Missing Walt

What ironic timing for Charles Solomon’s appreciation of Walt Disney, just as the company that visionary founded is sinking deeper into creative oblivion (“The Man Who Was Never a Mouse,” Dec. 2).

Sure, Walt would be delighted to know that today’s Disney has lots of money. But it has none of his passion--it lost the last vestiges of that when Frank Wells died and Jeffrey Katzenberg was fired. It bears no resemblance to anything Walt created. Imagine Michael Eisner or another Disney executive taking a pay cut or holding off on a check or two in order to maintain high standards.

Instead, Disney’s theme parks have cut back on staff; reduced hours; installed shoddy, off-the-rack rides; and cut costs at every corner to ensure that the company’s executives make their bonuses. (They’ve all but forgotten about actual customers.)

Today’s Disney produces “Out Cold,” “Meet the Deedles” and the extravagantly overpriced and underimagined “Pearl Harbor” instead of creating truly innovative family entertainment. To top it all off, it pays $130 million for the rights for its network to air “Harry Potter”--a classically Disneyesque family film made by a rival.

Earlier this year, the Walt Disney Co. laid off thousands of workers to keep profits up. If Walt were 100, he wouldn’t be proud of the company he created; he’d be embarrassed. If only his ideals, dreams and ethics survived along with the memory his own company so sadly exploits.

JOHN JOSEPHS

Studio City