The Importance of Being Tadashi

(Spoilers for Big Hero 6 and Big Hero 6: the Series)

With the last blogpost being about Big Hero 6, it shouldn’t be too surprising another came up.  There was one character that stood out in the previous post whose impact on both the series and the film, while physically limited, is what defines the franchise and sets every event that happens throughout into motion.  That character is, of course, Tadashi Hamada, older brother of series protagonist Hiro Hamada and creator of series favorite, Baymax.

Though Tadashi died in the first act of the film, every action he took ended up defining the future for the characters in the series.  From the friends and family who lost him to the people that barely knew him but knew those closest to him, his life left an impact throughout the franchise that would go on to change the lives of many people throughout the city of San Fransokyo.  That shows one important role that is tragically often overlooked in modern society: the importance of a mentor or role model.

To understand Tadashi’s importance, we have to go into his and his brother’s backstory.  Both Hiro and Tadashi were orphaned at a young age (Hiro was three at the time) and raised by their aunt Cass.  Since she wasn’t married, Tadashi was the closest thing Hiro had to a male role model in his life.  That’s never an easy role for an older brother to play, especially in Hiro’s case as it meant it was hard for him to properly get discipline, so that led to a less than ideal upbringing, even if their aunt loved them very much.

Graduating high school at an early age, thirteen, also resulted in Hiro being disconnected from his peers, proven by his later acknowledging he sometimes wondered if he should have been doing things more normal for his age.  This resulted in him trying to find fun ways to use his talents, even if not always legal.  He found his outlet in the underground world of bot fighting where he used his genius to build robots for fighting against other people’s robots in pursuit of making a quick buck.  Unsurprisingly, doing something banned like that got him in trouble with the law.

Being a protective brother, Tadashi made it his priority to get Hiro out of that life.  That’s the reason he showed Hiro his school, to both give him a challenge and show him that there’s a better use for his talents.  In the end, it got Hiro out of a life that would have ruined him, introduced him to his future friends, and put them on the path to being superheroes.

            His other biggest action though that leaves an impact on his friends and family is also his most unfortunate.  During a school showcase, a fire breaks out that engulfs the building in which it’s being hosted.  Tadashi and Hiro manage to escape, but Tadashi’s professor and mentor, Professor Callahan, is inside of the building.  Without hesitation, Tadashi runs into the building to save his mentor, unable to do so and sacrificing himself in the process.

Obviously, his death leaves an impact on those closest to him.  Hiro ends up going into a depression and, throughout the series, the death of his brother serves as a hard subject for him long afterwards.  Yet the pain and grief of his absence is not the only thing he leaves behind.

Before his death, he made a robot healthcare companion, that being Baymax, who serves as a guide to Hiro.  This means Hiro still has both support and direction to his life directly from his older brother.  Baymax similarly is a product of Tadashi’s desire to help humanity since his design is to be the personal doctor his brother (among others) needs.  Meaning what Tadashi creates gets to outlive him and continue his work, both professionally and as a brother.

Over time, Tadashi’s legacy does get picked up by his brother.  Baymax’s maintenance and upgrading becomes Hiro’s responsibility and passion, meaning he gets to continue where his brother left off.  The fact the pair became superheroes also embodies Tadashi’s selflessness and virtue, meaning his impact transcends purely the physical.  It expands beyond his brother as well since his friends also join Baymax and Hiro in becoming Big Hero 6, meaning he changed all of their lives.  Inevitably, their team, Big Hero 6, becomes the saviors of the city, preventing its destruction, stopping villains, and inspiring others to do the same.  Yet none of it would have been possible without Tadashi, a character who only appeared for a third of the starting film and wasn’t there for the series.

Now, it may seem unnecessary to go into that much detail to set up the following point, but there was a reason to go that in depth about Tadashi and his impact.  Tadashi’s actions not only had an impact on his brother, but by extension everyone Hiro helped or saved; meaning his legacy and values changed his community even if he didn’t live to see that.  For that reason, Tadashi, as stated earlier, highlights the importance of being a mentor: your work will outlast you and be reflected by those who you help, serving as a role model to those you have taught as time progresses.

First, Christ said in John 5:19: “a son cannot do anything on his own, but only what he sees his father doing; for what he does, his son will do also.”  Though specifically, Christ was talking about doing the will of his father, this particular phrase reminds us that children emulate their parents (or teachers).  These are the people they trust, spend a lot of time with, and put faith in that they will lead them into maturity, so they are the ones who they will inevitably repeat, right or wrong.  Similarly, the father figure or role model has past experiences in life that have gotten to the point they are in, yet the child does not have such experiences since they new.  As a result, a son will try to be like his dad and put faith in his word to grow into maturity.

In Big Hero 6, Hiro doesn’t haven’t a father, or any male role model, so Tadashi has to fill that role.  When Tadashi plays a more active role in Hiro’s life, Hiro starts to follow in his footsteps, becoming interested in possibly going to the same school or continuing the work his brother has started when needed.  His brother shows him that he can do more than just make money on bot fights, and can actually do greater things helping people and applying his genius towards greater ideals than his immediate reality.  In other words, by giving him someone to emulate, Tadashi gave Hiro a role model just by being someone who cared and showing him a better path.  This is what ended up setting Hiro on the right path forward.

Second, The Rule of Saint Benedict also notes, “To be worthy of the task of governing a monastery, the abbot must always remember what his title signifies and act as a superior should.”  A role model or mentor has to remember his duty and the importance of their position, knowing that they have to carry out their role and do what is required of his position.  Everything they do will be emulated by their students, which is why they always need to do their best and know what their purpose serves.

We see a lot of Tadashi’s mistakes when trying to create Baymax as he tries, and fails repeatedly, to create a healthcare companion.  From constantly watching his attempts malfunction in the original movie, to having to get a friend in the series to help him work out Baymax’s healthcare matrix since it's not his area of study.  So his mistakes and lack of knowledge in certain fields remind us that he’s hardly a perfect human being.  Yet he never stops trying and is willing to ask for help because he never loses sight of why he’s doing his work.

Part of the reason he’s making a healthcare companion is the wellbeing of his brother and, by extension, people like his brother or the general populace.  This gives him a drive to never stop trying and to keep doing his work because he understands its importance.  These same principles are why he’s willing to run into a burning building to save his professor.  As for Hiro, these values are what he reflects and why he also keeps doing what needs done as he tries to emulate his mentor/role model, his brother.

There’s a misunderstanding that great people are people who are very physically strong or have great achievements.  It’s not worthwhile ruining the reputation of people who either are strong or have done great things, but true strength usually comes more from the ability to face great odds or hardships.  Many of us know someone who is not famous, but willing to face great hardships regardless of the odds, and we usually respect them more than your average celebrity.

For Tadashi, the values he shows are what Hiro does and the image he seeks to become throughout the series.  Hiro has his own abilities, but what Tadashi can do or tries to do shows Hiro what he can do as well.  From self-sacrifice to admitting he can’t do everything, these are values that get Hiro through his journeys and struggles.  So going further than just the immediate impact he had on his brother, Tadashi showed Hiro how to face his own demons even if they were different than Tadashi’s.

Which bring us to our final point.  Saint Paul VI notes “Every mother is like Moses. She does not enter the promised land. She prepares a world she will not see.“  Though this is specifically dedicated to motherhood, it is also true for teachers and mentors.  They may not see the accomplishments of their students, but those can still exist.

Tadashi doesn’t get to see all the work his brother does, but without him, Hiro never would have done even a fraction of the things he was capable of throughout the film or series.  Hiro never would have created the team, never would have saved the city (multiple times), and never would have rehabilitated several of his villains.  The world was made better by Tadashi being in it, and yet he never got to see how far the impact he had on the one person he needed to save the most.

In the final episode of Season 2 for the series, Hiro says “I used to think that having a legacy just meant that people remembered you.  But now, I realize it's more than that.  It's when the things that are important to you live on in the people who loved you.  And what was most important to my big brother was helping others.  He believed that there's good in this world and that it's worth fighting for.  He knew that everyone was capable of being someone's hero.  The last words Tadashi said to me were, ‘Someone has to help.’  Even though he's gone, Tadashi is still helping me every day.  Tadashi wants us all to help.  And I'm going to try.  And, uh, I hope you'll join me.”

This is, in summation, the reason why role models and mentors are so important.  It is because they give a guiding light to people who need that direction, even if they never truly get to see their impact.  Being that guiding light shows countless people the meaning of life, how to improve, and helps them better understand their potential.  Without a true mentor, a person has no direction and will not become much of anything.  Yet the mentor, like Tadashi, gets to help people not only continue their work, but understand the world, and face their own demons in ways that will make the world a better place.

As we reflect on the impact a person can have on others, we shouldn’t forget that that’s why our own work matters as well.  Whether we realize it or not, our behavior will be emulated by the people who respect us, and it will outlast us.  For that reason, it’s why we should never stop doing our best and improving.  Whether we realize it or not, our work can and often will have an impact we don’t see on other people.  One day, we may get an apprentice and not realize it, or we will become parents.  Regardless, never forget that our work will impact the world, even if small, and we should use it as an opportunity to be grateful for the people who have gotten us to where we are.  For like Tadashi, they won’t be around forever, like we won’t either.

Why I Love Big Hero 6 (the series)

(Minor Spoilers for the film and the series)

So I finally finished watching the entirety of Big Hero 6: The Series (for the third time).  Most people are familiar with the film, but it did actually get a spinoff series on Disney XD.  Personally, I found the series to be better than the movie as it fleshed out the film’s world and characters in ways that the film didn’t, which made it a delight to watch.  However, there is something about it that makes me appreciate it a lot more than many shows or films I see in the modern day.

Now, the series itself is pretty good.  It follows a large cast of superhero college students with unique personalities while one in particular, Hiro Hamada, takes the main focus.  Each character gets more development and focus than they did in the film, but the heart of the story is still Hiro and his robotic friend, Baymax.  There’s a variety of new characters as well, such as the school they all attend’s dean and Hiro’s school rival, who hates him but loves the superhero team they’re secretly in, and all the new characters are quite enjoyable in how they relate to the main cast.

The overall plot is pretty straightforward.  Leaving off from the end of the film, the protagonists get to continue their superhero work after taking down Yokai while balancing their school lives, or even seeing intersections between the two as projects they may be working on end up being related to a potential villain’s plan.  Being a show for kids, each episode usually has a moral, such as dealing with bullies or emotional expression.  Unfortunately, I didn’t find the non-main villains particularly compelling, but I know other fans of the series that quite enjoy them, so that might be a matter of personal taste.  Overall, it’s a fun superhero show that knows exactly what it is, and does it very well.

The reason it sticks out to me though, as much as it does, is a lot of the theming.  Since it does follow Hiro, a lot of it does follow his need for rules and limits.  Being a super genius at the age of 14, there are things that he can do incredibly well, at an even earlier age than his peers, and that makes it hard for him to relate to other people when often there’s reason for him to believe he knows better.  It would be uncharitable to call him a narcissist, but this does lead towards feelings of superiority and pride that do often get him in trouble.

The result is that a lot of the focus from Season 1 is about his needs for limits.  The main villain has rejected the idea that he needs limits, believing he can do whatever he wants regardless of the consequences as long as he deems his goal as good, and Hiro often faces that temptation throughout the series.  Yet throughout the series, Hiro has to keep rejecting that temptation because when he doesn’t, problems inevitably befall him.

What truly keeps Hiro on the path towards good is his brother, Tadashi (who died in the film), and the relationship he has with his friends, especially Baymax, who was his brother’s creation.  His brother gave him someone to emulate, a role model, which instilled in him a desire to do good and help others, while Baymax continues to impart wisdom from what Tadashi programmed him to do.  His friends also help keep him in line by giving him needed reality checks and keeping him in the present as opposed to completely withdrawing into his own head.  Finally, the dean instills in him the need to keep limits on what he can and can’t do, which constantly pushes him to keep his desires in check, even when operating under the best of intentions.  That all provides Hiro a lot of balance he definitely needs which gets him back on the right track, even when he stumbles.

At the heart of it all, that’s why I really love this series.  It tells us that not all of our impulses are good, that there’s a healthy need to respect authority (they got to their position for a reason), and that we need people in our lives if we want to grow.  In short, it is a reminder of the need for community and that we have to keep our priorities straight.  I find that compelling in the modern day.

After all, a lot of the more prominently marketed films of the last decade from major companies (including Big Hero 6’s owner Disney) usually tend to lean against those ideas.  There’s no shortage of films where the protagonist actually rejects the guidance of the mentor and totally outperforms everyone they know with limited guidance or training because they just know better.  Examples include Captain Marvel, The Last Jedi, and just about anything involving post-Joker relationship Harley Quinn.  In a sea of media seeking “empowerment,” an empowerment that rejects both tradition and self-denial, it’s nice to see a show that veers hard in the opposite direction.

For that reason, Big Hero 6 connected with me at a time when society is pushing people towards unhealthy disconnect with their fellow men.  It stays true to themes of community, friendship, and obedience when those are things increasingly overlooked in media.  It brings a smile to my face every time I think of the characters, and makes me excited to possibly watch it again.  If you’re interested, or at least just want more of the movie, I’d say give it a watch because you’re in for a treat.

Ranking Nine Separate Christmas Carols

I watched 8 Christmas Carols this holiday season and was asked to rank them so I’m putting this here: 

 8. Bah Humduck: a shortened rendition of a Christmas Carol starring the Looney Tunes. It misses the point of the original story a lot, but the jokes were pretty hilarious. I could see myself watching this one again because it made me laugh, but as an adaptation, it’s not a good introduction to a Christmas Carol.

7. Disney’s A Christmas Carol starring Jim Carrey: it’s a decent enough adaptation of the original story, but doesn’t really do anything new that made it feel like it needed to exist. There are some interesting ideas from an animation standpoint, but the film could have been better. 

6. An American Christmas Carol: a made for TV movie starring the Fonz from Happy Days as not Scrooge (at the age of 39). It’s a pretty good adaptation of the story that has some heart in it, but is a bit over the top in its execution of the emotions. There were a couple of scenes I really liked, but don’t feel I’ll revisit this one again. 

5. Mickey Mouse in a Christmas Carol: this one is fantastic because it is able shrink the story down to roughly half an hour without sacrificing the film’s heart. That’s not an easy feat which alone makes it impressive. The jokes are funny, and the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come is one of the most memorable of any Christmas Carol adaptation. 

4. Scrooged: the most underrated Christmas Carol adaptation I know of, Bill Murray is just hilarious in the film and its satirization of the TV industry is pretty great. So are most of the smaller characters, from its takes on the ghosts and Tiny Tim, to a shotgun toting Bobcat Goldthwaite going postal in a tv studio. I love watching it every year. 

3. George C. Scott’s Christmas Carol: I think this one is the ideal in color adaptation. The portrayal of Scrooge humanizes him in such a way that makes him relatable. Scott’s portrayal serves as a reminder of Scrooge’s humanity and that any person can lose sight of what’s important under the wrong circumstances. Also, it’s nice to see David Warner play a good guy since he normally played bad guys (and hated it) so it was an opportunity to extend his range. 

2. A Christmas Carol starring Alastair Sim: I view this as the best adaptation. Being made in the 50s, there’s a simplicity to it most Christmas Carol adaptations don’t share. The black and white helps make it feel at home alongside great Christmas movies like Wonderful Life and Holiday Inn, the expansion of Scrooge’s backstory like crying over his sister’s death and Marley trying to repent on his deathbed increases its emotional depth, and the performances of everyone involved are excellent.  All that together is, for me, what elevates it to perfection. It’s a must watch for all. 

1. The Muppets Christmas Carol: though not as good as the last two, it still holds a special place in my heart. Each Muppet is perfectly cast, almost every scene is insanely memorable, and the music is fun to sing, even when not watching. The film is probably, for me, the most memorable and a perfect introduction to the story, as well as just a great adaptation for all ages.

Update:  I was asked to watch one more Christmas Carol by a good friend so I thought I'd include it in this updated List.

5.5 1971 animated Christmas Carol: it's an impressive animated adaptation from an underrated animator.  This version captures the majority of the story in thirty minutes, and is animated by Richard Williams, the animator that gave us Who Framed Roger Rabbit.  It was also produced by Chuck Jones who was probably the most prolific Looney Tunes animator who gave us the Grinch.  The animation style is impressive, Alastair Sim reprising Scrooge was quite lovely, and it was fun to watch even after watching the past eight.  However, I didn't connect with it as much as my mother or my friend did, which likely has to do with not having grown up with it.  Was happy to see it, but I would probably only watch it again with a friend.  For those of you who haven't seen it yet though, please do watch it free on YouTube.

Will Bob Chapek be Replaced?

  At this point, bad news for Disney CEO Bob Chapek is so normal that no one expects him to get any good news.  It was only last week that I told to someone I know that there’s a chance Disney might try to replace Chapek. Much to my lack of surprise, an article dropped this week that media executives believed that failed Presidential candidate (and former Disney CEO) Bob Iger might be brought back to replace Bob Chapek.  So, not wanting to be disbelieved that I predicted Chapek’s potential fall, I thought I'd give my analysis on reasons why Chapek might be removed, the motivations for the people making the decision, the strengths and weaknesses of Iger as an alternative, and the likely impact on the company regardless of what happens.

It’s no secret Bob Chapek is extremely unpopular as CEO of the company with fans amid growing complaints about leadership.  It takes about two seconds to find negative press and never-ending complaints about his decisions and events going on at Disney, especially in the parks with the decision to make fastpasses a paid service through the Genie+/Lightning Lane controversy and the terrible rollout of the Star Wars hotel fiasco.  It’s not just fans though as negative press has been following him from official Hollywood news services trying to cast him in a negative light, from the controversy over contract negotiations with Scarlet Johansson to the long awaited industry backlash over the company’s handling of Star Wars.  So from Disney’s customers to industry insiders, every walk of the entertainment machine seems to want a piece of him.

This isn’t just going unnoticed as actions by Chapek seem to suggest that this is starting to weigh heavily on him.  The man has been avoiding press events that would give increased chances to take questions or face fan backlash over decisions at the parks.  Likewise, there were reports that he’s extremely upset about his reputation as a “beancounter” so he’s definitely aware of his bad reputation.  It’s not surprising therefore that there are rumors that he might be removed as CEO.

However, though the growing problems with Chapek are superficially easy to find, people may not understand those likely aren’t important to Disney investors.  Firstly, that would be because he’s managed to mostly weather the controversies without massive hits to the company structure.  The Scarlett Johansson lawsuit was settled out of court with Marvel head Kevin Feige claiming Chapek had been underestimated after initial reports of feuding, managed to get positive early reviews for the Genie+ system, and most importantly has been able to get most of proposals instituted such as increased control over creatives to distribution and managing to get price increases.  Overall, he is still getting what he wants which means he has a lot of power.

Secondly, he has the full support of the board for those decisions.  Reports confirm that decisions under Chapek such as prioritizing streaming were being pushed for by board members.  In fact, reporter Kamran Pasha argued that what was doing may have been on behalf of Iger’s successor as Chairman, Susan Arnold, so it may be that Chapek is actually making policies based on what the board wants as opposed to acting independently.  It’s therefore unlikely they’re going to fire him if they are getting what they want.

It’s important to remember that as a company, Disney needs a lot of money to stay afloat and Chapek’s decisions are intended to make Disney more profitable.  Most of the decisions come at a time when Disney has been bleeding cash and needs to get itself back on track for that reason.  As a result, most of Chapek’s financial decisions have made sense purely from a business standpoint and that would make sense as to why it appeals to investors and board members, who are the main point of power Chapek has to worry about.

People may not understand this, but Disney has been taking on massive amounts of debt and doing massive spending sprees in the last decade.  Obviously, the pandemic hit them hard and the had to take on massive loans and face heavy layoffs to stay around.  Making up for that has to be a priority, especially now that the lockdowns are ending and Disney has opportunities to make money at the parks and the box office.

Nevertheless, issues with spending were also a huge problem when Bob Iger was still CEO that will need to be accounted for in the future.  Under his leadership, they spent money like drunken sailors with the company over spending on purchases for Star Wars and Fox.  They even bought two new cruise ships right before the pandemic hit, meaning those went unused.  Keeping in mind he actually said there was no money in video games right before it was revealed the company was considering buying Activision (and dodged a bullet by not doing so), it seems he had one heck of a spending problem.

Likewise, there were other issues with Iger as well, such as his global initiative.  While that had some success in Africa and especially Latin America, neither was really the company’s focus as he was instead interested in China.  From making films primarily for the country to shooting a movie in the Xinjiang region with Chinese concentration camps (and thanking the people running it in the credits), Iger made a priority to expand Disney’s global influence and like most of Hollywood thought the future for global trade was the country with the world’s largest population.  Unfortunately, the business community is pushing to leave China amid souring ties between the US and China with Bob Chapek signaling similar intent, to the point that it was rumored he was considering selling Disneyland Hong Kong and Shanghai, so this only further implies Chapek was picked to undo Iger’s legacy.

This sets the stage then for the idea that the Disney board has no intention of bringing back Iger and will probably keep Chapek in the short term.  It was rumored that Iger was actually forced out by the board and Chapek was their replacement for him despite not being ready for the job (rumors not helped by the joint interview they did).  So since they are supporting his decisions and may have wanted his predecessor gone, it seems unlikely they’d want him back after pushing him out and taking the company in a radically different direction.

For those unaware, this is a product of an existing corporate war between established Hollywood and there growing replacements.  Historically, those heads of Hollywood have run in a different direction than corporate Wall Street.  Recent mergers have put a lot of traditional Hollywood companies under the control of organizations that haven’t been part of their club and that’s changing their model, industry, and organization in ways that will have lasting implications and likely ruin the power of established Hollywood elites.

In recent years, celebrity culture has been on the decline with people getting increasingly sick of decades of scandals, entitled celebrities, and recent pushes for activism, as reflected in declines in viewership for the Oscars, movie theaters and comic book stores closing, and failure in new marketing campaigns to gain traction.  Historically, Hollywood has prioritized good press over making money (to the point that Marvel comics restructured its stories around a comic book series that was well reviewed but financially unprofitable), and that has resulted in repeated financial loses for the industry (such as declining return on investment at the box office, Disney Star Wars films making less than the prequels when adjusted for inflation, toy sale declines, and multiple projects being announced and canceled which implies corporate infighting).  Since a business must be profit first and Hollywood isn’t, inevitably their models must be changed and since they have refused to do that, it’s inevitable they’ll be amalgamated like every other failed industry or company that became outdated.

Keep in mind, Iger allowed company heads like Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy and Marvel President Kevin Feige to have limitless power and multi-year contracts.  As a result, he was well liked by the heads of Hollywood as he gave them what they wanted, even when it was causing fan backlash.  With Chapek in the seat, the focus has been primarily on profit which Hollywood doesn’t want as that could come at the cost of their power and prestige.  It seems unlikely to change though and this will likely be the future of the industry as several other companies in the industry like Warner Brothers are facing mergers and the next chairman of Disney, Susan Arnold, used to work for the Carlyle Group, one of the largest investing firms on Wall Street whose CEO was recently elected Governor of Virginia, so it suggests the new model is here to stay as profit motivation takes over the industry.  Since the old guard in Hollywood is losing power, it’s likely they’ll keep fighting to maintain their power, but they are going out of style and there’s no reason to believe the profit driven focus of the new entertainment industry will be here to stay.

All the same, though the chances of Iger returning are limited and it’s unlikely Chapek’s changes will be undone, that doesn’t mean his position is safe.  Since Chapek’s entire career is about profit as opposed to press, it means he has to start making money for the company to justify his presence.  There are issues with his rollout the company is facing.

Issues that Chapek is facing include stagnant subscriptions to Disney+.  Disney was prioritizing that as its future last year and it still wasn’t projected to start making money until 2022 so that will need to make back a decent amount for Disney’s bottom line.  Since subscriptions have stagnated, that will be a point of concern for his longterm success.

Likewise, other ideas he’s now rolling out need to be successful and we won’t have the financial data for a while.  There are already cancellations for the overly expensive Star Wars hotel Disney is rolling out and the Genie+ system in the Disney parks is extremely unpopular with Disney fans.  In addition, Chapek did see failures as head of Disney Parks such as the magic band system that did not make nearly the money expected, and the underperformance of Galaxy’s Edge in part because he repeatedly slashed the addition’s budget, including cancelling a third ride and live shows that were later added to the Star Wars hotel.  We tragically won’t know how successful his reforms will be, but it could be a while before he sees the data the board and investors want and that could spell doom for his tenure.

There have been rumors he was picked as a scapegoat when the debt Iger put the company in finally hit the fan so that may be Chapek's legacy more than anything else.  He is doing what the board wants at this time (and may even be ordering him to) but Hollywood for now still thrives on press.  Removing him and replacing him with someone else could potentially be a way to rebuild some burnt bridges with fans and the old guard of Hollywood.

However, it’s unlikely his removal would change anything.  If these are the actual policies of the board and have their complete support, then it’s unlikely his replacement will rock the boat significantly and will probably keep everything Chapek has done in place (provided it was profitable).  There may be some minor changes to give the impression of reform, but it will never be significant enough to overhaul the new system of business in any way and won’t be more than enough to reduce negative press.  As a result, the best time to get rid of Chapek would actually be after he’s instituted all desired reforms the board wants, and then replace him with someone who’s essentially the same but won’t have any baggage.  This will keep everything in order as it is while superficially winning back potential customers and the old guard of Hollywood.

As for Iger, it’s unlikely he’d be their first pick unless there was no one else (as is what kept Kathleen Kennedy’s job alive for so long).  It’s possible he comes back, but with significantly reduced authority with most power being held by the company chairman.  Keep in mind, Iger was Chairman and CEO as of 2012 so just bringing him back as CEO won’t fully restore him to power unless Susan Arnold leaves.  As a result, he may be brought back purely as a figurehead for superficial “remember the glory days” nostalgia bait while the company is run differently.  As a result, this establishes the idea that new Chapek Disney is here to stay.

Of course, this is all dependent on Chapek’s reforms failing and Disney not getting the money/success it wants in the way/time it wants.  If things work out, the rattling of angry journalists who are losing power won’t mean anything.  If they don’t, they will instead likely find a way to keep what’s happening now stay the way it is in the future regardless of one man’s dream.  Regardless, it is unlikely there is any reason to remove Chapek so he’ll likely be staying around for a while and if he isn’t, there’s no reason to believe his removal will be a major change.