• by Wayne Friedman , Staff Writer, 11 hours ago

The new Disney executive suite culture is finally set: Josh D’Amaro, its new CEO; and Dana Walden, his number two in the new position, president/chief creative officer.

Both are replacing the longtime and successful -- and now iconic -- Disney CEO Bob Iger, who dramatically expanded the Disney culture vision to include Pixar, Lucasfilm, Marvel, and finally half of the 20th Century Fox business.

As a result, Disney's business grew exponentially in the last 20 years.

What can D’Amaro and Walden do as an encore to these types of achievements?

The good news is that sharing the workload of sorts leans toward D’Amaro -- who has a stronger long-term sense of the Disney brands, with nearly 30 years of experience -- when it comes to his long reign in theme parks, consumer products, and experiences.

D’Amaro has a keen sense of what core Disney characters mean to parents and kids, according to analysts.

And Walden? She is a newcomer, who came over in the Fox deal in 2019. But more important is her emphasis with the new post: Essentially her deep connections with the creative community in Hollywood.

That’s a big deal -- something Iger has routinely talked about in terms of value and freedom for Disney creative executives.

Coming back to Disney in 2022, after the debacle of the brief Bob Chapek period (2000-2020), Iger emphasized freeing Disney creative, which Chapek put some restrictions on.

After stepping down in 2020, Iger remained in charge of overall creative direction at the company, which then clashed with Chapek, according to reports,

Perhaps that’s why the Disney board wanted to cover both “right brain, left brain” aspects of the top job.

Like Iger, D’Amaro comes with some healthy attributes, and recently said he is a big risk taker.

Going forward, however, Walden will continue to juggle entertainment creative assets when it comes to Disney+ and Hulu, and the ABC Television Network and entertainment cable networks -- as well as big movie studio franchises, including the sprawling Marvel Cinematic Universe of fantasy, action/adventure characters.

Transitioning linear TV to streaming and other platforms continues to be a delicate balance at the company.

Although they are clearly getting smaller, Disney believes (as Iger has said) that linear TV networks will continue to be around for some time.

The bottom line is that Walden's task will be a hard one. She will need to be an even better superhero.