Recap of Disney's celebrated D23 EXPO. Everything you need to know

August 11, 2024

Courtesy: Disney

The different worlds of Disney came together for a unique fan experience like no other at Disney's biennial D23 fan exposition event, The Official Disney Fan Club.

Established in 2009, D23 refers to D for Disney and 23 for 1923, the year Walt Disney founded the company. This year, the fan event was held from August 9 to 11, 2024, at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, California. The three-hour-long grand celebration of presentations hosted by the actors, executive producers, and studio executives of their respective marquee shows offered fans a plethora of news, sneak peeks, trailers, announcements, and more for the studio's upcoming features.

Courtesy: Disney

With over 15,000 fans in attendance at the Honda Center, Disney is undoubtedly coming off a massive win. Pixar's "Inside Out 2" has become the highest-grossing animation film ever, with almost 1.6 billion. Similarly, "Deadpool & Wolverine" had the biggest domestic opening for an R-rated movie, also bringing in more than 1 billion globally in only a few weeks of its release. The opening night on August 9 kicked off with several celebrity appearances and musical performances.

James Cameron, director of the upcoming Avatar, appeared with stars Zoe Saldana and Sam Worthington to reveal a sneak peek and key art from the film titled "Avatar: Fire and Ash."

Courtesy: Disney

Pete Docter, Pixar's chief creative officer, announced a new "Inside Out" series titled "Dream Productions," based on the main character Riley's dreams, that will premiere in 2025. Additional announcements for Pixar were a new sequel for The Incredibles, Zootopia 2, and Toy Story 5. Pixar will also release a new movie called Hoppers, featuring the voices of Jon Hamm, Bobby Moynihan, and Piper Curda in March of 2026. Fans also received a sneak peek at the live-action movie Lilo & Stitch premiering in 2025.

Jennifer Lee, Disney Animation's chief creative officer, announced several live stage performances, including the hit musical Frozen, which will arrive on Disney+ in 2025.

Courtesy: Disney

The film adaptation of Disney+, "The Mandalorian and Grogu," will debut in 2026. Jude Law, one of the actors in the film, spoke about "Star Wars: Skeleton Crew," announcing it will come to Disney+ on December 3. Fans were treated to trailers for "Captain America: Brave New World," "Fantastic Four," "Agatha All Along," and the live adaptation of "Snow White," with appearances by Rachel Zeigler, who plays Disney's princess, and Gal Gadot as the Queen.

Courtesy: Disney

Trailers for the upcoming Disney+ series, "Daredevil: Born Again" and "Ironheart," were shown. "Daredevil: Born Again" continues the Daredevil series, while "Ironheart" introduces a new superhero to the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

The mythological series "Percy Jackson" will receive a second season, "Percy Jackson and The Olympians."

Actors Jeff Bridges, Jared Leto, and Greta Lee promoted their upcoming film "Tron: Ares," a highly anticipated sequel to the Tron series. Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsey Lohan are reprising their roles in the upcoming sequel to their 2003 film "Freaky Friday," which brought a wave of nostalgia and excitement to the fans of the original movie.

The highly anticipated trailer for "Mufasa: The Lion King" rounded out the celebrated announcements. The upcoming prequel to the 2019 smash hit "The Lion King" and a remake of the 1994 animated classic tells the origin story of Mufasa and Scar from precarious cub to prideful king. The movie premieres on December 20.

Courtesy: Disney

__________________________

Don't miss all of Disney and Pixar's exciting releases starting in September when "Agatha All Along" premieres on September 18, 2024, on Disney+ with two episodes.