The sprawling Anaheim Convention Center was officially scheduled to open its doors for the inaugural D23 Expo at 8 a.m. on Thursday, September 10, but fans began lining up hours before that in the pre-dawn darkness. First in line was a group of five stout Disney fans — Van Loveland, of Winston-Salem, North Carolina, Josh Benesh, of Orlando, Florida, Jen Richmond, of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, Patti Jones of Lakeland, Florida and Pam Winters, of Chicago, Illinois. When asked when they first decided they were going to attend the D23 Expo, they responded, almost in unison: "On March 10, the day you announced D23!" Their excitement was shared by the hundreds of other fans already in line at that early-morning hour — and the thousands upon thousands that attended the event over the next four days who helped make it such a sterling success.
Each day featured an exciting to-do list for fans. On Thursday, for example, there was President and CEO Bob Iger's opening address. Bob gave the full house in the D23 Arena an inside look at the latest goings-ons at the world's premier family entertainment company, touching on the recently announced intent to acquire Marvel Entertainment and hosting a sneak preview — almost 30 minutes in length! — of The Princess and the Frog, one of the year's most eagerly awaited films. One lucky fan even won an overnight stay at the Disneyland Dream Suite. Bob's presentation was followed by the 2009 Disney Legends Ceremony, a cherished 22-year Company tradition that honors as Disney Legends those special few who embody our Company's unique creative spirit. This was the first time the event had ever been held off Disney property, and it honored such Disney luminaries as Tony Anselmo, the voice of Donald Duck, the Golden Girls and Robin Williams.
On Friday, Dick Cook, chairman, The Walt Disney Studios, took the stage and began an exciting presentation chockful of breaking news and never-before-seen trailers from the newest Disney films. "What is coming up is the most creative slate of films in our Studio's history," Dick told the crowd. "We have the best talent in the business, the best technology out there, the best tradition in filmmaking and today, we're honored to have you — the best possible audience to preview what's ahead." Dick had the assistance of a glittering array of Hollywood A-Listers, including Nicolas Cage, John Travolta, Jerry Bruckheimer, Robert Zemeckis and Miley Cyrus, who wowed the crowd with a live performance of her hit "The Climb." And last but certainly not least, Johnny Depp made an appearance, in full Captain Jack Sparrow regalia (Pirates of the Caribbean— On Stranger Tides is due in the summer of 2011.) The ecstatic screams and shouts from the fans were deafening — the perfectly savvy way to wrap up this unforgettable movie preview experience.
On Sunday, John Lasseter spoke to a boisterous full-house crowd of obvious admirers. "Isn't the D23 Expo amazing?" John asked the crowd when he stepped on stage and got a thunderous round of applause in return. "For the true Disney fan, finally, for Disney to do something so classy and so beautiful as D23 with the magazine, the club and especially with this expo, I think it's fantastic!" And with that, the Pixar announcements began to fly.
John let fans know that in addition to a special two week showing of a 3-D double feature of Toy Story and Toy Story 2 in theaters for two weeks in October, Toy Story 3, with the entire original gang back on board, was well under way and would hit theaters June 18, 2010. He surprised the audience with the announcement that there will be new toys, which means new actors doing the voices including Jeff Garmond, Bonnie Hunt and the always funny Whoopi Goldberg! Of course what those toys would be was still a secret. He also announced that Winnie the Pooh will be back in the spring of 2011 in an all-new, hand-animated feature film inspired by the original movies. "You won't believe how funny this thing is and it's not just for little kids!" John said. "But one of the highlights of working on this project was getting to work with Disney legend and original Winnie the Pooh animator Burny Mattinson, who is one of the last remaining animators to have worked with Walt Disney." John also previewed Rapunzel and Prep & Landing, the new ABC Christmas special from Walt Disney Animation Studios.
On Sunday afternoon, fresh off their Emmy win the night before for Outstanding Children's Program, it was time for the Wizards of Waverly Place Q & A session, and Selena Gomez, David Henrie, Jake T. Austin, Jennifer Stone and Maria Canals-Barrera, along with executive producers Peter Murrieta and Todd Greenwald, came on stage one by one, statues in hand, and were greeted with a long round of enthusiastic screams of excitement that seemed to echo throughout the entire convention center!
And in between these star-studded events there was the vast Expo showfloor featuring the greatest array of all things Disney ever assembled in one place, including g all the latest from Walt Disney Parks and Resorts, Disney Consumer Products, ABC, a collectors' forum and much more. The second and third floors featured the dazzling "Treasures of the Walt Disney Archives" exhibit, a showcase featuring just some of the treasures of the fabled Disney archives, and theaters and seminar rooms packed with panels and Q&A events with everyone from the makers of The Princess and the Frog and Disney Legend Marty Sklar and a panel of Imagineers, to Roy Patrick Disney, the grandson of Roy O. Disney and the son of Roy E. Disney), and Dick Sherman, who played the piano for adoring fans before a screening of the boys: the Sherman brothers' story.
In short, the D23 Expo was exactly as billed — the ultimate Disney fan experience.
