The heart of the case still remains whether Katzenberg deserves a whopping lump-sum bonus amounting to 2% of the profits that hundreds of movies and TV shows created under him will make for Disney from now into perpetuity, including a cut from the stuffed animals sold, Internet sites that feature character logos and a batch of other businesses. And, if so, how much does it all add up to?
For now, the trial is in recess while a retired Los Angeles Superior Court judge decides what items Katzenberg deserves to be paid for.
Then a parade of high-paid accountants and even-higher-paid consultants will guess about how much money "Aladdin," "Sister Act" and "Beauty and the Beast" will make years after all of the combatants here have died.
It should be emphasized that it is a judge, not a jury, that will decide what Katzenberg gets.
To use the boxing analogy again, referees don't always call a fight the way the crowd sees it. So embarrassments may not have much currency.
Disney fought hard to keep this portion of the trial closed to the media, citing "trade secrets" as if an Adam Sandler movie is analogous to the Coke formula.
A more effective argument might have been that this is an industry with more than its share of huge ego clashes, immature behavior and unreasonable conduct. And leaving all that venom behind closed doors, rather than displaying its ugliness to the world, might actually serve the public interest.
