Every few years, a battle brews for the soul of the company, and after years of stagnation or bad direction, the leadership of the company changes. 

James M. Stewart's excellent book "DisneyWar" chronicles two of those leadership shake-ups: the one that brought in Michael Eisner as CEO after over a decade of creative ennui and the coup that ousted Eisner and ushered in the Bob Iger era.

In the leadership changes that bookend "DisneyWar," Disney hurt itself with bad creative decisions. Before Eisner, the company's film offerings were uninspiring and bland, while at the end of Eisner's tenure, he made some boneheaded decisions like greenlighting Michael Moore's propaganda piece "Fahrenheit 9/11," passing on "Survivor," and programming hour after hour of "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" until viewers tired of Regis Philbin.

These days, Disney faces a different sort of crisis. So much of its content is more concerned with agenda than entertainment, the company made the regrettable decision to stick its nose in the state of Florida's business, and Disney's theme parks have become less enjoyable due to out-of-control prices and burdensome "planning tools." 

So is Disney due for another leadership shake-up? There may be a battle on the horizon, and one of the parties is bringing in a name from Disney's recent past. My friend and colleague Steve Green has written on a couple of recent occasions about the efforts of activist investor Nelson Peltz to gain some control over the Disney board.