Sadder news today from the world of Disney…
Roy E. Disney has died, at the age 0f 79, after a long battle with stomach cancer. The nephew of Walt Disney himself, Roy E. was the son of Walt’s brother Roy O. Disney, who was famous as being the financial brains behind many of Walt’s craziest ideas — like, animated feature films and theme parks. Roy E. spent almost all of his adult life working for his uncle and father’s company, in many different capacities. In the 1950’s and 1960’s he worked as a writer on famous short films in the True Life Adventures series, like The Living Desert and The Vanishing Prairie, as well as the TV series Zorro. (It seems appropriate that, most recently, Roy was involved in the creation of the Disney Earth series of documentaries.) In many circles though, what Roy E. became best known for was his staunch defense of the Disney company’s reputation as an animation powerhouse and pioneer. In the 1980’s, when Roy was a Disney board member and he felt that the animation quality was drifting (The Black Cauldron, anyone?), Roy lead a revolt among the stockholders that lead to the ouster of Disney chairman Ron Miller (who was married to Walt’s daughter Diane). This lead to Michael Eisner taking on the leadership of the Disney company, and soon enough lead to an animation renaissance that would produce such hits as The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, and The Lion King. Twenty years later, when Pixar was booting Disney’s traditional butt at the box office regularly, Roy again lead a stockholder revolt that lead to Michael Eisner being stripped of many of his powers at the company. Roy was a loud promoter of traditional 2D animation, even when it didn’t always make financial sense. Fantasia 2000 owes a large part of its existence to Roy’s efforts while he was head of Walt Disney Feature Animation. That film may not have broken records at the box office, but many fans of traditional animation celebrated Roy for seeing that it got made and released. At more than one public appearance, Roy was given a standing ovation by adoring animation fans. Your humble ed-otter can attest to being among them. So thank you, Roy. And blessed be.
