Last modified: November 30, 2003, 4:10 PM PST
By Carla Baranaucks
The New York Times
The vice chairman of the Walt Disney Co., Roy E. Disney, resigned from the board of directors Sunday, citing his "serious differences of opinion" with the chairman, Michael D. Eisner, "about the direction and style of management in the company."
Disney, the nephew of Walt Disney, also called for Eisner's resignation. "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," Disney wrote to Eisner. "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."
Eisner backers scoffed at the latter charge, noting that, as in any corporation, all employees ultimately report to the CEO, and to expect personal loyalty in a large, publicly-traded corporation is unrealistic. "This isn't a Medieval fiefdom where retainers are loyal to the local landowner," scoffed one Eisner vassal, the Thane of Goofy. "Besides, what was Eisner supposed to do when Scrooge McDuck came to him with the information - refuse to listen?"
Eisner is said to be particularly upset over changes made to Disney that sees as incompatible with his uncle's family-oriented legacy. It was only a few years ago that the first Disney movie (actually marketed by a subsidiary) garnered an R rating. Since then, "the floodgates have opened" according to one insider sympathetic to Disney, "And now we're indistinguishable from any other production company that targets the same demographic." Disney was said to be particularly dismayed over Castle Growlenstein, a snuff film featuring a family of singing bears, and the NC-17 lesbian lovefest Snow White gets Slushy.
Disney also is reported to have concerns over the increasingly public stance that the corporation has taken on controversial political issues. For years the company tolerated, without endorsing "gay days" at its theme parks, but when Eisner sent a delegation of gay midgets to Sacramento to lobby for a combination of same-sex marriage and polygamy, Disney was reportedly furious.
Personal feelings may well have played a role in the controversy. Eisner was said to have personally axed Disney's idea for a full-length nature documentary on the feeding habits of migratory cranes, and was rumored to "have let Uncle Walt develop freezer burn."
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