WEST HIGH GRAD IS NEW DISNEY CHIEF [All Edition] Madison Capital Times Madison, Wis. Jan 14, 2000 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Authors: Doug Moe Document Column Name: THE TALK Pagination: 2A Personal Names: Schneider, Peter Abstract: Schneider moved to Madison in the late 1950s with his wife, Miriam [Schneider], and bought a home on Midvale Boulevard. Their son, Peter [Schneider], was 8 years old. Hans began his career with the University of Wisconsin and Miriam began a long association with the Madison Symphony Orchestra, in which she played the violin among other duties, and Peter graduated from Madison West in 1968. Peter's interest was theater. He attended Purdue as a directing major and went to New York upon graduating in 1972. He directed some shows off Broadway, came back to the Midwest as managing director of Chicago's St. Nicholas Theater, and moved to London in 1980. He came back to the United States to direct the Olympic Arts Festival in Los Angeles in association with the 1984 Olympic Games. When the Games ended, Peter and his wife, Hope, were thinking of moving to Italy, but when Hope became pregnant they stayed, and Peter got a job with Disney. Copyright Madison Capital Times Jan 14, 2000 Full Text: Heard something Moe should know? Please call 252-6446, e-mail him at dougmoe@madison.com, or write to PO Box 8060, Madison, WI 53708. HANS SCHNEIDER is an emeritus professor of mathematics at UW- Madison. "Don't call me retired," he was saying Thursday. Schneider moved to Madison in the late 1950s with his wife, Miriam, and bought a home on Midvale Boulevard. Their son, Peter, was 8 years old. Hans began his career with the University of Wisconsin and Miriam began a long association with the Madison Symphony Orchestra, in which she played the violin among other duties, and Peter graduated from Madison West in 1968. Peter's interest was theater. He attended Purdue as a directing major and went to New York upon graduating in 1972. He directed some shows off Broadway, came back to the Midwest as managing director of Chicago's St. Nicholas Theater, and moved to London in 1980. He came back to the United States to direct the Olympic Arts Festival in Los Angeles in association with the 1984 Olympic Games. When the Games ended, Peter and his wife, Hope, were thinking of moving to Italy, but when Hope became pregnant they stayed, and Peter got a job with Disney. He had interviewed with Roy Disney, and one of the first things Schneider said was that he really didn't have any interest in animation. Well, Disney said, just let me show you around. "I came in and was completely bowled over," Peter recalled later. "It's one of the last great arts. There are 500 classically trained artists in that department." By 1989 he was senior vice president of feature animation for Disney and trying to convince Bea Arthur to play the voice of the sea witch in "The Little Mermaid." She didn't have time - Pat Carroll took the part - but it was one of very few disappointments. The film kicked off an incredible '90s run of animated Disney hits such as "The Lion King" and "Beauty and the Beast." Schneider rode that wave, and with his vast theater background he was the perfect guy to take Disney to Broadway, which he did, with both "Lion King" and "Beauty." Schneider got another promotion in 1998 and was the executive who gave the final green light to "The Straight Story," the David Lynch movie written by John Roach and Mary Sweeney, who were starting at Edgewood High about the time Schneider was leaving West. At a special screening of the film in Madison in October, Sweeney introduced Hans and Miriam Schneider, who were in attendance. "The Straight Story" is being touted for Oscar nominations next month, and Disney also had two huge commercial hits in 1999, "Toy Story 2" and "The Sixth Sense," each grossing more than $200 million. It is all a long way from Midvale Boulevard, and then on Wednesday, Joe Roth, the chairman of Walt Disney Studios, said he was resigning effective today to start an independent production company. Roth was in charge of all of Disney's film, TV and theatrical productions. Disney CEO Michael Eisner was quick to name Roth's successor. It is Peter Schneider. Hans and Miriam Schneider still live in the Midvale Boulevard house. Hans said the first he'd heard about Peter's ascendancy to the top of Disney was from media reports Thursday. "To be very honest, he doesn't say a lot to us about Disney." Peter lives in the Los Angeles area and makes it back to Madison from time to time, Hans said, but he and his family are traveling this week. "He knew this was coming so he took a vacation," Hans said with a laugh. "I doubt anyone could reach him this week." Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction or distribution is prohibited without permission. =============================== End of Document ================================