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Credit: DisneyThere are figures in American media history whose influence extends so far beyond their most visible achievements that any single headline about their lives and legacy necessarily leaves most of the story untold. Ted Turner was one of those figures. The man who transformed a struggling family billboard business into one of the most powerful media empires in the history of American broadcasting, who created CNN and fundamentally changed how news reaches people, who brought Turner Classic Movies into existence and gave film preservation and classic cinema a platform that changed how generations of viewers related to the history of Hollywood, died on Wednesday, May 6, at his home near Tallahassee, Florida. He was 87 years old.
Turner had been living with Lewy body dementia, a progressive brain disorder he disclosed publicly in 2018, and he passed away peacefully surrounded by family. For most of the world, the news of his death will be processed through the lens of his media empire, his ownership of the Atlanta Braves, his philanthropic commitments, or his complicated and outsized personality that made him one of the most recognizable figures of the late twentieth century. But for a specific and devoted community of Disney Parks fans, Ted Turner’s name carries a particular and personal meaning, rooted in a partnership between Turner Classic Movies and Walt Disney World that briefly and memorably changed the experience of one of Hollywood Studios’ most beloved attractions.
The Connection to The Great Movie Ride
In May 2015, with relatively little advance notice, The Great Movie Ride at Disney’s Hollywood Studios debuted a significant new iteration of itself under the name The Great Movie Ride Presented by TCM. Turner Classic Movies had entered into a partnership with Disney, bringing the network’s branding and identity into an attraction celebrating the history of Hollywood filmmaking that had been part of Hollywood Studios since it opened in 1989. The changes that came with the TCM sponsorship were not superficial. New TCM branding was integrated into the attraction’s marquee and facade, digital movie posters replaced the previous displays, and a special handprint photo opportunity was added for guests.
Most significantly, a completely new pre-show and Finale Montage video was created, hosted by the beloved TCM host Robert Osborne, whose warmth, encyclopedic knowledge, and genuine love for classic cinema made him one of the most respected voices in film history. The partnership ran from 2015 through 2017, representing, the attraction’s team said, some of the biggest changes to The Great Movie Ride in its 26 years of operation at that point.
For guests who experienced The Great Movie Ride during the TCM partnership years, the Osborne-hosted content gave the attraction an added layer of credibility and emotional resonance that connected the Disney Parks experience to the broader cultural mission that Turner Classic Movies had been carrying since its launch, which was to ensure that great films from every era of cinema history remained accessible, celebrated, and understood in their proper context. The Great Movie Ride closed permanently in 2017 to make way for Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway, but the version of the attraction that existed during the TCM partnership remains a specific and fondly remembered chapter in the history of both Hollywood Studios and Turner’s media legacy.
Who Ted Turner Was
Beyond the Disney Parks connection, Ted Turner was one of the defining figures in twentieth-century American media. He took over the family business in 1970 and renamed it Turner Communications Group, beginning an empire that would eventually reshape how Americans consumed news, sports, entertainment, and film. He launched TBS in 1976, making it one of the first cable superstations carried via satellite to homes across America. In 1980, he created CNN, the 24-hour cable news network that fundamentally transformed journalism and changed the global understanding of what news broadcasting could be. TNT followed in 1988, adding another major television property to a portfolio that eventually included Turner Classic Movies, launched in 1994, and became the definitive destination for classic film lovers.
Turner’s ownership of the Atlanta Braves, which he purchased in January 1976, was another defining chapter of his public life. He famously declared his intention to end what he called Atlanta’s Loserville reputation, and the Braves won the World Series in 1995 under his ownership. He also owned a majority stake in the Atlanta Hawks and was associated with the NHL’s Atlanta Thrashers before the team relocated. His purchase of Jim Crockett Promotions in 1988, which he renamed World Championship Wrestling, made him a major player in professional wrestling through the 1990s in direct competition with WWE.
Turner was also an accomplished yachtsman who defended the America’s Cup in 1977 as skipper of the yacht Courageous. Later in life, he devoted enormous energy to philanthropy, pledging $1 billion to benefit the United Nations in 1997 and committing to The Giving Pledge alongside other major philanthropists. He was also a committed conservationist who worked throughout his life to protect natural lands and wildlife.
Ted Turner, the billionaire media entrepreneur and philanthropist who launched the 24-hour cable TV news revolution when he founded CNN in 1980, has died. He was 87. https://t.co/CboJPpPBiC pic.twitter.com/DOKk9QM120
— CNN (@CNN) May 6, 2026
He is survived by his five children, 14 grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren. For the Disney community that remembers the TCM years at The Great Movie Ride, his passing closes a chapter that connected one of the most ambitious figures in American media history to a beloved corner of Walt Disney World that celebrated exactly the kind of film legacy Turner spent decades working to preserve and honor.
