Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of The Walt Disney Company, Bob Iger.
Thank you. Shout out on Adra, good morning, Phoenix. Nice to be here this morning. Wasn't that video just fantastic? Thank you. It really is a great time to be part of The Walt Disney Company, a great time for the company because in case you missed it yesterday, our stock price hit an all-time high. Timing is everything, right? The market cap of our company hit a record $102 billion. Not to be too greedy, but we opened today up a little bit, and the last I checked, we were up another $0.06. Not a bad way to start the day. That video that you just saw reflects how much Disney means to millions of people all over the world. We create special moments and wonderful memories that last a lifetime. That's the real magic of Disney.
Last year, we made more magic than ever. How many of you have been to Cars Land? Cars Land is like stepping right out of the movie "Cars" and into Radiator Springs in real life, and our guests absolutely love it. The opening of Cars Land capped an amazing transformation at Disney's California Adventure, which is now a fantastic destination in its own right and a real worthy neighbor to Disneyland. We also launched our fourth ship, the incomparable Disney Fantasy, which set a new standard of luxury cruising. Cruise passengers voted the Disney Fantasy the best overall large ship and the best service in the world. That's of all cruise ships. It was quite a distinction. Thank you. As you may have heard, Marvel's The Avengers was not only the biggest movie of the year, but it's the third highest grossing movie of all time.
I have a lot of other good things to say, you can hold your applause. We also released three animated features last year: Brave, Frankenweenie, and Wreck-It Ralph, and every one of them received Golden Globe and Oscar nominations for Best Picture. Brave took home both awards, which makes it the seventh movie to win the Oscar for Pixar. We actually swept the animation Oscars. We also won an Oscar for a short film from Walt Disney Animation Studios, which was called Paperman. We've had an extraordinary creative resurgence at our animation business and across the company, which is what we wanted when we made our acquisition of Pixar back in 2006. Meanwhile, ESPN is still the undisputed market leader and number 1 sports brand. ABC's Good Morning America is now the country's number 1 morning show.
The Disney Channel finished last year as the number one channel among kids 2 to 11, and that's the first time they've ever done that. All of this success across all of our businesses led to another great financial performance for The Walt Disney Company. In fiscal 2012, we increased revenue by 3% to a record $42 billion, which led to a record $5.7 billion in net income, and that was up over 18% over last year. Our earnings per share were up 24%, setting a new record of $3.13. Thank you. Nice. For the 57th year in a row, Disney shareholders received a dividend, and it was up 25% from the year earlier. Our record financial results drove total shareholder return of more than 76%, and that was more than double that of the S&P 500.
Over the last five years, total shareholder return for Disney was 62.2%, and that is almost 12 times the S&P 500 return of 5.4%. Our strong performance is a result of the world-class management team, which is running our businesses, and the tremendous work of our fantastic cast members and employees all around the world. I hope you're as proud of our people and of our results as we are. We're also very excited about what's ahead. There were some teases in that video that you saw earlier. I got to start with our acquisition of Lucasfilm. It's a huge honor for us to have George Lucas entrust his extraordinary legacy to Disney. George has always been a great innovator and a great visionary, but first and foremost, George is a great storyteller.
Star Wars, with its 17,000 characters and 20,000 years of mythology, is an incredible story. We're taking that story into the future, starting with Star Wars: Episode VII, which will be directed by J.J. Abrams, with whom we've had a long and very successful relationship that includes creating the global phenomenon that was on ABC known as Lost. We're obviously very excited to have J.J. on board and to have Star Wars at Disney, and I hope you are, too. Take a look at this video.
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Pretty exciting. Star Wars: Episode VII will be released in 2015, we're also working on some standalone movies featuring the great Star Wars characters. Lucasfilm joins Disney, Pixar, Marvel, ESPN, and ABC in our unprecedented collection of amazing brands. We have so much to look forward to in all of our businesses. Starting, by the way, with parks and resorts. Our expansion of Fantasyland at Walt Disney World combines exceptional creativity and innovative technology to take storytelling and iconic characters to a great location and bring it to a whole new level. The response from our guests, because some of this is already opened, has been overwhelmingly positive, we've got more attractions coming this year in 2013 and then in 2014. Walt Disney said Disneyland will never be completed.
It will continue to grow as long as there is imagination left in the world, we feel the same way about all of our parks across the world. We continue to invent new ways to thrill and entertain families at every one of our parks, we're constantly asking how we can make it even more fun, even a better experience. We've invested a lot of thought and resources in this effort, the most recent result is our new MyMagic+ program. Using the latest RFID technology embedded in a convenient wristband, MyMagic+ is going to let Walt Disney World guests enjoy more of what we have to offer, starting with planning their details of their visit from home, including securing FastPass+ to their favorite attractions and making reservations at special dining experiences across our property.
Now, at the resort, MagicBands will serve as room keys and park tickets, you can even link them to your credit card and pay for your purchases with a simple swipe of your wrist at any place that you're purchasing something. For the guests who choose to share additional information with us about what they like, we can create an even more personalized experience, which I think everybody's going to love. I was at Disney World just last month, I had a chance to try out MyMagic+, I can tell you, the MagicBands take the park to a whole new level in terms of experience. Access and convenience is definitely greater, I think they're going to be extremely popular for us. Another exciting project is Shanghai Disneyland, where we're creating a one-of-a-kind destination that is authentically Disney and distinctly Chinese.
We broke ground just two years ago, we recently got our first look at a 3D model showing what the park is actually going to look like. I can't show you the whole thing right now, but I know there's a lot of anticipation and excitement about this Shanghai Disney Resort, so I did bring you one surprise. You're going to be the very first audience to see just how spectacular Shanghai Disneyland will be if you just take a look at this picture. What that depicts, obviously, is our castle. We said when we broke ground that we were going to build the tallest and the largest castle that we've ever built, I think you get some sense from that. That's actually a 3D model that our Imagineers created, adding some lighting to it.
You can tell that we've paid special attention to creating a great Disney park, but a good Chinese experience as well. I can't tell you much more about it because we haven't announced all the details, but I can tell you that this is personally very special for me because I've spent 15 years working with some of the most talented people in the world to take what was once an ambitious idea into what we believe is going to be one of the most spectacular Disney experiences yet, and clearly an important part of this company's future. We look forward to opening the gates of this great park at the end of 2015 and welcoming the first of what we believe will be millions and millions and millions of guests who are going to enjoy Shanghai Disneyland for generations to come. I'm an instant gratification guy.
See a picture like that, I immediately want to enjoy the park. Right now, by the way, we have thousands of workers on the site. Doesn't quite look like that yet. I said it's going to open in 2015, but it's starting to grow from the ground, and it's very hard to contain our excitement when we visit the site, but we are a couple of years away. Turning to our studio, we've got a lot to look forward to this year, starting with the fantastical adventure, Oz the Great and Powerful. This film is a stunningly beautiful movie with a great, engaging story and a stellar cast. You can see it for yourselves because it's opening up this Friday.
Later this spring, Robert Downey Jr. returns as Tony Stark in "Iron Man 3." I know that's a long time for you Marvel fans to wait, but I brought a brand-new trailer of "Iron Man 3.
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We just have to amp it up with a little more energy and a little more action, right? "Iron Man 3" opens on May 3rd, you don't have to wait too long. We also just completed "Thor: The Dark World," which will be in theaters later this year. We've started, or just getting ready to start filming "Captain America: The Winter Soldier," which is the sequel to "Captain America." Now we have the next Avengers blockbuster. That's coming in 2015. Marvel fans can relax. We've got plenty of Marvel movies ahead. In June, we're going to release another great Pixar movie, "Monsters University." That's a prequel to the smash hit "Monsters, Inc." Way before we met Mike and Sulley in the first film, they were just a couple of college kids at Monsters University.
I brought you a very first look at "Monsters University" with a never-before-seen clip of how Mike and Sulley first met. Take a look at the start of a beautiful friendship.
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I brought one more trailer. In July, the creative team behind the incredibly successful Pirates of the Caribbean franchise brings us another great movie with Johnny Depp once again at the center of the action, this time as Tonto in "The Lone Ranger." Let's take a quick look.
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About three years ago, when we were talking about doing that film, Johnny Depp showed up at the Disney lot in Burbank in that costume. Had a guy walking around the office with a bird on his head. Just a normal day at Disney, right? In addition to the movies I just mentioned, we've also got "Frozen," which is another great story from Disney Animation. It's a musical fantasy and the warmest story set in the coldest place you'll ever see. Then at the end of the year, a movie called "Saving Mr. Banks," which is the story behind the making of "Mary Poppins," starring Tom Hanks as Walt Disney himself. In our digital media business, we're reinventing the way video games tell their stories with a whole new gaming platform. We're calling this Disney Infinity.
We've created a whole new universe where players have the freedom to create stories and adventures with some of Disney and Pixar's most beloved characters for the first time ever. We've been thrilled with the tremendous reaction from everyone who has seen Infinity so far, from core gamers to retailers, and we look forward to releasing this innovative new platform later on in the year. Turning to our media networks group, ESPN continues to serve sports fans across the country, and of course, right here in Phoenix, Arizona, like no one else can, as this video will show.
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Those ESPN guys have a tough time putting together highlight reels. ESPN is bringing more sports coverage to more people in more ways than ever before. Our revolutionary WatchESPN service now allows fans in more than 55 million U.S. homes to watch ESPN on the go. With more than 30,000 hours of live events, news, and original programming across all of its networks and digital platforms each year, it's no surprise that more than 113 million sports fans interact with ESPN every week. These days, whether sports fans are watching the NFL games, Wimbledon, the NBA, Indy 500, Major League Baseball, college sports, or sports news on television, online, or on a mobile device, most of them are watching ESPN. At ABC News, we're very glad to welcome Robin Roberts back to Good Morning America just a couple of weeks ago.
Robin's courage and grace have touched millions of people who marveled at her strength. They were inspired to become bone marrow donors. We're all very thankful for her recovery and absolutely thrilled by her triumphant return to Good Morning America. ABC News and our ABC-owned stations also did an absolutely stellar job across the board from the 2012 coverage of the election to the devastation of natural disasters. These teams told the stories that mattered the most in ways that revealed the power and the importance and the humanity behind all of them. In primetime, ABC Network continues to deliver some of the best shows on TV, including three of the fall season's top shows: "Grey's Anatomy," "Once Upon a Time," and "Modern Family," which is TV's number one comedy.
Successful shows from ABC not only drive viewers to our network here in the United States, but they're sold into more than 200 markets around the world, which delivers even greater returns on our investments in that programming. On to cable, ABC Family continues to serve the millennial audience with characters and stories that are relevant to their lives. In 2012, ABC Family was cable's number one network in primetime among young women, and that was the first time in that network's history, and delivered its strongest performance ever across key digital platforms as well. Over the last several years, I mentioned this earlier, Disney Channel has become a true driver of our brand around the world, taking Disney directly into the homes and daily lives of millions of people.
We launched our first free-to-air channel in Russia just over a year ago. We're already reaching 90% of the entire Russian audience. By some estimates, one in every three children in Russia tune in to watch Disney Channel every day, which makes the Russian Disney Channel the country's number one free-to-air channel among kids and creates a tremendous opportunity for our company to connect with this large audience. We now have 108 Disney Channels in 34 languages, reaching 426 million homes in 166 different markets. When you add the extended reach of our international partners, Disney and Marvel-branded kids television is now available in over one billion homes across the world.
Here in the U.S., as I mentioned earlier, Disney Channel continued its winning streak, now the number one network of kids and teens, Disney Junior's "Doc McStuffins," "Jake and the Never Land Pirates," and "Mickey Mouse Clubhouse" were this year's top three cable shows for kids two to five. "Sofia the First: Once Upon a Princess" was the highest-rated telecast among these young viewers and is now a new very popular series as well. We also continue to expand our presence in both China and Russia. We also just made a large investment in India, that's the acquisition of UTV with 250 million customers. We are now India's leading film studio and TV producer and one of the country's premier broadcasters.
That also creates a very strong foundation for The Walt Disney Company in this rapidly changing and emerging market, I think it's going to be very important for us in the future. As we expand our presence around the world, we remain committed to being a good corporate citizen, from reducing our environmental impact and ensuring respectful workplaces to promoting the well-being of kids and families. We just released our 2013 citizenship performance summary outlining our progress toward the targets we set a year ago. It's on our website, I invite all of you to take a look at the many ways The Walt Disney Company is working toward positive change. Disney was the first media company to take action to help parents promote healthier choices for their families with our landmark nutrition guidelines. That was back in 2006.
We recently took another huge step forward as the first to set standards for food advertising in television programming targeted to kids. We're proud to continue to lead the industry on this very important issue. We're also proud of our legacy supporting those who serve our country. At our last shareholders meeting, we announced a company-wide effort to support U.S. veterans and military families, including launching a public service campaign that we called Heroes Work Here to raise awareness of the tremendous value veterans can bring to any company. We also made a commitment at that time to hire at least 1,000 military veterans by 2015, that's a goal I'm pleased to say that we've already surpassed. Thanks.
We decided to increase our hiring goal to create opportunities for another 1,000 former service members in the next two years, we continue to raise awareness through our ongoing Heroes Work Here campaign, starring some of the amazing veterans that now work at The Walt Disney Company. Here's our newest public service message showing that we are very proud to have heroes work at Disney.
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Thank you. For the better part of a century, The Walt Disney Company has entertained and delighted families with extraordinary experiences that expand the limits of imagination and set a new standard of excellence in entertainment. Disney is one of the best-known companies in the world, as CEO, I have always wanted us to be one of the most admired companies as well, earning the respect of our consumers, our employees, and our shareholders for what we achieve and most importantly, for how we achieve it. It's one of the goals I had for our company when I stepped into this job just over seven years ago. Today, I'm happy to report that Fortune magazine recognized The Walt Disney Company as one of the 10 most admired companies in the world. Thank you.
This is a reflection of our unwavering commitment to excellence and the result of everything we've done in several years to deliver significant value to our shareholders, it's a true privilege to lead this company. We have an extraordinary legacy of achievement and such tremendous potential in the future. Over the last seven years, we've focused on three strategic priorities to ensure that we realize that potential, they are creating exceptionally high-quality content for families, making that content more engaging and accessible through the innovative use of technology, and growing our brands in businesses and in markets around the world.
Now, we've made great strides in all these areas across all of our businesses, from the creative resurgence that we're seeing in animation, to the way we're leveraging technology to deliver our content and enhance the guest experience, particularly at our parks, to our ever-expanding footprint in established and in emerging markets. As happy and as proud as we are about what we have achieved, I have to say, we are even more excited about the future. As we move forward, I sincerely appreciate your continued support. Thank you. I'm also immensely grateful to have the guidance of an absolutely stellar board of directors, a group of exceptional leaders from a wide array of industries who bring their individual perspective, experience, and independence to Disney's board.
They've proven to be one of the strongest, most effective boards in the country, and as CEO, I rely on their insight and wisdom as we continue to shape an extraordinary future for this amazing company. I would like to introduce them to all of you now, starting with our lead director, Orin Smith, who was formerly president and CEO of Starbucks. Orin? Thank you. As lead director, Orin provides independent leadership for the board of directors, as well as invaluable counsel to me and our senior team. Susan Arnold is retired from Procter & Gamble, where she was the company's vice chairman, as well as president of its global business units. John Chen is a senior advisor at the private investment firm Silver Lake, recently retired as chairman and CEO of Sybase, Inc.
Judy Estrin is CEO of JLABS, a company that is focused on furthering innovation in business, government, and nonprofit organizations. Fred Langhammer is chairman, global affairs of Estée Lauder. Fred. Aylwin Lewis, president and CEO of Potbelly Sandwich Works, and there's one just three blocks away. A commercial for Potbelly just right down the road. Monica Lozano is chief executive officer of impreMedia LLC. Robert Matschullat is a private equity investor and former vice chairman and CFO of The Seagram Company. Sheryl Sandberg is chief operating officer of Facebook. Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, our board of directors. Thank you. The fun part of the meeting. We now move on to the formal business portion of the meeting, and let me cover a few administrative matters.
Today's meeting has been duly called and is being conducted in conformity with the laws of Delaware and the company's charter and bylaws. The notice of the meeting and proxy materials describing the meeting's business have been duly sent or made available to the company's shareholders. The polls opened at 9:00 A.M. this morning and will close at the end of the business portion of this meeting. If you haven't voted or if you want to change your vote, you may do so at any time prior to the closing of the polls. If you didn't get a ballot at the registration table just outside the entrance and would like one, please raise your hand. Copies of the rules for the meeting were provided also at the registration table. If anybody needs a ballot, they're passing them out right now.
I'd like to ask for everyone's cooperation in respecting the rules, including speaking time limit, and assisting us in the orderly conduct of business. The company has retained Broadridge Investor Communication Solutions as inspector of election for this meeting, and we have six items on the agenda today: The election of 10 directors, three company proposals, and, if presented, two proposals from shareholders. I will introduce each of the first four matters. Shareholder representatives will present the shareholder proposals, and then there will be an opportunity for those present to address the matters presented. Once we've completed our consideration of these items, the polls will close, and we'll hear a preliminary report from the Inspector of Elections. We will then adjourn the business portion of the meeting, which will be followed by a general question and answer period.
I would now like to introduce our Inspector of Election, Belinda Mustafra, a representative of Broadridge, and ask her to report on the number of shares present today and voting. Ms. Mustafra.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. As of the close of business on January 6th, 2013, the record date for this meeting, there were 1,799,523,890 shares of common stock outstanding, each of which is entitled to one vote. There are at least 1,538,715,883 shares of common stock represented by proxy at this meeting, which represents at least 85% of the total number of shares entitled to vote.
Thank you very much. Based on the report we have just heard, I rule that a quorum is present and that this meeting is qualified to proceed with the business before us. The first proposal is the election of 10 members of the board of directors. Each director holds office for a term of one year, and those nominated for election at this meeting are the 10 directors, including me, introduced earlier. As you all know, the board has recommended a vote for the election of all the nominees. The next proposal is ratification of the appointment of PricewaterhouseCoopers, LLP, as the company's independent registered accountants for the current fiscal year, as recommended by the audit committee of the board of directors. Services provided by PwC to the company include examination of the company's financial statement and review of its reports and other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Wayne Jackson, a representative of PwC, is here today to respond to any questions. The board has recommended a vote for the ratification of the appointment of PricewaterhouseCoopers as the company's independent registered accountants for fiscal 2013. The next proposal is approval of the terms of the 2002 Executive Performance Plan. In order to preserve the deductibility of compensation awarded under the plan for tax purposes, the terms of the plan must be approved every five years, and therefore, we are seeking shareholder approval of the plan at this time. The board of directors approved changes to the limits on the size of bonus awards under the plan to provide greater flexibility to appoint additional covered executives, such as a chief operating officer or president. The changes do not increase the limit on individual awards. The next proposal is the advisory vote on executive compensation.
We are seeking advisory shareholder approval of the compensation of our named executive officers. We believe the design of our compensation program and the compensation awarded under it creates appropriate relationship between performance and compensation, the board has recommended a vote for this proposal. Although the vote is non-binding, the board of directors and the compensation committee will review the voting results in connection with their ongoing evaluation of the company's compensation program. The next proposal is a shareholder proposal from Legal & General Investment Management on behalf of its client, Hermes Equity Ownership Services. The full text of the proposal is set forth in the proxy statement. I understand that Cornish Hitchcock, a representative of the shareholder, is here to present today. If he is here, I would like to invite him to do so at this time.
I would ask that he limit the presentation to five minutes at most. Cornish.
As you mentioned, I'm here on behalf of Hermes Equity Ownership Services, which is part of the BT Pension Scheme, the largest pension scheme in the United Kingdom. I'll be brief. As you mentioned, the proposal and our supporting statement are fully set forth in the proxy, I'd just like to make a few comments. The proposal is fairly simple in concept. It says that long-term shareholders with a significant stake in the company should be able to nominate one or two candidates for the board of directors and have those candidates appear in the company's proxy and on the company proxy card.
The idea is to give shareholders the ability to inject some new blood, some new faces onto the board of directors short of the current alternative, which is running a proxy fight, a proxy contest with multiple proxy cards, the cost of which can be fairly high. It shouldn't have to be that way. I think we all know from experience that sometimes bringing in a new person or persons can be refreshing if they say, "Why do we do things that way?" "Here are some things you may not have considered." It's a way of boards getting fresh insights that they might not otherwise from shareholders who do have a long-term stake in the company. I'd like to respond very briefly to several of the points that were made in opposition.
First of all, you say this might lead to a loss of collegiality in the board. This has happened elsewhere, that hasn't happened. Another argument you make is that this will just open up the nomination process to so-called special interests, which you identify as labor unions and public pension funds. I would note simply that if an independent candidate is going to be elected, he or she will need to get a majority of the shares that are voted, and it's unlikely to have that kind of special interest candidate obtain a majority. The other thing is that if someone is elected, he or she has a fiduciary obligation to act on behalf of all shareholders. I submit that this argument is something of a straw man. I would note as well that a similar proposal did achieve a majority at several companies last year.
Indeed, one of your neighbors in California, Hewlett-Packard, is putting the same concept up for a vote of its shareholders this year with a management recommendation to vote yes. I move adoption of the proposal and appreciate the board's consideration. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Thank you very much, Mr. Hitchcock. The board of directors has recommended a vote against this proposal for the reasons it set forth in our proxy statement. The next proposal is a shareholder proposal from Connecticut Retirement Plans and Trust Funds. The full text of the proposal is set forth in the proxy statement. I understand that Suzanne Hopgood, a representative of the shareholder, is here to present this proposal. If she is here, I would like to invite her to do so at this time. I would again ask that she limit the presentation to five minutes at most. Suzanne?
Mr. Chairman, members of the board, and fellow shareholders, thank you for your time today. My name is Suzanne Hopgood, and I am here representing Treasurer Denise L. Nappier, the principal fiduciary of the $26 billion Connecticut Retirement Plans and Trust Fund, herein referred to as the Connecticut Pension Fund. I hereby move proposal number six on behalf of the Connecticut Retirement Plans and Trust Fund. The proposal creates a greater threshold for combining the Chair and CEO positions and limits that combination to six months. First, I would like to stress how important The Walt Disney Company is to the Connecticut Pension Fund as an equity investment.
The treasurer relies on investments in companies like The Walt Disney Company to fulfill her obligation to the Connecticut Pension Fund beneficiaries and believes that an independent chair is a key risk mitigation measure that can protect and enhance shareholder value in the long term. A 2012 study of U.S. large cap companies found that companies that separate the chair and CEO positions outperform companies combining those two roles over the long term with a 28% higher five-year shareholder return. The Connecticut Pension Fund is a long-term shareholder. The same study found that CEOs who also hold the role of chair earn 50% more than their counterparts who are serving solely as CEO. In 2004, the Connecticut Pension Fund reached agreement with The Walt Disney Company to separate the chair and CEO positions, and the board implemented those guidelines in 2005.
The Connecticut Pension Fund believed it could rely upon Disney's commitment and were pleased to see the separation of chair and CEO serving as an effective governance structure from 2004 to 2011 with very strong financial performance during that period. We thank you for that performance. In 2011, the board backtracked on that 2004 commitment when it provided a contract to the CEO, Robert Iger, to serve as CEO through 2015 and as chair through 2016. The timing of the board's decision in the fall of 2011 precluded shareholders from voicing effective dissent, strongly suggesting shareholder input was intentionally avoided. By that action, the board has weakened shareholder confidence and trust in its ability to provide effective oversight of management, responsiveness to shareholder concerns, and transparency.
Proposal number six before you aims to ensure the best possible leadership structure for Disney with a truly independent chairman, in so doing though, restore board accountability to shareholders. Given the onerous terms of the combined chair and CEO contract, including Mr. Iger's huge severance package, estimated to be $100 million, the Connecticut Pension Fund does not expect, nor does the proposal require the board to separate roles until Mr. Iger's departure in 2016. Mr. Chairman, because our resolution for an independent and separate chair and CEO cannot take effect until 2016, we ask that as board chair you take responsibility for strengthening the role of lead director in accordance with the best practice guidelines presented to your general counsel and your chief financial officer in order to provide a better balance and make the lead director's role a responsible position.
The role of the chair is always to mitigate risk. Creating a better board leadership structure will go a long way to improving a problematic process and structure until there is once again an independent chair in 2016. The CEO is the highest-ranking member of management. The Connecticut Pension Fund believes that a large, highly integrated organization like Disney simply does not work most effectively when the CEO manages the board responsible for overseeing him and evaluating his performance. We share a common interest in Disney's performance gain and want it to continue well into the future. A prerequisite for such sustainable performance is recognizing the importance of having appropriate board oversight and returning to the model that was so successful at Disney.
The Connecticut Pension Fund proposal has gained the support of both proxy advisory firms, ISS and Glass Lewis, we urge shareholders to vote for this proposal. Thank you.
Thank you. The board of directors has recommended a vote against this proposal for the reasons set out fully in the proxy statement. Before I turn to the floor to make comments on the two shareholder proposals, I'd like to turn to our lead director, Orin Smith, to respond to the proposal that was just presented. Orin?
Thank you very much for your comments. Let me respond in several ways. First of all, our guidelines call for an independent chairman of the board, unless, in the view of the independent directors, it is in the best interest of shareholders to do otherwise. I can assure you that in our belief, this decision was made in the best interest of shareholders. In 2011, it was clear that The Disney Company had an exceptional CEO, made clear by the financial performance that spoke for itself, as well as the long-term strategy that Bob had developed to create shareholder value for this company. Recognizing that the term of Bob's contract ended in January of 2013, the board decided to be preemptive and act to extend that contract for as long a period as possible.
Upon making that decision, the board also made the decision to go forward and offer Bob the role of chairman and chief executive officer. We did that because we believed that Bob would make an outstanding chairman of the board because of his strategic vision and insights and because of his outstanding relationship with independent directors, because of the transparency and openness with which he dealt with the board throughout his tenure. Accordingly, we took the initiative and made that proposal to Bob and negotiated the contract that extended his term as CEO from January of 2013 to March of 2015.
Because we included the chairmanship, we were able to extend the period in which we could have his services another 15 months to mid-2016, gaining not only his services in respect to strategy and other such matters, but also providing an orderly process for transition to the next CEO. We believe that that is an exceptional circumstances in which we acted, and that it was in the very best interest of shareholders. I would also note that in the process of making Bob the Chairman of the Board, that we also strengthened the role of the Lead Director. The Lead Director now has responsibilities that exceed the requirements established by most proxy advisors. The Lead Director has the responsibility for calling and presiding over meetings of independent directors. The Lead Director also works with the Chair in setting the agenda for all Board meetings.
That process works in the following way. I take information from other board directors, either from Executive Committee meetings or from private conversations. I present these topics that the Board wishes to deal with to the Chairman. He provides me with a tentative agenda. I make the final approval on that agenda. I also work with the Chairman and with the Chair of the Governance and Nominating Committee to identify, with input from other directors, the members that we will propose for the committees, as well as the Chair of those committees. Lastly, of the most important responsibilities, I have the challenge of organizing and leading the evaluation of the CEO and as well, the performance of the entire Board.
We believe we have independent directors that act in the best interest of shareholders. We believe that we should have the discretion to make decisions to require or to make the CEO Chairman of the Board within the guidelines that we do so in the very best interest of shareholders.
Thank you, Orin. At this point, I will open the floor to discussion of any of the proposals that have been presented. If you would like to address one of the proposals, please proceed to a microphone and wait to be recognized. When you're recognized, please state your name, tell us where you're from, identify which proposal you wish to address, then proceed with your remarks. Please limit your remarks to two minutes in order to give other shareholders an opportunity to be heard. Note that we will have a general question and answer session following the business portion of the meeting. Please limit your remarks right now to the proposals that have just been presented. Do we have anyone who would wish to speak? Thank you. Yes, please.
Good morning. My name is Aeisha Mastagni, and I'm here representing the California State Teachers' Retirement System, owner of over five million shares of Disney stock. I am also representing PGGM Investments, the leading Dutch pension service provider and owner of over 1.2 million shares. I want to start by congratulating The Walt Disney Company on its most recent stock performance and the great leadership Mr. Iger has given the company over his tenure. Shareholders have truly benefited from his leadership as CEO, and the company has been a source of economic strength in the state of California. This being said, we believe there are certain governance structures that are lacking at Disney, which would serve to protect the investments of our beneficiaries and ensure the company's continued long-term success. As the old saying goes, those who forget history are doomed to repeat it.
We, as shareholders, do not want to see a repeat of the events that occurred in 2004, 2005. Yet we fear the Disney board seems to be slipping back into its old ways. We were extremely disappointed when the Disney board recombined the CEO and Chairman positions, especially without shareholder input. In addition, we have been watching the declining support for the compensation program from 77% to barely passing last year at 57%. Unfortunately, the board's response to this low support has been inadequate. We believe a compensation program that is properly structured is essential to ensure that executive interests are aligned with shareholders. Compensation is about pay for performance, and although the performance at Disney has been outstanding, especially the last year, there are elements of the pay program that are fundamentally flawed.
In addition, for the substantial majority of Iger's tenure, Disney has maintained a separate CEO and Chairman. We believe these two roles should be separate because they have very different and conflicting roles. A Chairman is there to lead the board and represent shareholders, and the CEO runs the company and leads the management team. The separation of these two roles provides an important safeguard. Lastly, we believe every company should institute a mechanism that allows shareholders to nominate directors and which provides a proper balance to ensure only long-term shareholders can make use of this fundamental shareholder right. We believe that Disney is an iconic company, and we want it and our investment to have continued and sustainable success in the future.
We believe a properly structured compensation plan, a leadership structure that ensures accountability, and a governance standard like proxy access should be in place at all companies, including The Walt Disney Company. Thank you.
Do we have other comments specifically on those proposals from the audience? Yes, in the back. If we can get a light on you. Thank you. Is the mic on? Okay.
My name is Dwight Morgan, and I'm just a shareholder, and I enjoy being one. I wonder, in light of these two shareholder proposals, if people want to consider also that our lead director, his ties to Starbucks might have some play in Starbucks becoming the coffee supplier at Disneyland, which I know has upset a number of people. I go to Disneyland every week, and I've heard nothing but bad comments along those lines. "We miss our coffee. We didn't want to see it change." I wonder how independent our lead director is. Might be something else to consider in line with these proposals. Thank you.
Thank you. Let me assure you that the board of directors and the company maintains a very rigorous standard in terms of the definition of independence, something that we review for each of our board members on an annual basis. At no time has Orin Smith or any one of our other independent directors done anything or had any relationship with the company that would in any way impair the director's independence as a member of our board. I also want to say, and I was going to hold general issues till later, but over the years, one of the biggest criticisms we got at our parks was that our coffee wasn't good enough. Since Starbucks has done so well, we thought it would be a great idea to serve our guests better coffee.
I don't mean to be cheeky about it, but it's quickly become one of the most popular Starbucks in the country, and we're going to add more. I'm warning you about that, I think. I think it's good news. Are there any other comments specifically about those proposals? Yes, sir.
Hi, my name is Santino Pino. I'm just a private shareholder and options trader. I just wanted to say, I wanted to recommend that the board's suggestions are followed through with. The current leadership that the company has led this company to amazing new highs and has provided the best entrance for most parties involved, not everyone can come along for that ride, but everyone involved in it has reaped the benefits. I recommend following the board's recommendations. Thank you.
Any other comments at all on those proposals? Again, we have a general Q&A following this. Okay, thank you. At this point, I think we've heard a range of views on proposals that this audience has brought, I'd like to close this part of the discussion, which also concludes consideration of all the items to be presented at the meeting. If anyone has not yet voted and you are holding a ballot, please raise your hand and we will collect them from you. I think there are a few in the audience. If we could please do that. The polls will now close, I would ask the inspector of election to give us her report based on proxies received by the opening of today's meeting.
Ballots and proxies handed in during the meeting will be tabulated by the inspector and included in the final tally, which will be reflected in the minutes of the meeting and in a report we will file with the SEC within the next week. Inspector, may we have your preliminary report?
Chairman. For item one, the election of directors, we have received proxies or votes as follows. For the election of Susan Arnold as director, four votes were approximately 86.6% of the votes cast. For the election of John Chen as director, four votes were approximately 88.4% of the votes cast. For the election of Judith Estrin as director, four votes were approximately 98.5% of the votes cast. For the election of Robert Iger as director, four votes were approximately 98.3% of the votes cast. For the election of Fred Langhammer as director, four votes were approximately 88.1% of the votes cast. For the election of Aylwin Lewis as director, four votes were approximately 86.8% of the votes cast. For the election of Monica Lozano as director, four votes were approximately 98.7% of the votes cast.
For the election of Robert Matschullat as director, four votes were approximately 98.6% of the votes cast. For the election of Sheryl Sandberg as director, four votes were approximately 99.6% of the votes cast. For the election of Orin Smith as director, four votes were approximately 95.1% of the votes cast. For item two, ratification of the appointment of PricewaterhouseCoopers, we have received proxies for 98.9% of shares voting to approve the appointment. For item three, approval of the 2002 Executive Performance Plan as amended, we have received proxies for 88.3% of shares voting to approve the plan. For item four, approval of the advisory vote on executive compensation, we have received proxies for 57.6% of shares voting to approve the resolution. For item five, approval of the proxy access proposal, we have received proxies for 39.8% of shares voting to approve the proposal.
For item six, approval of future separation of the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer roles, we have received proxies for 35.3% of shares voting to approve the proposal. That concludes my report, Mr. Chairman.
Thank you very much. Based on that report, and subject to the final confirmation of the voting results by the Inspector of Election, I declare that all of the nominees for elections of the Board have been duly elected, that the appointment of PricewaterhouseCoopers has been duly ratified, that the terms of the 2002 Executive Performance Plan are approved, and that neither of the shareholder proposals was approved. I also note that a majority of votes present and eligible to vote approved the advisory proposal on executive compensation. That concludes the business portion of the meeting, which is now adjourned, and we are going to be ready to take a few questions. Joining me on stage will be Jay Rasulo, Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of the company, and Alan Braverman, Senior Executive Vice President and General Counsel of the company.
If you'd like to ask a question, please proceed to one of the microphones and wait to be recognized. When you are recognized, please state your name, tell us where you're from, and then proceed with your question. Again, I would ask that you limit your question to no more than two minutes in order to give other shareholders an opportunity to be heard and that you not raise or repeat topics that have previously been raised. I would ask that speakers refrain from raising personal matters or grievances, since it's really not fair to make everybody sit through matters of personal concern. I have one other business item I'd like to do before we start the Q&A. I wanted to introduce one other person who's very near and dear to the Disney Company and to the Disney family, and that is Roy P.
Disney, who is the son of Roy E. Disney and the grandson of Roy O. Disney. I got my middle initials right. Roy is a great friend of the company and one of the best experts that I think exists on the planet on the company's history and legacy. Roy, always a pleasure to see you here. Okay. You guys ready? Good. I'm going to start unconventionally with number four. Again, tell us who you are, please.
Good morning. My name is Justin Danhof. I'm representing the National Center for Public Policy Research. We're a free market think tank based in Washington, D.C., and a company shareholder. I appreciate the opportunity to talk with you briefly. Mr. Iger, distrust in the American media is at an all-time high. A recent Rasmussen poll found that only 6% of Americans consider the media to be very trustworthy, while 42% said they do not trust the media to tell them the truth at all. What is more, when it comes to national elections, 48% of Americans actually agree that media bias is a bigger problem than money in politics. Disney's media platforms, from ABC News to ESPN, deserve their share of the blame for the nation's skepticism.
Whether it's ABC News reporter Brian Ross rushing to falsely blame the Tea Party for the deadly shooting massacre at an Aurora, Colorado movie theater, or then ESPN columnist Rob Parker saying that Washington Redskins quarterback Robert Griffin III was a quote, "Cornball brother" who was not down with the quote, "Black cause" because his fiancée is white and he's possibly a Republican, liberal bias pervades Disney's media outlets. It's time to stop denying this bias and start doing something about it. Our company's leaders should show the intellectual honesty to admit it exists, it is a problem, and let's start working together on a solution. As a shareholder, I have two main concerns with this. First is that the bias harms this company's image that you spoke about. Second, it decreases our revenue potential.
In a February Gallup poll, almost twice as many Americans identify themselves as conservative than liberal. By instantly alienating such a large market, you're decreasing potential advertising revenue for Disney's media affiliates. I'm not asking that you turn ABC News into Fox News or that you start airing Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh daily on ESPN. I'm just asking you start playing it straight with the American people. Stop the bias and return to an era of objectivity and honesty into the news. The American people will thank you for it. More than that, your shareholders will reap the benefits as your media platforms will become the envy of the industry. I look forward to your comments. Thank you.
Thank you. I certainly respect your opinion, sir. I also respect the ability of shareholders to express themselves on a variety of issues. Our goal at ABC News, at our ABC television stations that have news programs, and of course at ESPN, is to be fair and to present the news that they cover in as unbiased a way as possible. Without meaning to sound overly defensive, I believe that overall, the body of their work, in fact, is fair and unbiased and accurate. However, I will say that over time, we have been guilty of making mistakes, not specifically commenting on those that you cited. I can tell you that in my experience of managing this business over the years, we have at times either presented the news in a slightly inaccurate way through mistakes or in ways that we weren't necessarily proud of.
I firmly stand behind the integrity of our news organizations because I believe that overall the job that they do is one that is worthy of respect. Certainly one that delivers to the value of The Walt Disney Company and to its shareholders. Thank you. Number three.
[Foreign language] Buenos dias, Mr. Chairman, board of directors, fellow shareholders. It's been a while since I've been to a meeting. Minneapolis, in fact, was my last. I've been sending people. My name is Jane Garcia, and I'm from the great, but very tired city of Detroit, always trying to make sure everything is very positive. I represent a lot of nonprofit organizations, National FAIR, make sure that we're involved. My issue is that I like to thank the board of directors and you, Mr. Chairman. When we look at representation and diversity, you have arrived. I think you have a great deal of diversity on the board, females, ethnic backgrounds, and everything else that we need to have because we are a diverse country, and as you expand, you know that. A special thank you for all that you do for the military.
I have children in the military, so it's very close to my heart. When you look at Disney and its history, you don't forget the background, you don't forget the past. I think that that's very important as you move Star Wars and everything else forward, that you still always remember the past that we came from, that we grew up with. That I'm here [Foreign language] para darle las gracias a todos, to make sure that you understand that we're very grateful out in the community. We're a long ways from California. I have a home here in Phoenix. Everybody goes to California. I just wanted to make sure that I came here to make sure that you knew how grateful we were and that we are seeing better times. [Foreign language] Muchísimas gracias.
Thank you very much. I take to heart, by the way, your comments about diversity. While I appreciate the compliment that you made, I think there's always more work to be done and much more room for improvement. We firmly believe at The Walt Disney Company, and this is a huge priority for us, that our future success depends on our ability to reflect the world and its people that we're trying to reach. That world has never been as diverse as it is today. Thank you for the encouragement. I pledge that we'll continue to work to deliver on this promise. Number one.
Yeah.
Oh, Roy.
Yes. Thank you, Bob, for that introduction. My name is Roy P. Disney, I have roughly 56 years with this company. I think it's important to take a big view picture of the company, both in terms of its history and its reality. This was a company that was started by two brothers that worked harder than any of us could possibly imagine, making 10 to 12 animated pictures a week. They were so poor that they could only afford a dinner every third night, and only one, and had to split it between the two of them. They went bankrupt seven different times. Today, we are a company with theme parks from Paris to Shanghai. We are the largest media company in the world, and that is a tribute to the board of directors and to Bob Iger.
What I will say is that Bob understands what Walt knew, that it's not one person. It takes a team of extraordinarily talented people who both work for and believe in one thing, quality. It's unfortunate that this company should be used as a podium to espouse a view on some vague nuance of corporate governance. This is a company that should be celebrated as how to do a good job. That is self-evident in the price of the stock and the value of the company. I just want to say thank you.
Oh, thank you, Roy. Thank you. I now figured out why your grandfather and his brother were so thin. I didn't know that. Thank you very much. Number 2. Nope. Is there someone at number 2? Nope. Sorry. We'll go to number 3.
My name is Dwight Morgan. I'm from Pasadena, California. A couple of things. Thank you, Roy. I do celebrate this company. In 2008, I asked a question. In 2010, I got the answer. It was the Premier Pass. I use it once a week. You missed one program when you were talking about ABC News. They did a program called "Made in America," I thought that was a wonderful program. Got a lot of people thinking about making things in America. I'm hoping that the India studios don't move American movies offshore. What really brought me to this is I'm a pin collector, and I love Disney pins. I have about 3,000 in my collection right now. I looked at them really hard. I found 2 Made in America. Amazingly enough, they are both shareholder meeting pins.
I think that's a little bit unfair. Why can't we make more of these pins in America? I know we can't make them all, how about making more of them? Thank you.
Thank you. Appreciate the compliment. David Muir, our Reporter and Anchor at ABC News, was behind that series with incredible support from Diane Sawyer and the entire news team, we were indeed proud of it. We've talked about this subject a lot as a company. We're certainly proud of the fact that we've continued to create jobs in the U.S., we've continued to invest and expand in the U.S. There certainly were examples in the presentation that I gave earlier today. At the same time, we're also expanding around the world, and part of the reason that we've been as successful is that we have managed to figure out how to reach people in countries far and wide. With that comes investments in and manufacturing in markets outside the U.S.
We have, though, talked at length about whether we can continue to add jobs in the U.S. by moving some of our manufacturing here. However, most of the manufacturing of the goods that we sell are done through third-party licensees. They make the decisions about where their products are manufactured. I can only tell you, sir, that this is a subject that we've discussed. We certainly are going to continue to look into this subject to see whether we can improve our manufacturing presence here in the States. Again, thank you for your comment. Number four.
Good morning, Mr. Iger and distinguished board members of Disney. I just wanted to welcome you to Phoenix, Arizona. My name is Mike Pearson. I'm an individual shareholder. I can't begin to tell you how important Disney has been to my family. It occurred to me as I sat here today with my wife and my daughter. My daughter is a college junior at Arizona State. She's a shareholder in Disney. She absolutely loves everything about it, as do we. One of the things I wanted to compliment you on, in particular, is the Heroes Work Here. I had no idea that type of an initiative was a part of the Disney Corporation, and I think it's just an extraordinary thing. In fact, my wife served distinguished in the U.S. military, in the U.S. Army.
She was in the military police in the 1980s in Germany, and she's exactly why we run such a tight ship at our household. I'm deeply appreciative of that. It occurred to me when I saw the image up there where it said, "Dreams are a part of what we are as a future." I happen to believe that Disney, without exception, without any fear of contradiction, is such an integral part of the fabric of this rich pageantry of life in this country and around this world. Most assuredly, I'm deeply appreciative of what you've meant to me and my family over many, many years. Without any fear of contradiction, again, I can say that even in the ups and downs and all around love's life, anytime I've ever had the pleasure of being at Disneyland, most assuredly, it has been a happy day.
I do have an idea for you. Very soon, this is going to impact me. I thought the Heroes that Work Here is a great idea. Have you thought about Grandpas and Grandmas Work Here? Very soon I will be one of those. Thank you again, and welcome to Phoenix.
Thank you. I'm a grandpa, so I work here. Thank you very much for your compliments. We appreciate that a lot. Number 2? Someone there now.
Yes, sir, Mr. Iger. I'm Bruce Armstrong. My wife Joan and I live in Flagstaff. We own 300 shares from very long ago. In fact, somewhere along the way, we got a three-for-one split, so it's been a great investment for us. Most importantly, we admire what Disney, The Walt Disney Company does and your values, core values. They just speak to us and to the country and the world. I just think it's exceptional. On corporate governance, from everything I read and study in that area, you are leading edge, and I think you're doing the absolute right thing for the company, the shareholders, and all your customers. Like this gentleman back here, we just celebrated our 37th anniversary in Disney World. We weren't there to see the new MagicBands. We're looking forward to that. Just one tiny little request.
As we got there and we were buying our length of stay passes, we were thinking about annual passes. We live in Arizona, we don't get to Florida real often. If there was a combo, California, Florida, we would probably be all over that. That would help us a lot. Anyway, just a minor request. Thank you much.
I'm pleased to tell you that there now is such a pass. This idea was raised at a shareholder meeting some years back. Actually, the request was for an international pass. That was a little complicated, it did give us a good idea, we went back and figured it out, and you can now buy an annual pass to our park in Anaheim and to our parks in Anaheim and to Orlando. I'm sure you can go on the website and find it, if you have trouble doing that, someone here can help you. Thanks. Let's see. Number 1.
Mr. Iger, Terrell Nilsson, third meeting in a row for this meeting. I've spoke to you each year. D23 member, DVC member, stockholder.
Good customer.
I do my best.
Thank you.
I did have the pleasure, as some of these other people have made mention, I bestowed upon my children this last Christmas their very first share of Disney stock to get them on the road to being a part of this great company. Yesterday, with my beautiful wife and my sister-in-law, we were at Disneyland enjoying the Grand Californian Hotel. I once again raised my concern in light of the announcement that a resort will be built at the Grand Floridian, the one in Aulani, in Hawaii built, what is the possibility of you expanding the vacation villas at the Disneyland Resort? I think, correct me if I'm wrong, but there's 28 villas available.
I think it's 50 that we built.
Oh, 50.
Yeah.
Very small compared to most other resorts. I had to use my vacation points to use a hotel room, which was still wonderful.
They still welcomed me home as they do, and I love that. It would be nice to have a villa available to me at the Disneyland Resort. I do own two ownerships, though, one in Saratoga Springs and one in California, but I'd like to have a greater availability in California. If you could consider that-
Okay
I would appreciate it. Thank you.
To my knowledge, we opened the 50, I don't know, three, four years ago, is my recollection. To my knowledge, we're not currently developing expansion of those, but I certainly appreciate your thoughts and sentiments, and we'll discuss that when we get back to the home office. Number four.
Hello, my name is Adra, independent shareholder and longtime annual pass holder to Disneyland and California Adventure. This is a suggestion. As the Mickey & Friends Parking Structure, as you're descending down the escalators, my suggestion would be to make the lamps in the boarding area of the tram different colors, like green for loading and red for don't go here because on multiple occasions, I've went to the wrong area and was sent across the way. If I had the time to see the lights, I could plan and make my way more efficiently to the correct loading station.
Okay. Thank you. That's a big parking structure, I know. I think one of the biggest in the world, actually. We will take your idea to heart and discuss it when we get back. It's great to come to these meetings and hear from some of our best guests. As I said earlier, we do, in fact, listen to some of the ideas and implement them. We listen to all the ideas. We only implement a few. Okay. Number one.
Hi, my name is David Randall from St. Petersburg, Florida. I'm a faculty at the University of South Florida Patel College of Global Sustainability and director of the Sustainable Tourism Program at the university. I also have been attending the parks since I was five years old. I actually went to Disneyland two months after it opened in 1955 and met Walt Disney twice. I've been a longtime customer. I've lost count how many times I've been to the parks. Two years ago at the annual shareholder meeting in Salt Lake City, I encouraged The Walt Disney Company to better tell the story related to its excellent record of sustainability and the environment.
In the past two years, I've observed continued progress and success in that regard, and I congratulate you, Bob, as well as other people like Beth Stevens and Jackie Ogden and Kim Sams and Tammy Brister, Anne Savage, [Tam Hopkins], and Fred Péta and all the others who make up the Disney environment team that is continuing to improve the Walt Disney sustainability performance and environmental record, and at the same time, improving shareholder profits. In 2012, for the third year in a row, Disney reached the top 10% in the Newsweek rankings, which is a hard feat to accomplish, and not too many other companies have done that. When compared to the hotel restaurant, Disney's head and shoulders above everyone else.
At that Salt Lake City meeting, I don't know, Bob, if you recall, but you actually asked me to help tell this story in any way that I could. I want to share a little bit of what I've done in the past two years. In the last two years, I published four articles with my colleague, award-winning conservation biologist Dr. Reese Halter, where we've shared the examples of Disney in Huffington Post articles, including the most recent one published two days ago. I presented at three international conferences for the International Ecotourism and Sustainable Tourism Conferences in Hilton Head and Monterey and the Caribbean Tourism Conference in Guyana. I've also presented at several national conferences, and I give special thanks to Jackie and Kim and Tammy for the assistance in putting that presentation together.
I've developed partnerships with Sustainable Travel to develop new instruments for certification using Disney's examples. We've launched the brand-new tourism program at University of South Florida, where I actually teach a course where we give 12 strategies Disney is using and how they can apply that to the tourism industry. I brought people like MacDonald Semb ereka from Malawi to meet with your scientists to learn management strategies that they can take back. We're sending internships this year, three of them to help implement Disney strategies in the country of Malawi, one of the poorest countries of the world. I worked with Jackie Ogden and [Fran Magloire] to help develop a new six-part video series that we're sharing to help train our students, and I thank you again for that.
Finally, I want to share that in order to demonstrate my own personal commitment to Disney sustainable tourism, I became a Disney Vacation Club member this last year.
Woo-hoo!
I've been enjoying that immensely. Some of the common themes that have emerged through all of this sharing of The Walt Disney Company's outstanding examples of environmental sustainability include the surprise that Disney is doing so much, the appreciation of what Disney is doing, and the genuine interest people have to learn more. Whether you know it or not, people want to know about the good things The Walt Disney Company does.
When people learn examples such as the steam trains running on cooking oil, the extensive sea turtle conservation efforts at Vero Beach, the energy, water, and waste reduction in the theme parks, the research and education offered at the Land Pavilion, the sustainability efforts of the cruise lines, and the great work of the Disney Conservation Fund with projects such as the gorilla rescue in the Congo. The response is always positive, and they want to learn more.
Cut off compliments, there are a lot of people at the other stations to ask questions. If you could please wrap it up.
Okay. My question is, will you and others in The Walt Disney Company work with me and the University of South Florida Global Sustainability College to further share this Disney story, specifically by creating a new sustainability internship for graduate students to learn from, helping us host the International Ecotourism Sustainable Tourism Conference at Walt Disney World, offering a sustainability seminar option at the Disney Institute, hosting a sustainability festival like you do at Epcot with wine and food.
That's enough
Working with us and others to bring concepts of sustainability to future cities in the world. Thank you again.
Thank you very much. You checked off or listed a number of people who are involved in these efforts. Beth Stevens leads the efforts for us. I know you mentioned her. You should take them directly to her, and I'm sure she'll consider them. Thank you.
Thank you.
The surprise there is that our steam engines run on cooking oil. If you ever think our trains smell like French fries, you now know why. Okay. I'm going to take just a couple of more. Two.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. My name is Frank Guzman. I'm from Las Cruces, New Mexico. Been a shareholder since 1998. I absolutely love the story of Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. Could you share with us some of your future plans for Oswald the Lucky Rabbit?
Well, we were lucky to regain the rights to Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, I think in 2006, after Walt had lost those rights back in either the 1920s or the early 1930s. We brought Oswald back to his rightful home. I noticed actually going through the Disney Store on the Disney lot just on Monday that we were selling some Oswald apparel, which is great to see. I'm not aware of any animation work that's being done right now or film entertainment for Oswald, but he did appear as a character in the Epic Mickey games 1 and 2. I'm sure there's other activity going on about Oswald, but at this point, the company is really large, and I may not be aware of all of it. Thank you. It is a nice story.
Thanks.
Thanks. Number 4.
Hi. My name is Erin Johnson, and I'm a student at Arizona State University at the downtown campus. I am an avid Disney lover, obviously, and I also write for Examiner.com. I'm a national Disney examiner, have a couple of articles up there. I was born in 1993, at the Disney Renaissance peak, if you will. I love classic Disney animation, 2D animation. I also love Pixar with all my heart, the 3D animation and the new sorts of animation that is coming out in movies like Tangled and things like that. I was wondering if 2D animation perhaps is still at the top of your list of sorts of movies that will be produced. I know we got hints of it in Paperman.
It was a beautiful short film of combinations of 3D and 2D. I was just wondering if there are any plans in the works for that.
Thank you. The last 2D animated film that we released was The Princess and the Frog.
Yes
Which we were very proud of. To my knowledge, we're not developing a 2D or hand-drawn feature animated film right now.
There is a fair amount of activity going on in hand-drawn animation, but it's largely for television at this point.
Okay.
We're not necessarily ruling out the possibility as a feature, but there isn't any development as a company at the moment.
Thank you.
Thank you. Okay. Number 3.
Hi. My name is Ben. I'm from Orlando, Florida. I'm a shareholder, a D23 member, and a proud 13-year Parks and Resorts Cast Member. I want to thank you. This company, under your tenure, has revitalized animation with great films such as Tangled and Wreck-It Ralph, two amazing cruise ships, fantastic revitalization of California Adventure, and some amazing work at Walt Disney World that I'm honored to be a part of. You've also brought great new friends with Marvel, Pixar, and Lucasfilm that brings a great creative energy to what we've already established at Disney itself. It's unfortunate that not all shareholders can be a part of our company and see the commitment to excellence, but most importantly, commitment to doing it through integrity that comes straight from you. Every leader, every executive, every Cast Member I know knows that we have to do things the right way.
Your commitment to that and the board's commitment to that is apparent to all of us. I've been coming to these meetings since I was 15 years old, and first time I've spoken, and just to really thank you for your commitment to excellence and integrity, but as a Cast Member, creating an amazing work environment, as a fan, creating experiences, memories that I'll cherish for a lifetime, and as a shareholder, bringing me outstanding financial performance that's beyond my wildest dreams. Thank you.
Thank you. Thank you very much. Okay. I know I said I was going to take two more. I am really going to just take two more. Number two.
Hi, my name is Corey. I am eight years old. This is my sixth shareholders meeting. Welcome to my home state.
How did you miss two?
My question today is it more important about a Disney movie of what critics say or what kids say?
Absolutely kids. Absolutely. Do not let anybody think otherwise. What was your favorite Disney movie?
I like Cars 2.
Oh, yeah.
All of my friends, well, all the kids I know love Cars 2, and we really want to see a Cars 3.
That's good. Well, thank you very much for coming six times. That's a lot for an eight-year-old. Well, do you live in Phoenix?
Yeah.
Oh, okay. Well, thank you very much. Are you going to move? Should I tell you where we're going to be next year so that you can
Yeah, you should.
We don't know yet. Thank you very much. That was nice of you. Okay, last one, please. One more. Number one.
Hello, my name is Jody Coleman. I flew in from West Des Moines, Iowa. I've been a shareholder since 1977 when I was 10 years old. My one question is, I wrote this little short story about Mr. Toad and Donald Duck, and I was wondering if I could give it to the company as a gift. It's the only company that I would ever share it with.
I have to turn to our general counsel to ask that question.
I'm not looking for any compensation, just to give it.
On those terms, certainly.
Okay. You can give it to this woman right here. Thank you. Okay. I'm going to thank all of you right now for coming and for all of your support. Appreciate the comments about the company that have been brought to this meeting, and I wish all of you and all of us luck in the next year, and we'll see you at next year's shareholder meeting. Thank you very much. Thank you, Phoenix.