18 Dec An Era Ends With Passing Of Roy E. Disney

Roy E. Disney & Mickey Mouse. Photo: Life.com

Roy E. Disney died at the age of 79 on December 16th, 2009 after a battle with stomach cancer.

Roy was the nephew of Walt Disney and under Roy’s leadership, Disney became a force to be reckoned with when it came to films when he took over the film division in the early 90’s including Beauty and the Beast (1991), Aladdin (1992) and Fantasia 2000 (1999), a sequel to the original from 60 years before.

Roy has had battles with Disney owners to try and stay true to the vision that Walt would have had, having him come to blows with Walt’s own son in law Ron Miller in the 80’s.  He brought in Micheal Eisner to replace Miller before his success with the movie division. Ironically enough, Roy & Michael went to battle 20 years after that.

Eisner forced Roy out of Disney and beign on the board by changing the age limit of board members to the exact age of Roy. Roy mave resigned but it was by force but he started a revolt that led to Eisner having to resign from his position himself.  Eisner had a year left on his contract before resigning but fell out of favor with other board members for his treatment of Roy and Disney’s recent decline under his watch.

Roy is survived by his 4 children and wife and an ex-wife and unfortunately, none of the work for the company.

Thank you Roy E. Disney for your leadership and for inspiring millions of people young at heart for their dreams and enjoyment for decades to come.-Dr.FB

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