Former Disney CEO Bob Chapek’s book, Behind the Castle Walls: My Thirty Years at the Happiest Place on Earth, will be available on Tuesday. In it, he tells his side of the story of his career at The Walt Disney Company. This includes his rise and fall as the CEO of Disney after less than three years in the top job. According to Chapek, this was all the fault of previous Disney CEO Bob Iger (who would also ultimately end up replacing him).
In the book, The New York Times, Chapek plays the blame game and focuses that blame on Iger. Chapek accuses Iger of a “relentless” campaign of sabotage that ultimately led to his dismissal. “My abrupt dismissal hurt my reputation, leaving those close to me, outsiders and some within the kingdom trying to figure out what I did wrong,” Mr. Chapek writes. “The answer, again, is nothing.”
In the book, Chapek attempts to rewrite the narrative about his career and turn himself into the hero of this tumultuous era at Disney. This is a story that Chapek believes was cut short, thanks to his former boss’s meddling. “I didn’t get a chance to finish what I started,” Mr. Chapek writes. “In truth, it pisses me off.”
Along with being upset about his dismissal, he seems to be upset about his hiring as well. Without providing any proof, he accuses Iger of cutting and running just ahead of the pandemic. “I have been told by several high-ranking people both in government and private business that in their opinions, the real reason he left the company so abruptly was his anticipation of the arrival of Covid,” he writes. Disney has already denied that the COVID-19 pandemic had anything to do with Iger’s decision to step down. Iger has said that he was tired of the job, particularly the earnings calls.
What he did start was a lot more expensive for fans and consumers. This is something that Bob Chapek feels was not bad. Under his watch, prices went up on annual passes, food, and things that were once free began to come at a price. While this did lead to an 18% compound annual profit growth while he led the Disney Parks, it came at a cost of public goodwill. This is apparently not a problem for Chapek, who writes, We’d been, at a minimum, leaving revenue opportunities on the table to avoid stirring the hornet’s nest.”
Along with taking credit as a “disrupter” who found new revenue for The Walt Disney Company, Chapek also takes credit for finding current Disney CEO Josh D’Amaro. Chapek makes D’Amaro out to be his protégé and “the tip of my spear” in his disruption efforts. “I consistently suggested the idea of promoting him,” Mr. Chapek writes. “He had been a relative unknown in the corporate hierarchy before I singled him out.”
Throughout the book, Chapek portrays himself as always underestimated. He saw opportunities that others didn’t, he says. He takes credit for saving Disney from a global pandemic. He writes, “It was Bob from flyover Indiana, educated at a state school, who disrupted the business and kept the studio afloat with an endeavor others had dismissed as ‘creative heresy.’”
From the clips that are being released from this book so far, it appears that this will be a case for a career that was heavily focused on business metrics while missing out on matters of people. It appears that the only references to people are when they can be blamed or used for credit. This ultimately may have been what led to his downfall.
Former Disney CEO Bob Iger also wrote a book about his time leading the House of Mouse. Called The Ride of a Lifetime: Lessons Learned from 15 Years as CEO of the Walt Disney Company, this book isn’t just his story but also a masterclass in leadership. In both of these books, the personalities of the men who wrote them seem to shine through. It will be interesting to see if Behind the Castle Walls is more than a vitriolic case for Bob Chapek and can inspire in the way that Iger’s book did. All evidence so far is that this will not be the case.
Behind the Castle Walls: My Thirty Years at the Happiest Place on Earth will be available on Tuesday, September 29, 2026. It is currently available for pre-order.
