Jeffrey Katzenberg, Dec. 4, 1992

By DONALD PORTER
Standard·Examiner staff

Somehow, this fits: Walt Disney Studios Chairman Jeffrey Katzenberg is squeezing in a phone interview view while tooling through Los Angeles morning traffic, on his way to do more satellite interviews for and TV stations around the country. It serves to reinforce the popular image of Katzenberg, the mogul who is said to complete some 200 phone calls each morning -- after reading several newspapers during his daily rise-and-shine physical workout.

No time to waste. Literally.

And from a business standpoint, who could argue? Katzenberg and Team Disney, transplanted from Paramount Pictures in 1984, took the studio that Uncle Walt built from a dead-last 3 percent market share that year to a first-place 20 percent in 1988. And since then, his motion picture division – including movies released under the Walt Disney Pictures, Touchstone Pictures and Hollywood Pictures banners -- has been hanging tough, never out of the race.

"Aladdin," Disney's newest release, is sure to keep the company's stockholders smiling; it grossed $25.8 million over the Thanksgiving holiday, about 2-1/2 times what "Beauty and the Beast" did during the same time period last year. And critics have lavished so much praise on the film, there's already talk Robin Williams may be nominated for an Oscar in an acting category -- for his voice performance.

Richard Rich, Nov. 19, 1994

By DONALD PORTER
Standard-Examiner staff
As you read this, it is, perhaps, one of the most critical weekends in Richard Rich's life.

The Ogden native and former Walt Disney Studios director is going head to head with his onetime employer today, and many in the industry are watching with great interest. Today, two animated motion pictures -- Rich's "The Swan Princess" and Disney's "The Lion King," duke it out for big bucks at the nation's box offices.

"The Swan Princess," Rich's first feature-length animated film since departing Disney in 1985 -- and the debut animated feature from his own company, Rich Animation Studios -- is hoping to stay in the game alongside Disney's well-oiled marketing machine and the re-release of "The Lion King." Already the top-earning animated film in history, Disney yanked "The Lion King" from theaters two months ago in the hopes that its November re-release would reap a new round of profits.