It was a whirlwind of activity. You have seen the posts: the Pixar & Walt Disney Animation panel, the Live Action Movie panel, the Disney Parks and Resorts Info, and my first of two DuckTales posts. Each panel put us all through a myriad of emotions, and I was mostly filled with tears of joy listening to the Disney news, things that I was thrilled to learn before the public! And the videos we saw, many of which are still not available to the general viewing public!
And it all started with the first panel, the Disney Legends Awards Ceremony.
Oprah Winfrey, Carrie Fisher, Mark Hamill, Stan Lee, Julie Taymor, and other remarkable contributors to the Disney legacy were honored as official Disney Legends during D23 Expo 2017. Hosted by Disney Chairman and CEO Bob Iger, the Disney Legends Award ceremony included special musical performances. This year marks the 30th anniversary of the Disney Legends Awards. The first Disney Legend was Fred MacMurray (The Shaggy Dog, The Absent-Minded Professor, The Happiest Millionaire), who was honored in 1987.
I was thrilled to just be in the same room with these folks! Here is my split screen of what we saw, you can see Stan Lee and Oprah Winfrey on the stage itself on the bottom right of my picture:
I didn’t know what to expect, but I can tell you that the tributes to each of these new Legends brought many of us to tears. Especially when Mark Hamill spoke of his “sister” Carrie Fisher and we saw some footage from her last movie, Star Wars: The Last Jedi, releasing at the end of the year. It was also poignant as Stan Lee paid homage to his writing partner, Jack Kirby (also a winner, posthumously), after he himself had just lost his wife of 69 years, the week previous. No Marvel movie is complete without a cameo from this man, and he very humbly accepted his award.
And then the surprise Legend, Whoopi Goldberg! Whoopi loves a good pair of shoes, and took hers off to show us how big a fan of Disney she is:
And then we had a little fun on the Expo floor, I am playing the role of the Hulk in the Thor: Ragnorak commercial that you might have seen!
We also had the privilege of walking through the Walt Disney Archives exhibit, “A Prates Life For Me.” We learned about the very first mention of pirates in the Walt Disney world, and we saw memorabilia, some of which had not been available for public viewing in decades. We were led through the archives by Rebecca Cline, who has been a Disney archivist for over two decades. She said that she had been working on this exhibit for well over a year!
We saw original art and Disney history all throughout, and it was explained that Walt Disney had interest in Pirate stories for the very beginning:
Which all led to the Pirates of the Caribbean ride, which then led to the huge movie franchise of the same name!
The world of Pirates continues in the world of Disney, don’t forget these swarthy pirates that we met last year:
They me be small in stature, but the Kakamora are tough pirates nonetheless!
Then I jumped at the chance to participate in the actual end scene from the Pirates of the Caribbean ride!
We also visited the Disney Music Emporium which was a pop up store on the Expo floor that was full of collectible Disney music related products! It was amazing just to walk through and see all that they had.
While we were there we were also given our own copy of the Walt Disney Records The Legacy Collection Robin Hood! This two disc set was just released while we were at the Expo! The set includes previously unreleased demos and bonus tracks performed by Louis Prima, plus much more!
Our final “panel” was an Alan Menken concert. In case you do not know, Mr. Menken has written many, many Disney songs, for example, “Be Our Guest, ” and “Under The Sea, two of my favorites!
What I didn’t know was that it all started with a little musical from years ago, “The Little Shop of Horrors.” My son went through a phase where we watched that DVD at home multiple times, and sang those songs on car trips for a solid year. I couldn’t wait to tell him that the same man who did the songs for the Little Mermaid, also wrote the songs for his favorite play. I also enjoyed telling my son that Mr. Menken’s dad and many relatives were dentists! If you have seen the show, then you will know the significance of that info!
This concert was more of an autobiography where Mr. Menken shared facts about his entire life, interspersed with his piano playing and singing. One of his last stories took me by surprise, he had also written some music for Sausage Party, and his youngest daughter was a voice in that movie! I guess Disney is not his only employer!
He ended with some information on movies yet to come. He will be working with Director Guy Ritchie and writing/updating music for the new live action “Aladdin.” And, he will be writing/updating music with Lin-Manuel Miranda for the live action “The Little Mermaid.” I can’t wait!
And this was not my first Alan Menken concert, I was honored to have attended the 25th Anniversary celebration of the original animated Beauty and the Beast, here is my homemade video of Mr. Menken singing a medley of Disney songs:
Lastly, we interviewed Michael Vargo, Vice President, D23: The Official Disney Fan Club and the Walt Disney Archives. He talked all about the growth of this amazing Expo and how far it has come from its start in 2009. We learned that this was the first year of parades through the Expo floor, that capacity had continued to increase, and that attendees came from all 50 states and 33 countries! Our last question was, when does planning start for the next D23. The answer was, Monday! There is no break when you are trying to keep Disney fans happy!
D23 is the official Disney fan club and has three levels of membership, and the first level is free. Click on the picture below to join today!
This was a whirlwind trip where we were privileged to see never before seen trailers, hear moving speeches, and see things no Disney fans had ever witnessed, like a stage full of the voice actresses who portray Disney Princesses!
Disclosure: Disney invited me on this press trip and paid all of my expenses. No other compensation was received. All opinions are always 100% my own and honest. The Alan Menken picture is courtesy of the D23 Press.
Sounds you had a goodtime .Since my grandson loves Donald Duck anything new concerning him makes me happy.
Wow! What a great time! This sounds like an amazing adventure and lots of great info! Thanks for sharing your experience!
I am so excited about everything happening in the world of Disney! That Alan Menken video had me in tears.I love all of those songs! Thank you so much for sharing that!
My favorite on the panel list would be Julie Taymor. She’s probably the least known. I’d watched a few interviews with her. She is so inspiring! I loved The Lion King on Broadway, Across the Universe, and Frida – all of which she had a roll in directing.