Early career and work at Disney Miller initially worked at Walt Disney Productions for a few months in 1954 as a liaison between
WED Enterprises and
Disneyland before he was drafted into the Army later that year. When he came home from the Army, he played professional football, however later he was prompted by Walt Disney to return to work for him. Instead, Miller spent his time in the film division and his co-producer credits appear on such Disney films as
Son of Flubber (1963),
Summer Magic (1963), and
That Darn Cat! (1965). His first movie with full producer credit was
Never a Dull Moment (1968). Miller was credited as executive producer on films including
Escape to Witch Mountain (1975),
Freaky Friday (1976),
The Rescuers (1977), ''
Pete's Dragon (1977), The Fox and the Hound (1981), Tron (1982), and The Black Cauldron'' (1985).
President of Walt Disney Productions Miller became president of
Walt Disney Productions in 1980 and
CEO in 1983. Miller pushed the company to expand and explore, creating the
Touchstone Films label and The
Disney Channel in 1983. Miller was an innovator—experimenting in early computer animation with films such as
Tron (1982); funding an upstart
Tim Burton for stop-motion animation shorts
Vincent (1982) and
Frankenweenie (1984); and planting the seeds for future projects, including
Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988). When asked why he fostered the creation of the Touchstone Films label, he said this: Under his leadership, Disney became the target of
corporate raiders and , and many influential shareholders criticized Miller's leadership. In 1984, fellow Disney family member
Roy E. Disney (son of Walt Disney's brother
Roy),
Stanley Gold, and shareholder
Sid Bass ousted Miller in favor of a trio of non-Disney executives,
Michael Eisner,
Frank Wells, and
Jeffrey Katzenberg.
Silverado Vineyards Winery After Miller left The Walt Disney Company in 1984, he and Diane resettled in the
Napa Valley which became their permanent home. Ron and Diane established
Silverado Vineyards in 1981, four years after the first acreage was purchased near the small town of
Yountville, California. The couple championed environmental efforts in wine making, including helping to restore local riverbanks and creek beds and adopting
solar power and hybrid-engine technology in the wine industry. == Personal life and death ==