Disney Loyalists Fear New Owner

Whatever Comcast Corp.’s bid to buy Walt Disney Co. might mean for shareholders, one group is decidedly grumpy about the prospect of having a new name on the corporate headquarters: Disneyphiles.

This community of hard-core Disney fans is distraught, in particular, at the notion that the Magic Kingdom could fall into the hands of a new owner that may fail to preserve its rich heritage and culture.

“I’m just so afraid they’re going to change,” said Jay Aldrich, 60, of North Hills, who is president of the National Fantasy Fan Club for Disneyana Enthusiasts -- the world’s largest Disney collectors group. “The Disney name represents so much.”

Indeed, perhaps no other company in the world has such a dedicated following, made up of countless thousands who relish their childhood memories of Disneyland, Mickey Mouse and Snow White -- and squawk at any tinkering to Walt Disney’s original vision.

That’s why many Disney devotees, especially the more rabid among them, reacted to last week’s Comcast news as if they had just heard about a loved one who had taken ill and might soon die.

A cable TV company like Comcast “shouldn’t be in charge of Mickey Mouse,” said Arlen Miller, president of an Orlando, Fla., chapter of a national Disney fan club. “Disney needs to stay within the family.”

Added George Reiger, a part-time postal worker from Bethlehem, Pa., who calls himself “the world’s No. 1 Disney fan” and has the Disney-themed tattoos across his body to prove it -- 1,579 of them in all: “There’s hundreds and thousands of us who love Disney and want to keep it the way it was and the way it is. Walt would be turning over in his grave if he knew somebody would be coming in and taking over his dream.”

After launching their unsolicited $49-billion takeover bid, Comcast executives went out of their way to stress that they would preserve Walt Disney’s legacy. Among other things, Comcast Chief Executive Brian L. Roberts and top lieutenant Stephen B. Burke -- himself a former Disney man -- have vowed to revitalize Disney’s sluggish theme-parks business.

Yet many still fear that Comcast would dismantle the empire that Walt and his brother, Roy O., started in 1923, perhaps even selling off Disneyland and Walt Disney World to raise cash.

As a result, the Disney faithful have lighted up Internet chat rooms with doomsday talk.

“The very thought of Comcast owning Disney gave me the shudders,” said one.

“Somehow all of this does not sit well with me,” said another. “I’m actually kind of scared.”

Chimed in a third: “Disney as we know it, is no more.”

The reaction is reminiscent of 20 years ago, when corporate raiders Saul Steinberg and Irwin Jacobs were circling Disney and threatening to break up the company.

Academics who make a living studying Disney say the fear and loathing underscore just how zealous Disney’s fan base is. Other companies have produced franchises with their share of aficionados, including Lucasfilm Ltd. with “Star Wars” and Paramount Pictures with “Star Trek.”

But none, arguably, has a following that runs as deep as Disney.

“Disney holds a special and unique place among brands because of its associations with happy childhood memories, innocence and family,” said Janet Wasko, a professor of communications studies at the University of Oregon and the author of two books on Disney.

To be sure, not all Disney fans are happy with the Burbank-based company’s current chairman, Michael Eisner, who has run the show for 20 years. Roy E. Disney, Walt’s nephew who is spearheading a campaign to oust Eisner, has made a point of noting that many Disneyphiles are not happy with the decisions the company has made in recent years, including cutbacks at its storied animation unit.

But for all that, most are even more suspicious of Philadelphia-based Comcast.

“The idea that it might not be Disneyland, but Comcastland -- that terrifies people,” said David Koenig, who has written three books on Disney. “They’re taking this personally.”

In fact, at Disneyland on Saturday, visitors were abuzz about what a Comcast takeover might mean.

“It just seems that when you have these large companies come in

How to nurture a special relationship with Disney fans will be one of the toughest challenges facing Comcast or any other outsider that may come in and acquire the company. It’s no small matter.

After all, the Disney faithful spend millions of dollars each year not only on movie tickets and DVDs but also on merchandise, collectibles and family vacations in Anaheim and Orlando.

The way a lot of people see things, it’s “church, state and Disney,” said Fess Parker, who starred as the coonskin-cap-wearing Davy Crockett in the popular Disney TV show of the 1950s. “It’s right up there.”

Disney has a long history of cultivating ties with its fans, creating the Mickey Mouse Clubs in 1930 to generate support and buzz for its animated films. Today, there are Mickey Mouse Clubs around the world.

Fans also have organized their own fraternities such as Aldrich’s National Fantasy Fan Club, which started in 1984 and now claims more than 5,000 members worldwide. Several magazines, from the “E” Ticket in the U.S. to Der Donaldist in Germany, are targeted at Disney enthusiasts.

To cash in on the big market for Disney collectibles, the company also has established a joint venture with EBay Inc., the Internet auction site.

Despite all the hand-wringing among Disney’s biggest fans, some are confident that regardless of what happens with Comcast, Walt’s empire isn’t about to just crumble away.

“The thing that I was always involved with at Disney was creating characters that came to life,” said Ollie Johnston, one of the two surviving “Nine Old Men,” the master animators at Disney during the 1950s. No matter who owns Disney, “all of those characters will live on.”

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Times staff writer Jack Leonard contributed to this report.