JUDAICA - Wisdom In Torah

Paramount to become chair and CEO of Walt Disney Company
in September 1984. At the time, Disney had not had a hit
film since 1969 and its profits had fallen dramatically. Eisner
reinvigorated the studio on several fronts, luring new executives,
making popular films for adults like Down and Out in
Beverly Hills (1985), re-releasing classic Disney films, creating
new animated films such as Beauty and the Beast (1991) and
The Lion King (1994) – and launching Broadway versions of
the films – as well as computer animated films in partnership
with Pixar such as Toy Story (1995) and Finding Nemo (2003).
He also expanded the company in TV and cable (launching the
Disney Channel and acquiring ABC and the Family Channel),
expanded the existing Disneyland and Disneyworld resorts
and established Disneyland theme parks in Europe outside
Paris, France, and in Japan, and acquired Harvey and Bob
Weinstein’s specialty films division Miramax Films. Although
in a 20-year period Eisner increased the value of the company
2000%, his management style and inability to groom a successor
led to major conflicts. Former president of production
Jeffrey Katzenberg left to found Dreamworks and won a $250
million suit against Disney. Eisner hired former Creative Artist
Agency founder Michael Ovitz and then a year later fired
him, paying him a severance that exceeded $100 million and
spurred several stockholder lawsuits. The relationships with
Pixar and Miramax soured. In 2003, Walt Disney’s nephew
Roy Disney asked Eisner to resign as head of the company.
Following a vote to remove Eisner from the board, the Disney
CEO announced he would retire at the end of his contract on
September 30, 2006. However, subsequently, he announced he
would step down on September 30, 2005, and would be succeeded
by Robert Iger. Eisner’s tenure at Disney has been the
subject of several books, including Eisner’s own 1998 account,
Work in Progress, and Disney Wars by James Stewart (2005).
[Adam Wills (2nd ed.)]
EISNER, PAVEL (Paul; 1889–1958), bilingual Czech-German
writer, translator, and literary critic. His literary work
made him a bridge-builder between Czech and German cultural
circles in Czechoslovakia. Born in Prague, Eisner studied
Slavic philology at the German University there and soon
became known as the editor of a series of anthologies, mainly
of Czech and Slovak folk literature (Tschechische Anthologie,
Slovakische Anthologie, Volkslieder der Slaven, Volksmaerchen
der Slaven). As editor of the literary supplement of the government-owned
paper Prager Presse, he became one of the few
interpreters – most of whom were Jews – of Czech literature
to the German reading public. One of the most prolific writers
of his time, he translated hundreds of poems and short stories
by practically every modern Czech author of importance. On
the other hand, he was also a tireless translator from German
into Czech, acquainting the Czech reader with authors ranging
from J.W. Goethe to Thomas Mann and from Heinrich
*Heine to Franz *Kafka. He was the first, in his book Nĕmecká
literatura na půdĕ Československé republiky (“German Literature
on Czechoslovak Soil,” 1933), to analyze the contribu-
eisner, will
tion of the German Jewish writers from Prague. Czech-German-Jewish
symbiosis is also the theme of his book of essays
Milenky (“Lovers,” 1930) and of Franz Kafka and Prague (1950).
However, the bulk of his literary studies, mainly in the fields
of comparative literature, psychology of languages, and the
mutual influence of national cultures, remains dispersed in
a great number of Central European publications. Although
prevented by a hearing defect from becoming a musician, he
nevertheless kept in constant touch with musical life and not
only translated foreign operas into Czech and libretti of Czech
operas (by Dvořák, Martinů, Jeremiáš) into German, but also
wrote several studies on the history of music, including one
on Jewish music and musical instruments. Shielded by his
non-Jewish wife, who was distantly related to Richard Wagner,
Eisner escaped deportation during the Nazi occupation
and was able to work in the Jewish Museum in Prague. Some
of his last essays were published in Vĕstník, the monthly of the
Jewish community of Prague. His best known work is Chrám
i tvrz (“The Cathedral and the Fortress,” 1946), an exposition
on the Czech language and its riches.
Add. Bibliography: A. Mikulášek et al., Literatura s hvězdou
Davidovou, vol. 1 (1998); Lexikon české literatury, 1 (1985).
[Avigdor Dagan]
EISNER, WILL (William Erwin; 1917–2005), U.S. comic
book artist and author. Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., the son of
Jewish immigrants, Eisner published his first drawings in his
high school newspaper. He published his first comic in 1936
in Wow, What a Magazine!, where he met Jerry Iger. Together
they created a comic book outfit, Eisner & Iger, that employed
among other artists Bob *Kane, creator of Batman and other
superheroes. (Eisner turned down a comic called Superman
by Jerry *Siegel and Joe *Shuster.)
In 1940 Eisner created the Spirit, a hero without superpowers.
Fans called the strip the “Citizen Kane” of comics for
its innovation, its seriousness, and its influences. A website
devoted to the Spirit described the hero as a man “with no
gimmicks or powers” other than “his freedom from society”
and noted that Eisner called the Spirit a “middle-class crime
fighter.” At the height of its popularity, the Spirit appeared in
20 newspapers, reaching 5 million readers every Sunday. In
1942, when Eisner was drafted into the army, he started drawing
comics for the military. In late 1945 he went back to the
Spirit, and with the help of other artists, including Jules *Feiffer,
he revived and deepened it. The Spirit expired in 1952.
For the next 25 years, Eisner spent much of his time running
the American Visual Corporation, a producer of education,
army, and government comic books. Military manuals used
to be dry and virtually unreadable but Eisner used words
and pictures together to show soldiers how to do everything
from cleaning their tanks to putting their lives back together
after the war.
The Kitchen Sink Press reprinted all of the postwar Spirit
comics from 1978 to 1998. Meanwhile, in the 1970s, Eisner was
reborn as a comic artist. In 1978 he wrote and drew A Contract
ENCYCLOPAEDIA JUDAICA, Second Edition, Volume 6 277