Business Notes Entertainment

Goofy was there. So were the Seven Dwarfs, along with 7,000 journalists from 35 countries and a guy named Bush. In an extravaganza of self-congratulation and free publicity, the Walt Disney company last week celebrated the 20th anniversary of its Orlando landmark, Disney World. But in another corner of the globally famous theme park, Disney's chief financial officer, Richard Nanula, was disclosing to a gathering of financial analysts a dramatically different picture of the State of the Magic Kingdom: a 20% decline in earnings for fiscal 1991 from the previous year's record $824 million. That marks the first fall since 1984, when the moribund company began its spectacular comeback under the chairmanship of Michael Eisner.

Ironically, much of the slide was the result of declining attendance at Disney's theme parks and resorts as gulf-war woes and recession kept would-be tourists at home. Adding to the ebb in profits is a recent string of box- office busts from Disney's moviemaking wing. The company once identified with such runaway hits as Who Framed Roger Rabbit and Pretty Woman is now more associated with disappointing offerings like The Rocketeer, The Marrying Man and V.I. Warshawski. With such problematic pics as the delayed Billy Bathgate in its future, it may be increasingly rare to find Disney employees who whistle while they work.