Roy Edward Disney, son of Disney Studios co-founder Roy O. Disney, and nephew of Walt Disney, passed away today at Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian in Newport Beach, California, following a year-long battle with stomach cancer. Disney is best known for his time as an executive for the global entertainment giant and as a powerful shareholder who twice led successful campaigns to oust company heads who he believed were leading the company in the wrong direction. Los Angeles-born Disney was a champion of classic animation and helped spark a successful revival of the drawn style in the 1980s and 1990s by supporting the animation teams behind hits such as The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin and The Lion King. John Lasseter, chief creative officer for Walt Disney and Pixar Animation Studios lauded Disney. "He put his heart and soul into preserving Disney's legendary past, while helping to move the art of animation into the modern age by embracing new technology". Company president and chief executive Bob Iger said Disney was much more than a valued 56-year company veteran. "Roy's commitment to the art of animation was unparalleled and will always remain his personal legacy and one of his greatest contributions to Disney's past, present and future," Iger said in a statement. Indeed a sad day for Mickey and his friends.
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