The board is standing behind Mr Eisner

Calpers said it would be trying to kick the increasingly embattled Mr Eisner off Disney's board.

"We have lost complete confidence in Mr Eisner's strategic vision and leadership," said Calpers.

Disney is fighting off a takeover bid from cable TV giant Comcast, which its critics blame on bad management.

They say poor choices have weakened Disney, laying it open to the Comcast bid.

Campaigning Calpers

Calpers' influence on the vote could go far beyond its 9.9 million shares which put it 29th in the league table of Disney stock holders.

The pension fund has adopted a vocal, campaigning style, targeting signs of corporate greed and corruption by withdrawing its investments from scandal-hit mutual funds, urging regulators to crack down on practices that harmed small shareholders.

Roy Disney and ally Stanley Gold, who both resigned last year from the Disney company board, have called for Mr Eisner to resign.

Growing opposition

An influential investment advisor also urged shareholders to ditch Mr Eisner as Disney's boss in a report published on Wednesday.

Glass Lewis & Co, which votes on behalf of shareholders who want to avoid a trip to the annual meeting, said Disney's board "has been notoriously insular, famously gullible and blindly loyal to Mr Eisner.

It is the second proxy voting firm to advise against keeping Mr Eisner at the top of Disney.

Mr Eisner's critics say he does not understand the cartoon business, and has overspent on buying theme-parks, an area where the company is currently faring especially badly.

AC Moore, chief investment strategist at Dunvegan Associates in Santa Barbara, told the BBC's World Business Report that it was an uphill struggle for Disney's management at this time.

His autocratic management style has angered many, in particular traditionalists who remember the company's roots as a family business.

However, he retains the backing of Disney's board.