UltimateDisney.com / DVDizzy.com

[fairuza]

http://www.drudgereport.com/flash1.htm

"ROY DISNEY RESIGNS; CALLS ON EISNER TO STEP ASIDE
Sun Nov 30 2003 16:32:17 ET

Walt Disney Co. Vice Chairman Roy E. Disney submitted his resignation from the company board on Sunday and called for Disney Chairman and CEO Michael Eisner to step down from his own positions, the WALL STREET JOURNAL is reporting.

Disney, nephew to the late Walt Disney, sent Eisner a three-page letter severely criticizing his leadership during the past seven years:

'It is my sincere belief that it is you who should be leaving and not me,... Accordingly, I once again call for your resignation or retirement.'

WSJ reporter Bruce Orwall writes that in his letter Disney said that Eisner deserved credit for a successful first decade after taking the helm at Disney in 1984. But he then detailed seven areas in which he said Mr. Eisner has failed the company in the past seven years.

The list of complaints included everything from the performance of the struggling ABC broadcast networks and Disney theme parks to Mr. Eisner's reputation for "micro-management of everyone around you."

The resignation comes in advance of a Disney board meeting this week. Mr. Disney's letter seems to indicate that the Disney board's nominating committee had decided to leave his name off the slate of directors to be elected for the coming year. Mr. Disney also indicated that he would also resign from his position as chairman of Disney feature animation.

A Disney spokeswoman initially declined to comment.

DEVELOPING HARD..."

I hope Eisner resigns! He's the worst.

[poco]

Don't like that Roy resigned, but am hopeful to see that possibly Eisner will step aside.
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"I like nonsense, it wakes up the brain cells. Fantasy is a necessary ingredient in living." -- Dr. Seuss

[PatrickvD]

[Jack]

Its sad that Roy's gone, I'll miss him. Butt-face Eisner is the root of all evil.

Seriously though, I'm glad something drastic is being done to get Eisner to leave. I doubt he'll resign though.

[michelle]

haha you guys are so funny *refer to all quotes above*

but generally i agree ... 'run away eisner ... run away and NEVER return ...'

*eisner scampers off into the horizon and meets up with a carnivious warthog...*

*michelle bows head in shame at the corniness of this message*
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D o w n . t h e . r a b b i t . h o l e . . .

W h e r e . d o e s . i t . g o ?

[jeffs854]

Hopefully 6 months or a year without Roy around will prove to the board that Eisner needs to go. Then Roy could return and turn the company around to the form of entertainment that Walt built it to be.

[Tangela]

I really hope einster leaves the company forever, he's such a failure as leader. Disneuy stinks now, and it's all thanks to him. Perhaps, they'll release a better Rescuers DVD when he leaves... forever! ;x

[Kim Olav Svines]

[Jake Lipson]

Tangela, somehow I doubt that it was Eisner who stopped them from releasing a quality Rescuers DVD. It might have been him who stopped Song of the South, but not Rescuers SE.

Anyway - this is a sad day for animation. I too am very glad to see Eisner being pressured to leave and hopefully he will do so before the end of this year. However, I really fear for the future of WDFA without Roy E's involvement. First Eisner lets it fall into the idiotic, incapable hands of David Stanton; then it goes all-CG post-Home on the Range; and now Roy E. Disney is gone. Not good.

And what will happen to Fantasia III without Roy E? His involvement in F2000 really, really benefited the film and I don't think it would have turned out as good without him. I'm nervious.

Thoughts?
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My modest collection of little silver movie discss

[donaldduckfan]

this is very bad news considering i've really really enjoyed his involvement on some of the classics dvds like Snow White and Peter Pan. he really appeared to be trying to preserve the Disney legacy along with people like Leonard Maltin. however i've read a Disney biography called "Disney's World" and it talks about how Walt was pretty annoyed by Roy and that he never thought Roy being in charge of anything was a good idea. also it said Roy was pretty cocky and wanted more credit attributed to his father Roy Sr. for the success of Walt. if all that's true it's very interesting to see that at some point there must have been a transformation for him.

[Joe Carioca]

I'm nervous too... Roy was my only hope that there was somebody inside the Disney company that cared for the artists. At leat it is one step forward to the day Eisner will leave the company!
Eisner, OUT!!!! I know he did a lot for the company in the past, but now, Disney needs new blood.

[catNC]

I am sad to hear that Roy resigned, but perhaps that is the only way for the board to see that Eisner sucks. Hopefully, the comments directed at Eisner from Roy will force the powers-that-be at Disney to really take a serious look at where the company is headed with Eisner at the helm.

I honestly think Roy will be back, at some point in the future. His last name is Disney for heaven's sake It has to be a very calculated move on Roy's part to resign from the company, and I would hate to think he's doing it to abandon ship and just let it sink. I hope in some way he works to save Disney. Perhaps that is why he so harshly criticized Eisner.

As much as this shake up is making us all nervous, and being the optimist I can be (at times), I am looking for a light at the end of the tunnel.
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[Joe Carioca]

Here is Roy Disney's letter of resignation:

November 30, 2003

Mr. Michael D. Eisner, Chairman
The Walt Disney Company
500 South Buena Vista Street
Burbank, CA 91521

Dear Michael,

It is with deep sadness and regret that i send you this letter of resignation from the Walt Disney Company, both as Chairman of the Feature Animation Division and as Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors.

You well know that you and I have had serious differences of opinion about the direction and style of management in the company in recent years. For whatever reason, you have driven a wedge between me and those I work with even to the extent of requiring some of my associates to report my conversations and activities to you. I find this intolerable.

Finally, you discussed with the Nominating Committee of the Board of Directors its decision to leave my name off the slate of directors to be elected in the coming year, effectively muzzling my voice on the Board – much as you did with Andrea Van de Kamp last year.

Michael, I believe your conduct has resulted from my clear and unambiguous statements to you and the Board of Directors that after 19 years at the helm you are no longer the best person to run the Walt Disney Company. You had a very successful first 10-plus years at the company in partnership with Frank Wells, for which I salute you. But since Frank’s untimely death in 1994, the company has lost its focus, its creative energy, and its heritage.

As I have said, and as Stanley Gold has documented in letters to you and other members of the Board, this Company under your leadership has failed during the last seven years in many ways:

1. The failure to bring back ABC Prime Time from the ratings abyss it has been in for years and your inability to program successfully the ABC Family Channel. Both of these failures have had, and I believe will continue to have, significant adverse impact on shareholder value.

2. Your consistent micro-management of everyone around you with the resulting loss of morale throughout this company.

3. The timidity of your investments in our theme park business. At Disney’s California Adventure, Paris, and now Hong Kong, you have tried to build parks on the cheap and they show it and the attendance figures reflect it.

4. The perception by our stakeholders –consumers, investors, employees, distributors and suppliers – that the Company is rapacious, soul-less, and always looking for the “quick buck” rather than long-term value which is leading to a loss of public trust.

5. The creative brain drain of the last several years, which is real and continuing, and damages our Company with the loss of every talented employee.

6. Your failure to establish and build constructive relationships with creative partners, especially Pixar, Miramax, and the cable companied distributing our products.

7. Your consistent refusal to establish a clear succession plan.

In conclusion, Michael, it is my sincere belief that it is you who should be leaving and not me. According ly, I once again call for your resignation or retirement. The Walt Disney Company deserves fresh, energetic leadership at this challenging time in its history just as it did in 1984 when I headed a restructuring which resulted in your recruitment to the Company.

I have and will always have an enormous allegiance and respect for this Company, founded by my uncle, Walt, and father, Roy, and to our faithful employees and loyal stockholders. I don’t know if you and other directors can comprehend how painful it is for me and the extended Disney family to arrive at this decision.

In accordance with Item 6 of Form 8-K and Item 7 of Schedule 14A, I request that you disclose this letter and that you file a copy of this letter as an exhibit to a Company Form 8-K.

With sincere regrets,
Roy E. Disney

Cc: Board of Directors

[Luke]

Well that answers the "why" of it, and in no unclear terms.

[Choco Bear]

I honestly think this is somewhat good news, if this pressures and makes Eisner leave that will be a whole new chapter and a great day in animation and Disney history, I think. I am sad that Roy is leaving and i do still think he will be involved in the company someway but if it pressures eisner to leave then hell im happy

[Jake Lipson]

I agree with pretty much every point Roy made in that letter. Michael Eisner did some wonderful things for the company from 1984-1994, including helping the revival of animation and seeing The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, and The Lion King through to completion. But since Frank Wells' death, and moreso recently, he is doing things -- closing animation studios, laying off thousands of talented people who the company could really benefit from, and letting the Pixar deal fall apart are just some examples -- which are really harmful to the company. He did some great things, but as Roy pointed out in his letter, he just doesn't know when to step down and let someone else take over to revive the company once again.

I will miss Roy's involvement in the company and don't think that it will be the same without him. I loved his work on some of the DVDs and on Fantasia 2000, perticularly. Goodbye, Roy. I hope you will return to steer the company in the right direction after Eisner is fired/replaced or retires.
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My modest collection of little silver movie discss

[goof ball]

www.Animated-News.com has the full story.

They have reported that Disney resigned and sent Eisner a 3 page letter telling him his work from 1984 - 94 was fantastic, but after that it has not been so great. Then he was asked by Disney to step down from his position at the Disney Co.

check it out! What do you think?

maybe this will greaten our chances of getting future 2-d animated movies!?
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Romans 6:23

[Lady]

eisner is the devil.

[matthewgb]

How will this possibly affect the treasures series? Roy Disney was one of the chief proponents for putting the TRue Life Adventures on DVD having participated in the production of some of them. Rumor was this was to be included in the 2004 slate. Will it be put on the back burner as to not stoke an already volatile fire? Or would a delay agrevate the situation even further?

[Mermaid Kelly]

does anyone think this issue may cause the future platinum dvds not to come out!!! I sure hope not!!! I really hope they still release the whole collection!!
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