It’s time for our annual list of the Most Fascinating Disney People. Below are the nine finalists, with the Disney Person of the Year set to be revealed on December 31st.
Jared Bush
This September, we were caught off guard when it was announced that Jared Bush would be succeeding Jennifer Lee as Chief Creative Officer at Walt Disney Animation Studios — particularly since this news came just after it was revealed that both Frozen 3 and Frozen 4 were being developed. Many had presumed that Lee would remain in that role while she oversaw those films. Instead of leading the filmmaking as the CCO, Lee has decided to return to full time filmmaking and Jared would transition to creative leadership.
Bush has been on our radar since his underappreciated Disney XD series Penn Zero: Part-Time Hero, which is frustratingly not available on Disney+. Since joining Walt Disney Animation Studios, he was both director and a writer on Encanto, co-director/co-writer on Zootopia, and writer of the original Moana and Moana 2. He is also directing and writing the upcoming Zootopia 2. Since the only announced films beyond next year are Jennifer Lee’s Frozen films, it will be interesting to see how Disney Animation moves forward under Bush’s leadership through the prism of the films he greenlights, There is no question he has an impressive track record, and as Disney fans, we hope that continues as he takes on this new leadership role.
Jeremy Darroch
Sir Jeremy Darroch joined The Walt Disney Company’s Board of Directors on January 9th. He is the former Executive Chairman and Group Chief Executive of Sky. For those that remember, Sky was originally intended to join Disney as part of the 21st Century Fox acquisition before Comcast went after that asset during the approval process. Prior to being Sky’s leader, he joined the organization in 2004 as the group’s CFO. He was then promoted to Group Chief Executive in 2007. In addition to his work at Sky, he is a director and the pending Chairman of Reckitt Benckiser Group PLC.
Presumably, Sir Darroch will be able to advise on Disney’s streaming efforts and international expansion. While Disney has determined they will be more intentional in their international efforts, there is no question that in order to gain the scale and influence on Netflix, Disney will need to have a presence in international markets. Although Comcast beat Disney to obtain Sky, that may have been a blessing in disguise as the multi-channel business continues to deteriorate, but that being said, Disney will need to grow their subscription base in the UK and the rest of Europe in order to have the scale to compete.
Selena Gomez
It has been fantastic to see Selena Gomez evolve from Disney Channel star to the multifaceted businessperson and performer that she is today. Not only does she stand on equal footing with Martin Short and Disney Legend Steve Martin on Hulu’s Only Murders in the Building but she has also become a billionaire thanks to her popular beauty line Rare Beauty — all while being an advocate for mental health awareness. As if all that wasn’t enough, she also found time to produce and guest star in Disney Channel’s Wizards Beyond Waverly Place, reuniting with her on-screen brother David Henrie.
When it is often easy for former Disney Channel personalities to look down upon their early days, it is nice to see that despite all her success Selena is able to embrace and appreciate her past. At the premiere, which she made sure to attend despite her busy schedule, she discussed in a heart-felt speech she shared what the original show meant to her. “This is what gave me everything that I have today and I will never forget that this is where I started.”
Almin Karamehmedovic
Almin Karamehmedovic was named the new president of ABC News this August, just months before the US Presidential Election. The hope is that, following Kim Godwin’s rocky tenure, he would be able to stabilize Disney’s news division while adjusting to the changing media landscape. Unlike Godwin, Karamehmedovic is no outsider. He first joined ABC News in 1998 when Peter Jennings was still the face of the department. Since then, he has made roles through various leadership teams all while gaining 16 Emmys through his work.
News is an interesting part of Disney’s future. Many parts of the division have a role in the streaming future. Live news has value to advertisers and can prove to be a destination during major events, with ABC News Live recently being added to Disney+. Long form documentaries and specials can also be cost-effective content machines that can be both fast to produce and of interest to the audience. On the other hand, news divisions can also be political lightning rods when a political group feels they are being treated unfairly, resulting in Disney being included in divisive conversations. Karamehmedovic will have to navigate all of that, but ABC News has the Roone Arledge culture that inspires creative solutions to the challenges of the day.
Mykal-Michelle Harris
While Selena Gomez shows that Disney Channel stars can have success after Disney Channel, Mykal-Michelle Harris is finding success on the network right now. Not only did she win an Emmy for her role on Raven’s Home but she was also nominated again for the following season. She also is stepping into Disney Legend’s Jodi Benson’s fins as she provides her take on Ariel for the new Disney Channel series. If that is not enough, it was announced that a Raven’s Home spinoff, Alice in the Palace, is in development. Hopefully this is just the start of the success we will see her attain.
Despite only being 12, she already has three Emmy nominations, starred in ABC’s mixed-ish, starred in two seasons of Raven’s Home, and voiced the most famous mermaid in the world. She has been able to accomplish this while still keeping her kindness and infectious personality. We look forward to seeing what she accomplishes next.
Arda Öcal
Arda Öcal is a SportsCenter anchor, one of the major voices in ESPN’s NHL coverage, and has been at the leading edge of ESPN’s initiatives to innovate. Öcal was one of the commentators calling out this year's NHL Big City Greens Classic, which once again brought the world of the hit Disney Channel series to a live NHL game. You can also hear his voice in ESPN Football Island within Fortnite — one of the latest offerings to result from Disney’s partnership with Epic Games.
If all of that wasn’t enough, he is one of the three co-hosts of ESPN’s Star Wars podcast “Never Tell Me the Odds.” This show, which also features Clinton Yates and Ryan Magee, shows that the fun that can result from mixing sports with Star Wars. Their show was featured on ESPN 8: The Ocho this year and also featured an episode with Disney icons Ashley and David Eckstein. ESPN is going to continue to innovate as we move ahead, and I have no doubt that Öcal will continue to be a major part of what lies ahead.
Sharon Siskie
While we knew Disney Cruise Line had more ships in the works, many Disney fans were shocked when Josh D’Amaro announced an agreement to build four more ships in addition to what had been previously revealed. This will take Disney’s fleet to 13 ships and the business continues to grow. Leading that effort will be Disney Cruise Line Senior Vice President and General Manager Sharon Siskie. With over 30 years of Disney experience, Siskie has seen a lot but that isn’t deterring her from her excitement for what lies ahead for Disney Cruise Line.
In our recent interview, Siskie’s passion for how they continue to expand what a Disney Cruise as can be seen with the innovations on the Disney Treasure. She is also passionate about how Disney Cruise can bring a Disney experience to places that happen to not be near a Disney park, as was seen by the Disney Wonder’s recent stints in Australia. With the continued expansion of the business, Disney will need to find new experiences and new markets to support these new ships. I am excited to see what Siskie and her team, in partnership with Walt Disney Imagineering, will deliver.
Adam Smith
Disney named Adam Smith the Chief Product & Technology Officer for Disney Entertainment and ESPN. While Disney has always had a history of technology and innovation in their creative efforts, their consumer facing technology has often been lackluster. According to the press release announcing his hiring, Smith will be responsible for driving technology strategy, development, deployment and continued innovation across the company’s streaming platforms and networks, portfolio of consumer digital touchpoints, proprietary advertising technology, emerging technologies and more.
As the Disney Entertainment group delivers more technology directly to consumers through things like Disney+ and the upcoming ESPN flagship surface. It will be Smith’s job to ensure they deliver. This Google veteran can look to Netflix’s much maligned Jake Paul-Mike Tyson fight to see what happens when a streaming company doesn’t deliver. Luckily, Disney has been able to avoid many public meltdowns the likes of which Netflix faced, and hopefully that will continue. Because in the end, you can invest billions in some mind blowing technology, but if it doesn’t work when you need it to, it is worthless.
Lanny Smoot
Madame Leota her ability to float in the Séance Room at the Haunted Mansion, the extendable lightsaber, and Disney Cruise Line’s Magic Playfloor are just some of the accomplishments of Disney Research Fellow and Walt Disney Imagineer Lanny Smoot — who was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame this year. He joins Walt Disney as the only two representatives of The Walt Disney Company to receive this honor. Prior to joining the Disney organization, Smoot had an impressive career at Bell Labs working on many technologies we use everyday.
His most recent innovation is the HoloTile floor, the world’s first multi-person, omni-directional, modular, expandable, treadmill floor. This impressive technology allows any number of people to have a shared VR experience as they can walk an unlimited distance in any direction without colliding with another participant or moving past the boundary of the physical space. The HoloTile floor can also be used in a theatrical environment to have performers move and dance in new ways, or stage props and structures to move around the stage. This technology is nothing short of groundbreaking and its possibilities seem to only be limited by one’s imagination. Imagineering’s strength has always been combining technology with storytelling, and with folks like Lanny at Imagineering, us guests should have some pretty mindblowing experiences in our future.
Be sure to check out our Disney Disney Person of the Year for 2024!