Roy Disney at NFFC
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On Saturday at NFFC's 2004 Kick-Off convention in Garden Grove, Roy Disney hosted a seminar where he discussed memories of his father and his uncle, as well as discussed his current campaign to change the leadership of The Walt Disney Company. The main point of Roy's presentation was that information regarding the progress of his campaign could be found at the recently redesigned SaveDisney.com. He also focused on how individuals can register to show support for their efforts and to be kept up to date through subscribing to an email list.
When discussing his departure from Disney, he acknowledges that he did leave because they fired him, but he said he also left because he felt that the quality associated with Disney was slipping. Roy said that, "[Disney] stands for quality, it stands for families, it stands for getting your money's worth and it stands for a lot of innovation and a lot of new and creative ideas that make things fun every time you visit a park or go to a film." Roy feels that Disney is leaving the values that have made Disney so successful.
Roy quoted his daughter Abigail's assessment of the family's battle. She said, "We have the advantage of being right.� After quoting his daughter, the crowd applauded. Roy thanked the audience for their support saying, "I hoped that line would get applause.� Roy concluded his brief remarks by thanking the crowd for coming. He then turned to question and answers.
The first question asked Roy to share his fondest memories of his father and uncle. Roy brought up a film he worked on called "The Legend of El Blanco,� and was sure that no one in the room had seen it. He was surprised when several people applauded when he mentioned the film. Roy said, "I'm stunned!� Roy originally made the film a serious picture and Walt hated it and decided to turn it in to a spoof. Roy hired a Mexican quartet that performed a song called "Supercalifragilisticoexpealidocious." Roy said he got four loud laughs from Walt which was his fondest memory of his uncle because he felt like Sally Field saying, ‘He really liked me�.
Roy mentioned that he had many fond memories of his Dad, but that he was proudest of him at the opening of Walt Disney World. When Walt died in 1966 there were many vague plans of what to do with the recently purchased Florida project. Walt wanted to build E.P.C.O.T. as a city, but Roy did not see how that would make them any money so he argued to build the Magic Kingdom and a few hotels instead. Roy said that when Walt passed away Roy won the argument by default. Roy was set to retire when Walt passed away, but instead put his heart and soul in to Walt Disney World for the last five years of his life. Roy said, "never been prouder than anybody in my life. He stood up there issuing the official opening words. That was a great moment in all our lives.�
The next pair of questions asked Roy what he feels needs to change at The Walt Disney Company and what his number one concern for the future of Disney is. He replied that, "That's a hard question to answer without libel laws taking over�. Roy said he really has two concerns with the current leadership of Disney. The first was that they had to do everything they do better, and the second was that the leaders had to have a greater presence on the front lines. He brought up a story of when he owned a cattle ranch and the ranch manager used to say, "...There is no fertilizer like the owner's footprints�. He said that the people responsible are not present so they do not understand the hard-work that goes in to producing a film or operating a theme park.
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