Roy Edward Disney, the nephew of Walt Disney whose commitment to his uncle's creative spirit prompted him to mount revolts that led to the unseating of two of the company's chief executives and a revival of the studio's legendary animation unit, has died. He was 79. Disney, who had been battling cancer, died this morning, according to Clifford A. Miller, a spokesman for Disney's company Shamrock Holdings.

Disney toiled for years in the shadow of his famous uncle and his father, Roy O. Disney, who behind the scenes ran the business side of the Walt Disney Co. for his brother. But the quiet man in the cardigan sweaters would emerge as a forceful protector of family traditions.

"People always underestimated Roy," said Peter Schneider, the former president of Walt Disney Feature Animation. "You underestimate Roy at your peril, as many people have learned."

Disney devoted the first 20 years of his career to making nature films, among them "Pancho, A Dog of the Plains," "The Owl That Didn't Give A Hoot" and an Oscar-nominated short subject "Mysteries of the Deep." After the death of Walt in 1966 and Roy's father in 1971, the younger Disney was spurned in his efforts to take a larger role with the company. He finally quit in 1977, but remained on its board as a director, where he was largely a figurehead.

Adrift, Disney hooked up with lawyer Stanley Gold and became a successful financier, investing successfully in a wide variety of businesses that included broadcasting, soybeans and Israeli industrial concerns through Shamrock Holdings, a company named for one Disney's racing sloops.

During the 1980s, Gold, Disney and Shamrock became one of the better-known corporate raiders, making unsuccessful hostile takeover bids for companies such as the Polaroid Corp. camera maker and the Wherehouse Entertainment chain of music stores. Its takeover of Central Soya, a soybean processor in Fort Wayne, Ind., would yield a sizable $170 million profit for Shamrock and its partners with its subsequent sale to an Italian agricultural concern. Through investments, Gold sought to free Disney of his financial dependence on the Disney company stock he inherited. Most were successful, although Shamrock stumbled on some, particularly a money-losing investment in sneaker maker L.A. Gear.

By 1984, Disney had grown increasingly frustrated with the Walt Disney Co., which he likened to a real estate company that happened to be in the movie business. The company had let its feature animation film business, once the cornerstone of the company, deteriorate. The company, Disney would later say, had lost its creative drive.

"I said to him, 'Roy, I think you've reached a point where you need to get all the way in or all the way out,' " Gold said. "He said, 'What does that mean?' I said, 'You either need to sell your shares in Disney and go independent, or you need to put up a fight and get rid of the managers and find real managers for this business.' "

With his financial independence established from his investments, Disney pondered with Gold and a handful of other advisors what, if anything, they could do. Finally, a decision was made to try to unseat the company's management, made sticky by the fact that Walt's son-in-law, Ron Miller, was chief executive. Disney abruptly quit the company board in 1984, sending a signal to investors and Wall Street that something was amiss. The turmoil Disney ignited eventually swept the old management group from the corporate suites.

In the end, Disney, with an alliance formed with the billionaire Bass family of Texas, returned to the board and forced out the studio management, paving the way for the hiring of a new team led by Michael Eisner, Frank Wells and Jeffrey Katzenberg.

Upon taking over as chief executive, Eisner asked Disney what he wanted to do. Disney responded that he wanted to revive the company's sagging animation division, where morale was rock-bottom as the company was releasing one of its worst-reviewed films, "The Black Cauldron." Wells and Katzenberg both opposed the idea, said Gold, but Eisner granted Disney his wish -- in a gesture of gratitude.

Disney persuaded the new regime to invest about $10 million in computer animation equipment, a seemingly minor decision that proved to be a turning point in the company's fortunes. Within a few years, the company turned out a remarkable string of animated hits, including "The Little Mermaid," "Beauty and the Beast," "Aladdin" and "The Lion King." The films won critical acclaim and proved wildly lucrative as well, with money pouring into the company not only from the box office, but from the sales of T-shirts, toys and home videos.

"It was Roy who was the protector. It was Roy who was the godfather, the champion and believer in it," said Schneider, who had lunch with Disney every Tuesday for 16 years in the executive dining room, even when animation had been exiled to warehouses in Glendale. "Animation doesn't work without someone who believed, and Roy believed."

Disney's pet project, a new version of the 1940 Walt Disney classic "Fantasia," was released in 2000, initially in big-screen IMAX form. Called "Fantasia/2000," the film, like the original, blended animation inspired largely by classical music. Included were segments set to Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue" and Ottorino Respighi's "Pines of Rome." Disney also included "The Sorcerer's Apprentice," the cornerstone of Walt Disney's original, in the new version.

At the same time, relations between Disney and Eisner had grown increasingly strained, with the two men communicating mostly by phone and through e-mail. Tensions had been building since the 1994 death of the company's president and chief operating officer, Frank Wells, which left Eisner solely in control of the company. Disney complained to confidants that he was being marginalized by the executive he had helped install as chief executive.

By November 2003, Disney learned that the board's four-member nominating committee was planning to leave his name off the slate of directors scheduled to be elected at the company's next annual meeting. The longtime animation chief discovered he had been shut out of a Thanksgiving week screening of ideas for new animated films. The company had been in a prolonged financial slump, with its earnings flat and its stock performance anemic, but the snub was the last straw. Disney and his business partner, Gold, abruptly quit the board of directors in December 2003 and called for Eisner's resignation.

In a stinging rebuke, Disney said that Eisner's leadership had led to the perception of the company as "rapacious, soul-less and always looking for the 'quick buck' rather than long-term value." Although the company's problems were well-known, Disney's public statement exposed the severity of his personal and professional rift with Eisner. A month later, Disney called on shareholders to cast a vote of no confidence in the top executive. Their efforts rallied a stunning 45% no-confidence vote for Eisner at the company's 2004 annual meeting in Philadelphia, prompting Disney directors to remove Eisner as board chairman. Five months later, Eisner said he would retire when his contract expired in September 2006.

Disney did not relish the fight. In an interview with Fortune magazine, he described how he summoned his four children to a family meeting where they sat together, holding hands, and agreed he should challenge Eisner.

"His identity is more wrapped up in this company than you can imagine," daughter Abigail E. Disney told the magazine in 2004.

Disney and Gold continued their fight with the Disney board with a May 2005 lawsuit that challenged as "a sham" the search process that resulted in the appointment of Eisner's hand-picked successor as the company's new chief executive, Robert A. Iger. The new chief executive quickly made peace with Disney, offered him an office at the company's Burbank studios, a consultancy and the title "director emeritus." Disney and Gold withdrew their lawsuit challenging Iger's selection.
http://www.latimes.com/ne...9215.story

Did they freeze him too, so he could wake up when the Jews are gone?

ernestsewell said:

thank god he died AFTER prying micheal esiner's claws out of the company and keeping him from ruining the company.

RIP roy

ernestsewell said:

What?

KoolEaze said:

KoolEaze said:

You've never heard that?

There's always the rumor (and it's only a rumor) that Walt Disney was frozen, to be thawed when his illness was cured.

There's a rumor (or fact?) that he didn't like Jews.

There's a gag on Family Guy about them waking up Walt Disney, and his first comment is "Are the Jews gone yet?" Someone says, "No." "Crap. Put me back to sleep until they're gone."

ernestsewell said:

So, it's okay for you to make this odd comment which has NOTHING to do with Roy Disney, who is Walt nephew and never been accused of being anti-semitic, but only yesterday you got all upset, indignant, and judgmental when someone had a justifiable opinion about Oral Roberts' actions??? Quite comical, indeed.

ernestsewell said:

I found this on Yahoo answers...

Neal Gabler, author of the book "Walt Disney: The Triumph of the American Imagination", as quoted from his Nov. 1, 2006 "The Early Show" interview:

"Walt Disney got the reputation (of being an anti-Semite) because, in the 1940s, he got himself allied with a group called The Motion Picture Alliance for the Preservation of American Ideals, which was an anti-Communist and anti-Semitic organization. And though Walt himself, in my estimation, was not anti-Semitic, nevertheless, he willingly allied himself with people who were anti-Semitic, and that reputation stuck. He was never really able to expunge it throughout his life."

Just like Martin Luther King Jr., who allied himself with Communists, but he himself was not one -- the same applies to Walt Disney.

Thanks to both of you for the info, never heard of that before.

KoolEaze said:

Yeah, I have no idea if he hated Jews or not. Muirdo's comment is probably true. Things back then really stuck when accused (like the black listing of anyone who was deemed Communist friendly). The joke about Walt and Roy, and the Family Guy thing is just pure schtick on that rumor. All in fun. Roy certainly kept Disney running, and did well with it, as did most of the CEO's they installed over the past 30 or 40 years.

muirdo said:

family guy always brings up Walt Disney hating jews

kpowers said:

Yeah, but I think they do it because they see the craziness in the rumor as well. Plus if he did, it's rather funny since his theme parks were all about inclusion of everyone, yet the rumor dictates that he'd still keep Jews outside at the gate probably. Ahhh, irony.

ernestsewell said:

oh yeah I understand the family guy humor, just like south park they are really teasing everybodys views (even if you have no view they are still teasing you for being undecided)

RIP Roy.

Allegedly Walt didn't like his nephew much. Infact, he hated him apparantly LOL. Roy was right in getting Eisner, Katztenberg and Wells in the mid 80's. Disney was on the verge of a takeover and the new owner had no interest in continuing in animation. Getting those 3 men TOTALLY CHANGED EVERYTHING AROUND! Seriously, a major company had never had such a quick turn around I feel. It was pretty amazing business wise. Of course it wasn't just those 3 people, but they certainly were the bolt of lightning the company so desperately needed.

Oh, and I like "the black cauldron" LOL. Coulda been amazing, but its one of the few culty Disney films around.

Rip Roy

thesexofit said:

Very true. They were visionaries in a lot of ways, and really pushed Disney to be more than the Snow White company. They've done well by benefiting from Pixar's knowledge of all things computer animation too, and Steve Jobs serving on the board at Disney.

ernestsewell said:

Yep. Katzenberg is/was relentless in getting things done, getting actors for parts etc...

Eisner and co totally exploited Disney's lucrative back catalogue of cartoons by releasing the shorts alot more onto tv again and the films onto VHS. Also, the parks got boosts by things like "Captain EO" etc... They even made decent saturday morning cartoons again. Their golden era of tv animation lasted about 7 years, and luckily I got to live through it all as a kid LOL.

They also massively expanded Touchstone pictures with films like "Roger Rabbit" "Dick Tracy" "3 men and a baby" (hate that movie) and "Pretty woman". Made Disney modern and a company with alot to say again.

thesexofit said:

I worked for Disney in 1990. Dick Tracy was out, as was The Little Mermaid. I worked in promotional products, and was never so tired of fish and yellow fedoras. My boss gave me a t-shirt that said "Three Men And A Little Lady" on it. It wasn't out yet, and was still in post-production. I wore it out once, and she scolded me later. haha "Don't wear that out yet! We can all get in trouble." I had a giggle over it. But it was just a bit too soon to start putting that out there. It was a fun company to work for. I worked in the valley in the Disney tower (I think that's what we called it; there were two Disney buildings right next to each other).

ernestsewell said:

Thats awesome man. I would of loved to of been there back then. Eisner got so much hate later on (after Frank Wells died and he sorta took over), but he did alot of great and very important things for Disney and is a very clever man.

Back to "Dick Tracy",I think Disney tried to compete it with WB's "Batman" the previous year. Made alot of money, but not asmuch as "Batman" though (few films have though to be fair LOL). I love the first "Batman" movie, but theres something abit more special about "Dick Tracy". Even the songs were good in it.

ernestsewell said:

by the golf course?

ernestsewell said:

They called it The Disney Channel building or the Burbank Center when our offices were there and The Tower is right next door. We're located on the Studio Lot now. Flags at half mast.

thesexofit said:

The building everyone sees now with the 7 dwarfs holding up the roof was just being built; it was near completion at that point. It was a great building, and the all of the grounds weren't even completed at that point. It's much more like a campus these days. The great thing was that the little church I went to in Beverly Hills had most of its members in the business. Some were wardrobe people (like Janet Stout from the first season wardrobe supervisor of Star Trek: The Next Generation), and other various industry jobs. But one guy and his wife were architects who worked a lot on that building. It was such a great time to be in Los Angeles, and be a part of the industry, even in a small way. Very exciting, and creative period for a lot of studios. WB was still riding the success of Batman from the year prior, and Flatliners was in post production. My aunt Bekah worked for Columbia Pictures (which later became Sony Pictures) and Columbia rented buildings at the back of the WB lot. It was very laxed there. I would just walk in and out through the back gate (near the brand new commissary). The original Warner Bros store was on the lot, at the end of a tour guide. It was a hole in the wall, but I bought a Take 6 cassette there. It was fun telling my boss that when I was hired at the WB store at the Mall of America in Mpls. I often wandered to the back of the lot. The old Waltons town set was still up. The "NY city" streets were near the middle of the lot, and they streets were open for people to drive through to get to their office, as there was no production going on. The first person I saw on the lot that was famous was the kid Chris Burke, who played Corky on Life Goes On. Every time I'd go to the lot w/ my aunt to putz around on a day off (I never did get caught or in trouble), I was always so excited to be there, but had to "act normal".

She later worked for Dawn Steele on the new Disney lot I mentioned. Part of the grounds were completed (a small part compared to now). Dawn Steele had a reputation for being a total bitch, and I could never got visit my aunt in the office, lest she get in trouble. Disney's buildings were SO much more beautiful, clean, neat, and fun inside than any of the WB buildings I saw. They really carried their "fun" attitude into everything they did and built.

If this picture shows up, this is the building I was referring to:

ernestsewell said:

I'm typing this from the South (Buena Vista) Wing of that building.

Jestyr said:

YOU ARE NOT!!!!! HAHAHAHA That's totally cool!!!!! I miss it out there. It was a short time for me in LA. I literally got chewed up and spit out. I was 21/22 and had no clue what to do out there. I still enjoyed it, even through rose colored glasses. I learned so much in the short time I was out there. Just about life. Learned a lot from my aunt Bekah (she was married to my dad's younger brother, btw). I worked later for KTLA, and lived across the street at the St. Moritz. I worked (for free) in theater in the evening, right off Sunset on the other side of the highway. I could walk from KTLA or my apartment to the theater. But my time at Disney, and walking around the WB lot, was the best. It was like being a kid, free to explore almost anything. I should have just tried to get a real job on the WB lot. Eh well.....still fun.

ernestsewell said:

Awesome stories man. Yeah, I've seen the building you pictured before. Again, I think that was Eisners idea. I think they did similar things with the hotels they owned at Disneyland etc... Amazing stuff.

I dont solely blame Roy for the company languishing as it did in the 70's-mid 80's, but he could of done more I feel. Disney should of been making movies like "Star Wars" and "close encounters", but it barely took any risks. "Black Hole" anyone? It also never finished Epcot the way Walt wanted it to be. He wanted a truly living, breathing, fully real world, for real people to grow up in. It was very ambitious LOL, but he coulda pulled it off. Real shame he died, as he was a genius in some respects no question.

Jestyr said:

You work for Disney? Thats awesome man. What do you do? (if you dont mind me asking)

thesexofit said:

I'm in Corporate Legal Rights Administration. That's code for "I handle permission to use our character and film properties - externally and internally".

ernestsewell said:

LAWD

RIP