迪士尼王國後繼無人 The princes of Disneyland are under a curse

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.

華特迪士尼公司(Walt Disney)首席運營官湯姆•斯塔格斯(Tom Staggs)在失去董事會對自己2018年接替鮑勃•伊格爾(Bob Iger)出任公司董事長兼首席執行官的支持後，將選擇離開迪士尼。此舉可能使伊格爾的前任邁克爾•艾斯納(Michael Eisner)執掌迪士尼時期的繼任者人選難題再次上演，上次危機最終在2004年招致了股東的反抗。

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.

上世紀90年代中期，艾斯納先是栽培，隨後又連續否決了傑弗裏•卡岑伯格(Jeffrey Katzenberg)、邁克•奧維茨(Mike Ovitz)擔任自己在迪士尼的副手，這成爲其任期內的污點。在2005年出版的講述這一時期故事的《迪士尼戰爭》(DisneyWar)一書中，詹姆斯•斯圖爾特(James Stewart)將迪士尼形容爲一個“深深地植根於幻想文化”的地方，這裏的高管“都戴着世襲王室的光環”。伊格爾的離任日期已經三次被推遲。

Once upon a time in Disneyland, content was king but the king was not content.

曾幾何時，在迪斯尼王國，內容爲王，但“國王”並不滿足。

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.

這個魔幻王國在“鮑勃大王”(King Bob)的領導下興旺發展，公司價值翻了好幾番，並且收購了多個虛幻帝國，如皮克斯動畫(Pixar Animation)、漫威娛樂公司(Marvel Entertainment)。鮑勃大王比其他任何人都更好地實現了特許經營權的價值。但如今，他頭上的王冠更加沉重了。過去的經歷正回過頭來困擾着他。

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.

鮑勃大王回想起自己作爲“親王”在“邁克爾大王”麾下奮鬥的日子，小心翼翼地設法登上王位。噢，上帝，邁克爾大王曾經只是一份工作。鮑勃記得在太陽谷令人痛苦的一天（每年的這一天各商業帝國的君主聚在一起進行比拼），那天，邁克爾大王事先承諾要宣佈鮑勃爲他的繼任者。他承諾過！但他從不信守諾言。

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.

熱情洋溢、覬覦王位並被邁克爾大王稱爲自己的“金毛獵犬”的“傑弗裏親王”（或許傑弗裏本應理解這一提示)以及冷麪、好萊塢式的侍臣“邁克親王”都被拋棄了。“鮑勃親王”憑藉全副的自制力和魅力才戰勝了迪士尼親王們身上所揹負的詛咒。

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.

每天早上他看着華爾街魔鏡，問道：“誰是世界上最公正的統治者？”魔鏡總是回答“鮑勃大王”。從未提到過湯姆親王，甚至從未猶豫過。要成爲國王並不像當小熊維尼(Winnie the Pooh)那樣簡單——後者可以向克里斯托弗•羅賓(Christopher Robin)借一個有魔力的藍色氣球，讓自己漂浮起來，然後從蜂巢竊取蜂蜜。你不得不自己爬上迪士尼的大樹。

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!

鮑勃大王可以感覺到侍臣們用奇怪的眼神打量着他，並在角落裏竊竊私語，好像這件麻煩事都是他造成的，好像他已經變成了邁克爾大王。他想起了《玩具總動員》(Toy Story)中的一幕，巴斯光年(Buzz Lightyear)從窗戶跌落，而其他玩具認爲是結實、可愛的伍迪(Woody)出於嫉妒，故意將巴斯推出窗外。那只是一場意外！

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，從湯姆親王和一些如今國王連名字都不記得的其他親王之間挑選一位接班人選，就像在叫做“歡樂”(Happy)和“暴躁”(Grumpy)兩個小矮人之間做出選擇。當然，湯姆很歡樂，吹起了小喇叭，但鮑勃大王說了些什麼呢？湯姆最終沒能成爲繼任者。

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.

問題在於，迪士尼王國是一個龐大的帝國，幅員遼闊。迪士尼王國需要一位強人駕馭，鮑勃大王認爲自己就是這樣的人。從前，這個王國由其創始人兄弟——“沃爾特大王”(King Walt)和“羅伊大王”(King Roy)共同管理。沃爾特負責爲公司帶來創造性的魔力，羅伊掌管財務。他們幹得非常好。但邁克爾大王堅持自己裁決公司一切事宜，鮑勃也是如此。

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.

邁克爾大王曾警告稱，如果讓一名金融奇才來掌管迪士尼，那迪士尼王國將會陷入冰封，而且春天永遠不會到來。領導一個創造性的王國很困難。動漫設計師就像公主：你必須不斷地親吻她們，否則她們就會睡着。

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.

鮑勃大王腦海裏的念頭經常轉向公主們。他意識到，迪士尼電影裏的王子們大多或者邪惡，或者只會自以爲是。

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.

他們認爲，只要英俊且高不可攀就足夠了，直至他們騎上駿馬，引人墜入愛河。與此同時，大部分艱苦工作都是由迪士尼的公主們在幕後完成。

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.

這正是問題所在，鮑勃大王意識到。他一直愚蠢地對自己親身經歷的故事的寓意——女人是真正的成功者——視而不見。她們或許衣着破爛，晝夜在後廚清洗碗筷，但如果讓她們穿上水晶鞋，她們會表現得很好。

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.

湯姆親王未能接替鮑勃大王，但或許有人能夠。鮑勃知道Facebook王國有位公主名叫謝里爾•桑德伯格(Sheryl Sandberg)。當謝里爾公主大步穿過太陽谷時，鮑勃對她大加讚賞。他還得到了Facebook“馬克大王”(King Mark)的許可將她招募至自己的樞密院。鮑勃喜歡謝里爾公主的風格，非常喜歡。

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!

似乎沒人相信鮑勃大王會退休，但他真的想要退休。每天晚上，他向星星許願，希望他的木偶變成領袖，但他不得不繼續拉住木偶的提線。謝里爾公主可能就是他祈禱的答案。如果她繼承了他的王冠，所有人都會鼓掌。他們會歡呼，我們偉大的鮑勃大王真是開明。多麼英明的君主！

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.

如果迪士尼能迎來一位女王，鮑勃仍然會是迪士尼王國曆史上最偉大的國王。如果不能的話，他總能再統治一段時間。