DISNEY HEAD POOH-POOHS `EXTREME' VIEWS.

Byline: Reed Johnson Daily News Staff Writer

Walt Disney Co. chairman and CEO Michael Eisner said Sunday that the boycott of Disney initiated by members of the Southern Baptist Convention was the work of ``a very small group'' whose ``extreme'' views did not represent those of most Americans.

In a brief interview, Eisner also said that he doesn't anticipate any layoffs as a result of Disney's recently announced plans to trim its annual output of feature films by half.

Representatives of the Southern Baptist Convention voted for the boycott of Disney products, theme parks and stores June 12 in New Orleans at the group's annual meeting, attributing the action to what they termed Disney's ``anti-Christian and anti-family trend.''

At the time, Disney issued a terse, two-sentence reply, which Eisner amplified on Sunday.

``We think they're a very small group of the Southern Baptists that took a very extreme position, which we feel is foolish,'' Eisner said.

Tom Elliff, newly elected president of the 16 million-member Southern Baptist Convention, could not be reached for comment.

But the Orange County pastor who drafted the boycott amendment said yesterday that Eisner's response ``will do nothing more than escalate the boycott.''

``Mr. Eisner, in all honesty, is just not looking at reality,'' said the Rev. Wiley Drake of First Southern Baptist Church of Buena Park. ``This is not a small boycott.''

On a separate matter, Eisner said Disney's intent to scale back its live-action movie production from 35 or 40 films per year to 20 would not affect studio employees. Asked whether the reduction would impact on regional film production support services, such as editing labs, he replied, ``not unless everybody in the industry cuts back drastically.''

Eisner made his remarks following an afternoon rehearsal with Disney's Young Musicians Symphony Orchestra at Mount St. Mary's College in Brentwood. The 5-year-old ensemble is performing Wednesday at the Hollywood Bowl, and Eisner, a lapsed grade school percussionist, will conduct the orchestra in one of its numbers, John Philip Sousa's ``Stars and Stripes Forever.''

Leading the 91 student musicians, recruited from across the country and Great Britain, the head of the entertainment giant appeared eager if somewhat apprehensive, licking his lips several times as he dutifully wagged his baton. When the rehearsal was over, he doffed his baseball cap and threw back his head in mock relief.

Following the rehearsal, he took questions from the floor. One student asked how much it costs to make an animated film.

A lot, Eisner, replied, though home video and overseas sales provided a good return on investment.

How did he go from being an usher at NBC to being head of Disney? asked kettle drummer Rocky Romano.``Well, I just kept being at the right place at the right time,'' Eisner replied.

In praising the orchestra, Eisner noted that increasing numbers of public schools no longer have funding for arts programs.

``Music is so much a part of the lives of our young people,'' Eisner said. ``I just think the whole idea of music and music education is as important as English and math and science.''

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Photo

Photo: After a Sunday rehearsal with Disney's Young Musicia ns Symphony Orchestra, Disney chief Michael Eisner said his conducting gig this Wednesday will be ``my first and last'' trip to the podium.

Joe Binoya/Special to the Daily News