Powerful former Disney executive Roy E. Disney, nephew of company founder Walt Disney, has died at the age of 79. (Fred Prouser/Reuters)

Roy E. Disney, a longtime senior executive of the company founded by his uncle Walt and father Roy, has died at the age of 79.

The Walt Disney Co. announced that Disney died Wednesday in Newport Beach, Calif., after a year-long battle with stomach cancer.

"He was a great man who believed deeply in the art of animation. He put his heart and soul into preserving Disney's legendary past, while helping to move the art of animation into the modern age by embracing new technology," John Lasseter, chief creative officer for Walt Disney and Pixar Animation Studios, said in a statement.

Lasseter, who said he first met Disney while a student at CalArts, the school his famed uncle and father founded, praised him as "a visionary and passionate supporter of the art form."

Disney is best known for his time as an executive for the global entertainment giant and as a powerful shareholder who twice led successful campaigns to oust company heads who he believed were leading the company in the wrong direction.

Los Angeles-born Disney was also a champion of the company's classic animation and helped spark a successful revival of the drawn style in the 1980s and 1990s by supporting the animation teams behind hits such as The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin and The Lion King.

"The thing that distinguishes [Disney] from everybody else, and always has and always will, is our past," the man dubbed by insiders as the "soul" of the company once said.

"The goal is to look over our shoulder and see Snow White and Pinocchio and Dumbo standing there, saying, 'Be this good.' We shouldn't be intimidated by them; they're an arrow pointing someplace."

Raised on animated classics

Disney got an early education in animation, growing up at the knee of his uncle Walt and his creative team while they were creating their now-iconic retellings of stories like Snow White and Pinocchio. He also received a sound grounding in finance from his father Roy Sr., who oversaw Disney Co.'s business end.

After graduating from Pomona College in 1951, the younger Disney followed his uncle and father into the entertainment industry, working as an editor, screenwriter and producer on a host of projects, from TV's Dragnet and Zorro to the Oscar-nominated film Mysteries of the Deep.

He would also later produce 2004's acclaimed Destino, using mid-century animation Salvador Dali created for Walt Disney Co., and Fantasia 2000, a sequel to his uncle's 1940 classic.

'He was a great man who believed deeply in the art of animation. He put his heart and soul into preserving Disney's legendary past, while helping to move the art of animation into the modern age by embracing new technology.'—John Lasseter

Disney joined the company's board of directors in 1967. In 1984, however, his dissatisfication with how the company was being run by his cousin-in-law Ron Miller (married to Walt's daughter Diane Disney Miller) propelled him to resign from the board and lead a shareholder revolt in pursuit of new management.

He also successfully led a more recent campaign to oust Michael Eisner — originally brought in as part of the team replacing Miller.

"The Walt Disney Company deserves fresh, energetic leadership at this challenging time in its history just as it did in 1984 when I headed a restructuring which resulted in your recruitment to the company," Disney wrote to Eisner, who was eventually stripped of his role as board chair and announced his retirement in 2005.

Disney, who also founded the private equity firm Shamrock Holdings, is survived by his wife, Leslie, four children from a previous marriage —Tim Disney, Roy Patrick Disney, Abigail Disney and Susan Disney Lord — and 16 grandchildren.

Following private funeral services and cremation, the avid yacht-racer's ashes will be scattered at sea. Plans for a memorial will also be announced shortly, according to Walt Disney Co.

With files from The Associated Press