liked it a lot.
汤姆亲王未能接替鲍勃大王，但或许有人能够。鲍勃知道Facebook王国有位公主名叫谢里尔•桑德伯格(Sheryl Sandberg)。当谢里尔公主大步穿过太阳谷时，鲍勃对她大加赞赏。他还得到了Facebook“马克大王”(King Mark)的许可将她招募至自己的枢密院。鲍勃喜欢谢里尔公主的风格，非常喜欢。
No one seemed to believe King Bob but he really did want to retire. Every night, he wished upon a star for his puppets to turn into leaders but he had to keep pulling their strings. Princess Sheryl might be the answer to his prayers. Everyone would applaud if she inherited his crown. Good King Bob is truly enlightened, they would exclaim. What a wise sovereign!
似乎没人相信鲍勃大王会退休，但他真的想要退休。每天晚上，他向星星许愿，希望他的木偶变成领袖，但他不得不继续拉住木偶的提线。谢里尔公主可能就是他祈祷的答案。如果她继承了他的王冠，所有人都会鼓掌。他们会欢呼，我们伟大的鲍勃大王真是开明。多么英明的君主！
If the queen thing worked, Bob would still be the best king Disneyland had ever known. And if not, he could always rule a little longer.
如果迪士尼能迎来一位女王，鲍勃仍然会是迪士尼王国历史上最伟大的国王。如果不能的话，他总能再统治一段时间。
