For Them, the War at Disney Isn't Over

But behind the scenes, former Disney directors Stanley P. Gold and Roy E. Disney have been canvassing their allies, seeking consensus on whether their work is complete. Their answer came Tuesday: Yes, with reservations.

"I'm heartened, but we're not done," Roy Disney, nephew of the company's co-founder, said in an interview at his Burbank office. He and Gold made clear that they were reluctant to declare victory too soon. They said they still could make good on their threat to propose an alternative slate of directors if it appeared the board was retreating from its promise to conduct a far-reaching search for Eisner's replacement.

Describing himself as cautious, Roy Disney quoted a line from Greek mythology: "There's many a slip 'twixt the cup and the lip."

Still, Gold and Disney offered kind words to a board they've vilified for the better part of a year.

In a statement, they praised directors for deciding to conduct an independent search and to name Eisner's replacement by June, a display of "precisely the kind of leadership and independence" needed. Gold and Disney had pushed the board hard on both those issues, as well as in obtaining assurances that Eisner would not be named chairman after his contract expired in September 2006.

The board did not, however, set a definitive timetable for Eisner's exit, as Gold and Disney had wanted. Instead, the directors said he would step down when his replacement was installed. The pair acknowledged in their statement that the board "left some questions unanswered."

Among Gold and Disney's biggest remaining concerns is the possibility that the board might end up backing Eisner's preferred choice, Disney President Robert Iger, when the search is completed. The directors recently praised him as an "outstanding executive" and the "one internal candidate."

The dissident former directors have often stated that the selection of Iger would be unacceptable to shareholders, given his close ties to an Eisner management team that they accuse of tarnishing the company's finances and image.

"What we've said about Bob Iger stands," Gold said Tuesday. "We think there are stronger candidates out there."