At Disney World, the company opened the largest theme park in the world covering 580

acres (230 ha) Disney's Animal Kingdom on Earth Day, April 22, 1998. It is made up of six
lands based off zoological themes, with the Tree of Life as the park's centerpiece and over
2,000 animals.[273][274] Receiving positive reviews, Disney's next animated films, Mulan
and Disney-Pixar film A Bug's Life, were released on June 5 and November 20, respectively.
[275][276] Mulan became the sixth highest-grossing film of 1998 at $304 million, and A Bug's
Life was the fifth highest at $363 million.[272] In a $770 million transaction, on June 18,
Disney bought a 43% stake of Internet search engine Infoseek for $70 million, also giving
Infoseek earlier acquired Starwave.[277][278] With negotiations between Carnival and Royal
Caribbean not going well, in 1994, Disney announced they would start their own cruise line
operations starting in 1998.[279][280] The first two ships part of the Disney Cruise Line
would be named Disney Magic and Disney Wonder and would be built by Fincantieri in Italy.
To accompany the cruises, Disney bought Gorda Cay as the line's private island and spent
$25 million on remodeling it and renamed it Castaway Cay. On July 30, 1998, Disney Magic
set sail as the line's first voyage.[281] Starting web portal Go.com in a joint venture with
Infoseek on January 12, 1999, Disney later acquired the rest of Infoseek that year.[282][283]

man in a chair

Roy E. Disney, Roy O. Disney's son, became head of the animation department, before
leaving the company in 2003, calling on Eisner to retire and starting the "Save Disney"
campaign, before joining Disney again as a consultant.

Marking the end of the Disney Renaissance, Tarzan was released on June 12, garnering $448
million at the box office and critical acclaim; it also claimed the Academy Award for Best
Original Song for Phil Collins' "You'll Be in My Heart".[284][285][286][287] Toy Story's sequel
and Disney-Pixar film Toy Story 2 was released on November 13 as a successful film,
garnering praise and $511 million at the box office.[288][289] Filling Ovitz spot, Eisner
named ABC network chief Bob Iger president and COO of the company on January 25, 2000.
[290][291] In November, Disney sold DIC Entertainment back to Andy Heward, although still
doing business with them.[292] Disney had another huge success with Pixar when they
released Monsters, Inc. in 2001. Later, Disney bought children's cable network Fox Family
Worldwide for $3 billion and the assumption of $2.3 billion in debt. The deal also included
76% stake in Fox Kids Europe, Latin American Fox Kids, more than 6,500 episodes from
Saban Entertainment's programming library, and the Fox Family Channel.[293] In 2001,
Disney's operations declined with a net loss of $158 million in fiscal, as well as a decline in
viewership on the ABC television network, because of decreased tourism due to the
September 11 attacks; Disney earning in fiscal 2001 $120 million was heavily reduced from
the year's before $920 million. To help with costs savings, Disney announced they would be
laying off 4,000 employees and closing 300 to 400 Disney stores.[294][295] After winning the
World Series in 2002, Disney sold the Angels to businessman Arturo Moreno for $180 million
in 2003.[296][297] In 2003, Disney became the first studio to garner $3 billion in a year at
the box office.[298] Roy Disney announced his retirement in 2003 because of the way the
company was being ran, calling on Eisner to retire; the same week, board member Stanley
Gold retired for the same reasons, forming the "Save Disney" campaign together.[299][300]
Gold letters

Disney bought The Muppets from The Jim Henson Company in 2004, forming subsidiary The
Muppets Studio.

In 2004, at the company's annual meeting, the shareholders, in a 43% vote, voted Eisner out
of his position as chairman of the board.[301] On March 4, George J, Mitchell, who was a
member of the board, was named as Eisner's replacement.[302] In April, Disney purchased
The Muppets franchise from The Jim Henson Company for $75 million, founding The
Muppets Holding Company, LLC in the process.[303][304] Following the massive success of
Disney-Pixar films The Incredibles (2004) and Finding Nemo (2003), which became the
second highest-grossing animated film of all time at $936 million,[305][306] Pixar looked for
a new distributor once their deal with Disney ended in 2004.[307] After the Disney Stores
were struggling, Disney sold the chain of 313 stores to Children's Place on October 20.[308]
Disney also sold the Mighty Ducks NHL team to Henry Samueli and his wife Susan in 2005.
[309] Roy decided to rejoin the company and was given the role of a consultant with the title
of "Director Emeritus".[310]