Roy Edward Disney,
KCSGThe Pontifical Equestrian Order of St. Gregory the Great was established on September 1, 1831, by Pope Gregory XVI, seven months after his election.It is one of the five pontifical orders of knighthood in the Catholic Church...
(born January 10, 1930) is a longtime senior executive for
The Walt Disney CompanyThe Walt Disney Company , often simply known as Disney, is the largest media and entertainment conglomerate in the world, known for its family-friendly products...
, which his father
Roy Oliver DisneyRoy Oliver Disney was, with his younger brother Walt Disney, co-founder of what is now The Walt Disney Company. After Walt died, Roy became the chairman of the company...
and his uncle
WaltWalter Elias "Walt" Disney was an American film producer, director, screenwriter, voice actor, animator, entrepreneur, entertainer, international icon and philanthropist. Disney is famous for his influence in the field of entertainment during the twentieth century. As the co-founder Walter Elias...
founded. He is still a shareholder (over 16 million shares or about 1%), and currently serves as a consultant for the company and Director Emeritus for the Board of Directors. He is perhaps best known for organizing the ousting of two top Disney executives: first,
Ron MillerRonald William Miller is a former professional American football player, the son-in-law of Walt Disney, and a former president and CEO of The Walt Disney Company.-Marriage and early career:...
in 1984, and then
Michael EisnerMichael Dammann Eisner is the former chief executive officer of The Walt Disney Company. His tenure at Disney lasted from 1984 to 2005.-Early life:...
in 2005. He graduated from
Pomona CollegePomona College is a private residential liberal arts college located in Claremont, California. It has ranked in the top ten of liberal arts colleges nationally according to the U.S. News and World Report rankings since their inception...
in 1951.
Early career at Walt Disney Productions
Roy Edward is the son of
Roy Oliver DisneyRoy Oliver Disney was, with his younger brother Walt Disney, co-founder of what is now The Walt Disney Company. After Walt died, Roy became the chairman of the company...
and Edna Francis, and nephew of
Walt DisneyWalter Elias "Walt" Disney was an American film producer, director, screenwriter, voice actor, animator, entrepreneur, entertainer, international icon and philanthropist. Disney is famous for his influence in the field of entertainment during the twentieth century. As the co-founder Walter Elias...
. He first began working for the Walt Disney Company as an assistant director of Walt Disney and produced "
True-Life AdventureThe True-Life Adventures series is a collection of short subject documentary films produced by the Walt Disney Company roughly between the years 1948-1960. The series won numerous Academy Awards for the studio including five awards for Best Two Reel Live Action Short. It inspired a daily panel...
" films in 1954. He married Patricia Ann Dailey in 1955 and is a father of four. He continued to work as a
writerA writer is anyone who creates a written work, though the word usually designates those who write creatively or professionally, as well as those who have written in many different forms.-Profession:...
,
directorA film director, or filmmaker is a person who directs the making or production of a film. Some also consider a film producer to be a filmmaker....
and producer until 1967 when he was elected to the Board of Directors of the company.
First "Save Disney" war (1984)
He resigned as an executive in 1977 due to disagreements with his colleagues' decisions at the time. As he claimed later, "I just felt creatively the company was not going anywhere interesting. It was very stifling."
But he retained a seat on the board of directors. His resignation from the board in 1984, which occurred in the midst of a corporate takeover battle, was the beginning of a series of developments that led to the replacement of company president and CEO Ronald William Miller (married to Walt's daughter
Diane Marie DisneyDiane Disney Miller is the eldest daughter of Walt Disney and his wife Lillian Disney née Bounds. She had a younger sister, Sharon Mae Disney, who was adopted by the Disneys in 1936, and who died in 1993....
) by
Michael EisnerMichael Dammann Eisner is the former chief executive officer of The Walt Disney Company. His tenure at Disney lasted from 1984 to 2005.-Early life:...
and
Frank WellsFrank Wells was an American entertainment businessman.Previously, Wells had worked for Warner Brothers as its Vice President of West Coast in 1969, then in 1973 as President, and in 1977 as Vice Chairman until he left the company in 1982. Disney shareholders Roy E...
. Roy soon returned to the company as vice-chairman of the board of directors and head of the animation department.
Partnership with Eisner
He set his goal as revitalizing the company's
traditionThe word tradition comes from the Latin traditionem, acc. of traditio which means "handing over, passing on", and is used in a number of ways in the English language:...
of animated feature
filmFilm encompasses individual motion pictures, the field of film as an art form, and the motion picture industry. Films are produced by recording images from the world with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects....
s and by the end of the decade there were successes in this department. Although Roy acted largely as a figurehead, he could wield significant power, even over Eisner, his ostensible boss, and employees of the department have praised Roy for ensuring them plenty of artistic freedom on their projects. During the 1990s, Roy's department produced a number of commercially successful, critically acclaimed films and the era has been called a
renaissanceThe Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Florence in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe...
for the company and animation in general, though there was a decline in profits starting at the end of the decade. On October 16, 1998 in a surprise presentation made at the newly unveiled Disney Legends Plaza at the company's headquarters, Disney Chairman
Michael EisnerMichael Dammann Eisner is the former chief executive officer of The Walt Disney Company. His tenure at Disney lasted from 1984 to 2005.-Early life:...
presented him with the prestigious
Disney LegendsEstablished in 1987, the Disney Legends program recognizes men and women who have made an extraordinary and integral contribution to The Walt Disney Company. The honor is awarded annually during a special ceremony....
Award.
Roy's pet project was the film
Fantasia 2000Fantasia 2000, also known as Fantasia Continued in pre-production and concept, is a American animated feature film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released by Walt Disney Pictures. A sequel to 1940's Fantasia, the film is the thirty-eighth animated feature in the Walt Disney Animated...
, a sequel to the 1940 animated movie
FantasiaFantasia is a American animated feature produced by Walt Disney and the third film in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series. Fantasia features animation set to classical music and no dialogue—only spoken introductions by the host, American composer and music critic Deems Taylor, before segments...
produced by his uncle
Walt DisneyWalter Elias "Walt" Disney was an American film producer, director, screenwriter, voice actor, animator, entrepreneur, entertainer, international icon and philanthropist. Disney is famous for his influence in the field of entertainment during the twentieth century. As the co-founder Walter Elias...
. Walt Disney had planned a sequel to the original movie but it was never made. Roy decided to make this long-delayed sequel, and he was the executive producer of the film that took nine years to produce and was finally released on December 17, 1999. Like its predecessor the film combines high-quality contemporary animation and classical music. Also like its predecessor, it was not a financial success at the US box office.
Roy has gained celebrity status. He was the last member of the
Disney familyThe family of Elias Disney :* Elias Disney was born on February 6, 1859 in Huron County, Ontario, Canada and died on September 13, 1941...
to be actively involved in the company. He has been compared to both his uncle
Walt DisneyWalter Elias "Walt" Disney was an American film producer, director, screenwriter, voice actor, animator, entrepreneur, entertainer, international icon and philanthropist. Disney is famous for his influence in the field of entertainment during the twentieth century. As the co-founder Walter Elias...
and his father Roy Oliver Disney, and he is said to resemble them both in appearance and personality.
ForbesForbes is an American publishing and media company. Its flagship publication, Forbes magazine, is published fortnightly. Its primary competitors in the national business magazine category are Fortune, which is also published fortnightly, and Business Week...
magazine estimated his personal fortune at about
USDThe United States dollar is the unit of currency of the United States. The U.S. dollar is normally abbreviated as the dollar sign, $, or as USD or US$ to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies and from others that use the $ symbol. It is divided into 100 cents .The U.S...
$1.2 billion.
Second "Save Disney" war (2003-05)
After a struggle with CEO
Michael EisnerMichael Dammann Eisner is the former chief executive officer of The Walt Disney Company. His tenure at Disney lasted from 1984 to 2005.-Early life:...
, Roy Disney's influence began to wane as more executives friendly to Eisner were appointed to high posts. When the board of directors rejected Disney's request for an extension of his term as board member, he announced his resignation on November 30, 2003, citing "serious differences of opinion about the direction and style of management" in the company. He issued a letter criticizing Eisner for mismanaging the company, neglecting the studio's animation division, failures with
ABCThe American Broadcasting Company is an American television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. It first broadcast on television in 1948...
, timidity in the theme park business, instilling a corporate mentality in the executive structure, turning the Walt Disney Company into a "rapacious, soul-less" company, and of refusing to establish a clear succession plan.
After his resignation, Disney helped establish the website SaveDisney.com, intended to oust Michael Eisner and his supporters from their positions and revamp the Walt Disney Company.
On March 3, 2004, at Disney's annual shareholders' meeting, a surprising and unprecedented 43% of Disney's shareholders, predominantly rallied by former board members Roy Disney and
Stanley GoldStanley Phillip Gold is President and CEO of Shamrock Holdings, Roy E. Disney's private investment company. He was on the Walt Disney Company's board of directors 1984; 1987-2003. He and Roy resigned to publicly campaign to oust then CEO and Chairman of the Board Michael Eisner. He also helped...
, voted to oppose the re-election of Eisner to the corporate board of directors. This vigorous opposition, unusual in major public corporations, convinced Disney's board to strip Eisner of his chairmanship and give that position to former U.S. Senator
George MitchellGeorge John Mitchell, Jr., GBE is the American special envoy to the Middle East for the Obama administration. A Democrat, Mitchell was a United States Senator who served as the Senate Majority Leader from 1989 to 1995...
. However, the board did not give Eisner's detractors what they really wanted: his immediate removal as chief executive. In fact, Roy Disney's campaign regarded Mitchell himself unfavorably; 25% of shareholders opposed Mitchell's re-election to the board in the same election.
As criticism of Eisner intensified in the wake of the shareholder meeting, however, his position became more and more tenuous, and on March 13, 2005, Eisner announced that he would step down as CEO on September 30, one year before his contract expired.
On July 8, Roy and the Walt Disney Company, then still nominally headed by Eisner but, in fact, run by Eisner's long-time lieutenant, Bob Iger, agreed to "put aside their differences." Roy rejoined the Walt Disney Company as a non voting Director
EmeritusEmeritus is an adjective that is used in the title of a retired professor, bishop, or other professional. Emerita is often used as the female equivalent, although avoided by purists, since phrases such as professor emerita are ungrammatical in Latin...
and consultant. Roy and Gold agreed to shut down their SaveDisney.com website, which went offline August 7.
On September 30, Eisner resigned both as an executive and as a member of the board of directors, and, severing all formal ties with the company, he waived his contractual rights to perks such as use of a corporate jet, a
Golden PassThe Golden Pass is an exclusive ticket which allows the holder access to all nine of the theme parks owned and operated by The Walt Disney Company...
and an office at the company's Burbank headquarters. Eisner's replacement was Bob Iger.
One of Roy Disney's stated reasons for engineering his second "Save Disney" initiative had been Eisner's well-publicized but financially unjustified dissatisfaction with long-time production partner Pixar Animation Studios and its CEO
Steve JobsSteven Paul "Steve" Jobs is an American businessman, and the co-founder and chief executive officer of Apple Inc. Jobs previously served as CEO of Pixar Animation Studios....
, creators of shared hits
Toy StoryToy Story is a 1995 American computer-animated family/buddy film, directed by John Lasseter and featuring the voices of Tom Hanks and Tim Allen. The film was co-produced by Ralph Guggenheim and Bonnie Arnold and was distributed by Buena Vista Distribution. It was written by Joss Whedon, Andrew...
,
Monsters, Inc.Monsters, Inc. is a 2001 computer animated comedy film and the fourth feature-length film produced by Pixar Animation Studios. It was directed by Pete Docter, Lee Unkrich, and David Silverman; and was written by Jack W...
,
Finding NemoFinding Nemo is a American CGI animated film. It was written by Andrew Stanton, directed by Stanton and Lee Unkrich and produced by Walt Disney Pictures and Pixar Animation Studios...
, and other critically acclaimed
computer animatedComputer animation is the art of creating moving images with the use of computers. It is a subfield of computer graphics and animation. Increasingly it is created by means of 3D computer graphics, though 2D computer graphics are still widely used for stylistic, low bandwidth, and faster real-time...
motion pictures. This estrangement was quickly repaired by successor
IgerRobert "Bob" Iger is the president and chief executive officer of The Walt Disney Company. He was named president of the company in 2000, and later succeeded Michael Eisner as chief executive in 2005...
upon Eisner's exit, and on January 24, 2006, the company announced it would acquire Pixar in an all-stock deal worth US $7.4 billion, catapulting Jobs, also co-founder and CEO of Apple, Inc, to Disney's largest shareholder with 7% of the corporation's outstanding shares. Jobs also gained a new seat on Disney's board of directors. Former CEO Eisner, who still holds 1.7% of shares, became Disney's second largest shareholder, and Director Emeritus Roy Disney, with 1% of shares, became its third largest owner.
Roy Disney's efforts to oust Eisner from the company were chronicled by
James B. StewartJames Bennett Stewart is an American lawyer, journalist, and author.A graduate of DePauw University and Harvard Law School, James B. Stewart is a member of the Bar of New York and Bloomberg Professor of Business and Economic Journalism at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism...
in his best-selling book,
DisneyWarDisneyWar is an exposé of Michael Eisner's 20-year tenure as Chairman and CEO at the The Walt Disney Company by James B. Stewart. The book chronicles the careers and interactions of executives at Disney, including Card Walker, Ron W. Miller, Roy E...
.
Other work
- On the initial VHS release of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is a American animated feature based on the Brothers Grimm fairy tale Snow White. It was the first full-length cel-animated feature in motion picture history, as well as the first animated feature film produced in America, the first produced in full color, the first...
, Disney hosted a mini-documentary chronicling the progress made by his uncle and the Walt Disney Company.
- Disney holds a position of Trustee to the California Institute of the Arts
The California Institute of the Arts, commonly referred to as CalArts, is located in Valencia, California, in Los Angeles County, California. CalArts is authorized by the state of California to grant Bachelor of Fine Arts and Master of Fine Arts in the visual, performing, and literary arts...
.
- He voiced a cameo of himself in the animated show, Disney's House of Mouse
Disney's House of Mouse is an American animated television series, produced by Walt Disney Television, that originally aired from 2001 to 2003.-Premise:...
where MickeyMickey Mouse is a comic animal cartoon character who has become an icon for The Walt Disney Company. Mickey Mouse was created in 1928 by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks and voiced by Walt Disney. The Walt Disney Company celebrates his birth as November 18, 1928 upon the release of Steamboat Willie...
had accidentally sent him an angry fax meant for Mortimer MouseThere have been multiple fictional characters named Mortimer Mouse. Mortimer Mouse was the original name for Mickey Mouse. However, Lillian Disney, Walt Disney's wife, believed the name "Mortimer" sounded too pompous and suggested the name Mickey instead....
.
- He was the Executive Producer of the Multiple Network anti-drug Program "Cartoon All-Stars To The Rescue" in 1990.
- He is Executive Producer of the documentary Morning Light
Morning Light is a 2008 film directed by Mark Monroe and executive produced by Roy Disney. The film was released on October 17, 2008 by Walt Disney Pictures...
.
Personal life and interests
- Shamrock Holdings
Shamrock Holdings is the firm founded as the Roy E. Disney family investment firm and the Disney family remains a key investor. Roy is its chairman, and Stanley Gold its President/CEO. Shamrock owns a number of assets including hotels and radio and television stations. Shamrock often takes an...
, which Roy Disney Chairs and Stanley Gold runs as CEO, is an investment company that manages Roy Disney's personal investments.
- Disney is well known in the sailing community. He has held several sailing speed records including the Los Angeles to Honolulu monohull time record. He set it on his boat Pyewacket in July 1999. (7 days, 11 hours, 41 minutes, 27 seconds).
- On January 19, 2007, Roy Disney, 77, filed for divorce from his wife, Patricia, 72, citing "irreconcilable differences," according to court documents. The couple, married 52 years, had been living apart for an unspecified amount of time, according to the Los Angeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the municipality of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123.445 inhabitants...
County Superior Court filing. The Disneys have four adult children.
- In 2008, Roy Disney married Leslie DeMeuse, a former ESPN and current CSTV producer, and Emmy winner of various sailing documentaries. The two created the sailing documentary "TransPac—A Century Across the Pacific" in 2000, and are executive producers of the sailing documentary "Morning Light," which follows the selection and training of 18- to 23-year-old sailors on the 2007 Transpacific Yacht Race.
- On April 26, 2008, Roy Disney, received a Doctorate honoris causa
An honorary degree or a degree honoris causa is an academic degree for which a university has waived the usual requirements...
from The California Maritime AcademyThe California Maritime Academy is one of 23 campuses in the California State University system and is one of only seven degree-granting maritime academies in the United States...
for his many contributions to the state and the nation, including international sailing.
External links
- Netribution
Netribution - a Portmanteau of net and distribution - was launched at the end of 1999 as a free resource and magazine for European filmmakers and went on to become one of the largest and most popular free film industry services up until its closure in 2002 . It relaunched in early 2006 with an...
interview
- Association for Computing Machinery
The Association for Computing Machinery, or ACM, is a learned society for computing. It was founded in 1947 as the world's first scientific and educational computing society. Its membership is more than 92,000 as of 2009...
Video Interview with Roy E. Disney