Between Books - After Disney: Toil, Trouble, and the Transformation of America’s Favorite Media Company

There are a handful of great books that detail the fall of Ron Miller as the CEO of the Walt Disney Company and his replacement by Michael Eisner. These chronicles often include the role of Roy E. Disney in Miller’s removal and his chosen successor. These books often put Eisner front and center. What has really been missing is a book that outlines Miller’s career, the obstacles he sought to overcome, and the state of the Company during his time as CEO. Would it be cliche to say, until now?

After Disney: Toil, Trouble, and the Transformation of America’s Favorite Media Company by Neil O’Brien provides a study of Disney's corporate history through the Miller era. The text focuses heavily on animation and meets one of O’Brien’s stated goals of developing an oral history of Disney animation during this period. O’Brien walks us through the origins of Miller and Roy E. Disney, who were never close despite externally being seen as the faces of the company after the deaths of Walt and Roy O. Roy E. Disney early on leaves the stage as he sought to create new opportunities for himself creatively and in investments. Miller was faced with the challenge of leading a company in transition as the older animators that Disney films were based on aged but saw no one in-house to fill their creative leadership. The company then fostered the creation of a new Character Animation department at CalArts to mentor a new future Disney animation cadre, with members of that first class including legends like Brad Bird, Jerry Rees, and John Musker. The text gives us a case study, as we watch the old guard and new artists interacting in the development of animated features, especially the stalled The Black Cauldron. The book also discusses how Miller led the company and his attempt to evolve the studio, especially around live-action films with the creation of Touchstone Pictures which would allow more hard-hitting storytelling. Finally, the book discusses Roy E. Disney’s move to resign from the Board and leverage his shares to install Eisner and Frank Wells into Disney leadership. The book ends with the author noting the changes that went into effect during the Miller period, especially the training of new animators, which pushed forward an animation renaissance both internally and externally.

I have one minor gripe, the cover gives us the impression that this is a story of MIller vs Roy E. fighting for the soul of Disney. It’s really not, as Disney removed himself for much of this period as an employee. The real focus in this book is on culture and day-to-day under Miller. A more fitting cover to communicate what will occur in the book might have been Gurgi from The Black Cauldron as much of the tension around staffing, leadership, and storytelling are told through the lens of developing this movie It was the “Author’s Note” at the end that even more clarifies this, as O’Brien notes his desire to write an oral history of animation and his interest in the Lloyd Alexander stories. I will raise my hand and admit that I am of an age and fandom to have also been pulled into those books. I also find myself wanting to know more about why the film I wanted to see so badly didn’t work. So the recurring film and its development helped keep me engaged in Miller’s struggle in running a company and legacy left to him by his beloved father-in-law. But the story is not a duel between two businessmen, that I felt the cover provided me.

The discussion about The Black Cauldron is so strong, that I didn’t even mention the rise of Don Bluth’s star at the studio. This just shows that for readers there is not just one engaging story in this volume, but levels of complexity.

This really is a well-written and sourced book. I will argue that it’s also very well-balanced. While I did find a lot to admire about Miller as I read the book, I also felt like O’Brien didn’t attempt to romanticize him. And I personally think Miller, Eisener, and Roy E. are all figures that should be respected as Disney Legends as while they may not have always worked well together, they did all three leave important contributions to the company. They were people, and this is what O’Brien gives us, interesting people ranging from corporate leaders, to directors like Joe Hale, to even struggling animators like Glen Keane who lived through these interesting times of change. This is the type of story that reminds us that change happens, people are part of it, and we are people. 

 
After Disney: Toil, Trouble, and the Transformation of America’s Favorite Media Company by Neil O’Brien is one of my favorite Disney history books of 2025. O’Brien gives us a story about real people, with real feelings as they transition through changes in corporate culture and American storytelling. The use of The Black Cauldron as a story focus, really helped me stay engaged as it’s a movie release that confused me in its failure as someone who loved the Alexander stories as a child. And it allows the author through it’s long development to talk about the changing Disney corporate landscape. And I think best of all, it gives readers a well-balanced picture of Ron Miller who is often a quick note in Disney's corporate leadership history, hidden by the shadow of Walt Disney, Bob Iger, and Eisner. 

 

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Between Books - Walt's People Volume 6

At a certain point you cannot ignore the impact that the Walt’s People series has in capturing and distributing Disney history in an accessible and portable form.  In the end, I can only continue to compliment editor Didier Ghez’s work and inspiration to countless amateur and professional Disney historians.

Walt’s People Volume 6: Talking Disney with the Artists Who Knew Him captures interviews with over 20 Disney artists and figures of interest.  The interviews range from a few pages to long form interviews of 25 plus pages.  The two categories, that I self-created, that really stood out to me in this volume are animation and the Disney family.  For animation, interviews and segments range from the golden age with Michael Barrier interviewing Carl Stalling about early Disney shorts and his musical contributions, Wilfred Jackson and other animators discussing features like Pinnochio, and the 1980s and story development with Steve Hulett.  The Disney family is very well represented with interviews including Lillian Disney, Roy O. Disney, Edna Disney, Sharon Disney, Diane Disney Miller and Ron Miller.  The volume literally includes thoughts from those closest to Walt Disney and saw him at home as a father and husband not just an entertainment giant.  Along with the interviews there are articles and profiles that are reprinted from earlier out of print animation magazines. 

I really enjoyed Walt’s People Volume 6: Talking Disney with the Artists Who Knew Him.  It may have been one of my favorite volumes as it contained a mix of new animation personalities to me while also offering voices, like Roy O. Disney, that I really wanted to hear from.  I found at times I was frustrated because I had to put the volume down or that the interview was over.  I found myself shopping for another volume even before I finished this collection.  And yet again, I can only strongly recommend these books to Disney history fans.  

Between Books - Storming the Magic Kingdom

Storming the Magic Kingdom: Wall Street, the Raiders, and the Battle for Disney by John Taylor outlines a time when Disney’s fortunes did not look as bright as they do today. The long-term future of Walt Disney Productions in 1984 was in fact very much in doubt with questions of leadership and even if the company could be held together. And at the center of it all was the struggle between the heirs of Walt and Roy O. Disney and the future of their creation.

The majority of the action takes place in the board and conference rooms of 1984. With an undervalued stock and questions of leadership, corporate raider Saul Steinberg saw an opportunity in Disney stock. Steinberg potentially could have considered purchasing the company and liquidating the component parts for a massive profit. In an effort to defend the Disney legacy the company leadership explored a number of options including increasing the amount of stock available, a stock purchase of the land development company Arvida and the eventual paying of Greenmail (purchasing stock at above the market price) to Steinberg to eliminate his desires to purchase Disney. With the threat of a takeover eliminated however the company became embroiled in a leadership tug of war between the supportors of Walt’s corporate heir and son-in –law Ron Miller and Roy’s heir Roy E. Disney. In the end, the Roy side of the family would win out with the removal of Miller as Disney’s CEO and the hiring of Michael Eisner as CEO and Frank Wells as President.

This is a really enjoyable book. Now, it’s a book filled with behind the scenes details about stock purchases, proxy votes and board meetings. But Taylor does a good job in making those of us who do not discuss corporate finance on a daily basis educated to the realities of this world. And despite the fact that Storming the Magic Kingdom is an institutional history, Taylor helps bring the personalities of those in his pages alive. I could not help but feel saddened as Ron Miller faced the harsh reality that a company that he had spent his entire adult life at, that was his family’s legacy, no longer wished him to lead them into the future. Any Disney fan, regardless of business background, can pick up this volume, understand it, and might even find themselves learning better how the stock market works!

Really a big lesson for me in this book is that business is about people and personalities. I think that Roy E. Disney, who I do admire, is a good example of this fact. Throughout his Disney career he was marginalized by others. Some spoke of him as the idiot nephew. And I believe some may have forgotten that his father was a co-found of Disney. The fact that Roy E. Disney had a long history of being around and working in entertainment did make him comfortable with forming his own ideas for the company. These ideas were largely ignored! The fact that he was soft-spoken also led some to think that he was unintelligent. Instead he, and I, believed himself to be an intelligent man and a guardian of the Disney tradition. And Roy E. Disney believed change was part of his Uncle’s legacy. What one wonders is what could have happened if Roy E. Disney’s voice had been heard instead of mocked in the 1970s. Additionally, his cousin by marriage was seen by some as the handsome and entitled heir. Instead, in these pages he comes off as a man who has not been fully prepared for the role he has, but also another man who saw innovation as part of the Disney tradition and was concerned with expanding the business of his late father-in-law’s creation. Again, one can play what if’s if the Walt and Ron sides of the family could have come together. Disney history shows that the company runs best with two leaders with clear roles (Walt and Roy, Michael and Frank), could Ron and Roy E have led the company into a new renaissance together instead of waiting for the Eisner Era? Instead we now study a bad situation where all sides honestly must take a share of the blame.

Another proof of personality winning out or at least equaling is Roy E. Disney’s lawyer Stanley Gold and Arvida owner Sid Bass. With the purchase of Arvida, Bass became a substantial Disney stockholder. The fact that the two men found common interests allowed the two to build a friendship. That friendship would be a key to the alliance lead by Roy E. Disney to remove Miller and put their chosen management team into place.

Storming the Magic Kingdom is a fascinating story of the evolution of the Walt Disney Company. At the beginning of the tale the company was firmly in the hands of the intellectual heirs of Walt Disney. After attempts to raid the company and then placing through stockholder pressure a new leadership team was put into place with outsiders Eisner and Wells. That change led to a new peak of Disney entertainment and financial gains. But most of all Storming the Kingdom is a story about how business is really about people.