Close on the heels of Roy Disney’s resignation from the Walt Disney Co., Stanley P. Gold today, Dec. 1, 2003, sent the following letter of resignation to the Walt Disney board of directors. Gold, 60, worked with Roy Disney in 1984 to save the company from a takeover attempt and install Eisner as chairman. Gold heads Shamrock Holdings, which manages Roy Disney's investments.

The text of Gold’s letter follows:

December 1, 2003

To the Board of Directors of the Walt Disney Company:

Andy Bird leaves Warner’s TBS International to join Walt Disney as the new president of Walt Disney International effective January 12, 2004. The U.K. native will be based in Burbank, California.

“From a strategic perspective, one of Disney’s most significant long-term growth opportunities resides in markets outside of the United States, and it is crucial that the company continue to have a well-coordinated approach to business development around the world,” said Michael Eisner, Disney chairman/ceo.

Jonathan Brandis, who landed numerous roles as a child actor in television, commercials and film, including THE NEVERENDING STORY 2: THE NEXT CHAPTER, SEAQUEST DSV and was the voice of Mozenrath on DISNEY’S ALADDIN TV series (1993), took his own life at the age of 27 and died Nov. 12, 2003 at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles.

Veteran motion picture and television animator Everett Burrell has joined Café FX as animation supervisor. Burrell comes to Café Fx from Cantina Pictures Inc. He brings 18 years experience managing teams of 3D animators, 3D digitizers, texture artists, compositors, technical directors and freelance artists, and working collaboratively with directors, producers, art directors and software engineers in defining the creative and technical direction of projects.

Marketing veteran Dennis Rice has been named svp, publicity for Buena Vista Pictures marketing and Heidi Trotta has been elevated to the position of svp, communications for The Walt Disney Studios.

Brian Henson, who led the Henson family’s recent acquisition of Jim Henson Co. from EM.TV & Merchandising AG, and his sister Lisa Henson, two of the late Jim Henson’s five children, have been named co-chairs and co-ceos of the company. Peter Schube, formerly evp of business and legal affairs, has been named president/coo. In their new roles, Brian and Lisa Henson and Schube have assumed responsibilities previously held by Charles H.

Penny Singleton, the voice of Jane Jetson and the actress who brought the popular comic strip character Blondie to life in films, died Nov. 12, 2003 at Sherman Oaks Hospital, two weeks after suffering a stroke, at the age of 95.

Singleton was best known on camera for her role as the wife to bumbling husband, Dagwood Bumstead (played by Arthur Lake) in THE BLONDIE series, which had 28 films from 1938 to 1950. The films were based on the cartoon strip, created by Chic Young in 1930, about the misadventures of a small town family.

In an effort to develop the international side of its business, Marvel Enterprises announced the creation of Marvel International and has appointed Bruno Maglione as president. He will be based in London and report to Allen Lipson, Marvel's ceo for all activities other than consumer products where Maglione will report to Tim Rothwell, Marvel's president of worldwide consumer products.

Buena Vista International Television (BVITV) has promoted Haydn Arndt, based in BVITV’s London office, to director, sales, U.K. & Ireland, and Rory Buckley, also in London, has been promoted to senior sales executive, Central & Eastern Europe.

Visual effects vet Hael Kobayashi has joined Animal Logic, the Sydney-based visual effects house as digital artists manager to oversee recruiting, training and career development of the studio’s expanding ranks of digital artists.

Anne Loi has been promoted from vp to svp of finance and operations for DECODE Entertainment, based in Toronto, reporting to DECODE partner Steven DeNure.

Loi’s role has evolved to include a number of other responsibilities, including operations, human resources, office management, IT and business affairs. Her duties also include development of long term forecasts, assisting in acquiring financing for various productions and exploring growth opportunities.

Award-winning animator Patricia Beckmann has been named chair of the animation department in the School of Film and Digital Media at the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD).

She is overseeing the department’s new major in animation, which launched in fall 2003 along with majors in broadcast design, interactive design and game development and visual as well as an undergraduate degree program in sound design.

Sesame Workshop has promoted Valerie Mitchell-Johnston from sr. counsel to vp of legal and business affairs, responsible for advising, counseling and closing contracts for the Workshop in all content development and production activities. Mitchell-Johnston oversees issues for the domestic production of SESAME STREET and international co-productions such as OUT THERE and TAKALANI SESAME in South Africa.

Silvia Orellana is the new production manager of Tridente Animation (part of Tridente&Monigotes), in charge of its business development, worldwide branding positioning, new marketing strategies implementation and closing new deals as well as looking after the needs of its clients. Madrid-based Tridente&Monigotes offers animation services and is moving into original content production and co-productions.

Visual effects producer Leighton Greer has joined the staff of Entity FX in Santa Monica, California. Previously she was visual effects producer at A52 where she produced spots for Nike, BMW, Nissan, Toyota, Cadillac, Volvo and Sony PlayStation. Prior to A52, Greer worked at Rhythm & Hues, Pinnacle Studios and Pacific Ocean Post.

Greer recently produced the award-winning Nike MOVE, directed by Jake Scott of RSA and Sony PlayStation’s SIGNS, directed by Dante Ariola of MJZ.

Roland Poindexter has been named to the new position of svp of action-adventure properties for Warner Bros. Animation, responsible for developing this programming for broadcast, cable and made-for-video outlets. Poindexter will also be responsible for supervising creative direction of selected current series in all genres and developing animated specials for kids, as well as adults.

3 Ring Circus, a full-service creative branding firm based in Los Angeles, has a new creative team on board, which has just finished a string of projects. Maziar Majd leads the team as creative director.

Kevin O’Donnell joins DIC Entertainment in the newly created position of svp of creative affairs at DIC Entertainment. O’Donnell, co-founder of Poet’s Road, a high-end development and multimedia production outfit, has moved his company to DIC headquarters in Burbank, California, and has been charged with overseeing concept and script development for all television programming. He will develop original properties for the U.S.

Gearing up for more DVD/video premieres and theatrical releases, DisneyToon Studios has promoted Ellen Gurney to svp, creative affairs; Karen Malach to the newly created position of 3D development producer; Jennifer Blohm to director, digital production; and Sheila Kelly to manager, production.

Maureen Taxter moves up to svp, retail and new business development, and Steve Youngwood becomes svp, media products.