The D23 Expo continued to fuel fan excitement through the weekend with a jam-packed presentation from the teams at Walt Disney Studios’ Lucasfilm, Marvel Studios and 20th Century Studios — including more animated adventures from the Star Wars galaxy. Kicking off the 100th anniversary celebrations for The Walt Disney Company, Disney+ also unveiled the teaser trailer and official key art for a new Disney Original Documentary all about Walt’s most famous star: Mickey Mouse.
The Disney Original Documentary Mickey: The Story of a Mouse will premiere globally on Disney+ on November 18, Mickey Mouse’s birthday. The film is directed by award-winning filmmaker Jeff Malmberg (Marwencol) and produced by Academy Award winner Morgan Neville (Won’t You Be My Neighbor), Meghan Walsh and Chris Shellen.
As one of the world’s most beloved characters, Mickey Mouse is recognized as a symbol of joy and childhood innocence in virtually every corner of the globe. Dreamed up at a low point in Walt Disney’s burgeoning career, Mickey became an overnight sensation when he starred in the first sync-sound animated short, “Steamboat Willie.” Through the decades that followed, the character evolved into strikingly different versions of himself that reflect both his creator’s remarkable career and dramatic societal shifts in the nation he came to represent.
Mickey: The Story of a Mouse features legendary Disney animators Eric Goldberg, Mark Henn and Randy Haycock, animation artist and Disney Legend Floyd Norman, art historian Carmenita Higginbotham, director of Walt Disney Archives Rebecca Cline and archivist Kevin Kern. With exclusive archival footage and interviews, the film examines the ongoing artistic and cultural significance — as well as the controversies — surrounding the nearly 100-year-old cartoon mouse. The film features a brand new Walt Disney Animation Studios hand-drawn animated short, Mickey in a Minute, and documents its animation process by Goldberg, Henn and Haycock.
“Ninety-four years ago, Walt Disney created a mouse that would become one of the world’s most beloved characters,” said Marjon Javadi, VP of Disney Original Documentary. “We are excited for the world to see Mickey Mouse in a way they’ve never seen him before. Our award-winning team of filmmakers captures Mickey’s journey through the years and reminds us why he has had such an impact on us.”
The documentary was executive produced by Caitrin Rogers, edited by Jake Hostetter, Aaron Wickenden, cinematography by Antonio Cisneros, sound design by Lawrence Everson and music by Daniel Wohl. The film had its World Premiere at SXSW earlier this year and also screened at the Sun Valley Film Festival and Newport Summer Film Series, among others.
Opening the WDS mega-presentation, chairman Alan Bergman reflected on the 13-year history of D23 Expo and the evolution of the Studios group: “That [first] year, none of the iconic studios you’ll hear from today were part of the company,” he said. “It was just Disney Animation, Disney Live Action and Pixar. We announced the Marvel acquisition just before our first Expo in 2009. Then three years later, we added Lucasfilm, and in 2019, 20th Century Studios. I’ve been at Disney for 26 years, so it’s been incredibly exciting to welcome each of them to our Studio family. And like Disney and Pixar, each of these studios has a phenomenal legacy of storytelling.”
Executive producer Dave Filoni joined Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy on stage for a host of upcoming titles, streaming on Disney+, including some animation updates:
- Filoni showed a new image from the upcoming 16-episode second season of the animated series Star Wars: The Bad Batch. Months have passed since the events on Kamino and the Bad Batch continue their journey navigating the Empire after the fall of the Republic. They will cross paths with friends and foes, both new and familiar, as they take on a variety of thrilling mercenary missions that will take them to unexpected and dangerous new places. Starring Dee Bradley Baker and Michelle Ang, with Filoni, Carrie Beck, Athena Portillo, Brad Rau (supervising director) and Jennifer Corbett (head writer) serving as executive producers. The series will begin streaming on Disney+ with a two-episode premiere on January 4, 2023.
- The EP segued to Star Wars: Tales of the Jedi, six brand-new animated shorts featuring parables built around Jedi from the prequel era. Journey into the lives of two distinctly different Jedi — Ahsoka Tano and Count Dooku — each will be put to the test as they make choices that will define their destinies. To the delight of the audience, Filoni shared the official trailer for the series and announced that all six shorts will debut October 26 on Disney+. The series is created by executive producer Filoni, with Carrie Beck and Athena Portillo serving as executive producers.
The Lucasfilm highlights also included:
- Final Trailer for Andor; first three episodes premiering on Disney+ on September 21.
- Season 3 teaser trailer for The Mandalorian, which reunites the bounty hunter and Grogu to continue their journey; coming to Disney+ in 2023.
- Discussion of upcoming series Star Wars: Skeleton Crew with creators Jon Watts and Christopher Ford, with a special appearance by Jude Law; coming to Disney+.
- New trailer for the live-action fantasy series Willow (Lucasfilm/Imagine Ent.), presented by star Warwick Davis; premiering on Disney+ November 30.
- Kenney announced the fifth installment of Indiana Jones, joined by Harrison Ford and Phoebe Waller-Bridge; coming to theaters June 30, 2023.
Marvel Studios‘ Kevin Feige kicked things off by handing the stage over to a show-stopping performance of fan-favorite tune “I Could Do This All Day” form show-within-a-show Rogers: The Musical, seen in last year’s Disney+ series Hawkeye. Feige was joined by creatives and cast members to share the following projects with fans…
Series:
- Ironheart, the series from exec producer Ryan Coogler that follows the events of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever; coming to Disney+ in 2023.
- Trailer reveal for Marvel’s first special, the “fun-scary” Werewolf by Night; premiering on Disney+ on October 7.
- New trailer for Secret Invasion, presented by star Don Cheadle; coming to Disney+ in 2023.
- Cheadle also discussed Armor Wars, which will showcase Rhodey in a brand new light and introduce brand-new suits of armor.
- Sneak peek at Season 2 of Loki, now in production for a 2023 debut on Disney+, presented by the series stars Tom Hiddleston, Owen Wilson, Sophia Di Martino and Ke Huy Quan.
- Special early look at Echo with the cast, including Alaqua Cox, Vincent D’Onofrio, Devery Jacobs, Graham Greene, Cody Lightning and Chaske Spencer; coming soon to Disney+.
- Appearance by Charlie Cox to discuss the upcoming 18-episode S1 on Daredevil: Born Again, plus a first-look clip at an upcoming episode of She Hulk: Attorney at Law featuring the superhero.
Features:
- Exclusive scene reveal and highlights from Black Panther: Wakanda Forever with director Coogler, who was joined by cast members Angela Bassett, Letitia Wright, Winston Duke and Tenoch Huerta; in theaters November 11.
- Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania will kick off MCU Phase 5 — Feige and stars Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly and Jonathan Majors treated the audience to an exclusive look at the film; premieres February 17, 2023 and connects to Avengers: The Kang Dynasty.
- Feige officially confirmed that Matt Shakman, who directed every episode of 2021’s WandaVision, will be directing Fantastic Four; in theaters November 8, 2024.
- Director Julius Onah joined Feige on stage to discuss Captain America: New World Order with returning stars Anthony Mackie, Danny Ramirez, Carl Lumbly and new cast members Tim Blake Nelson and Shira Haas; in theaters May 3, 2024.
- The identities of the Thunderbolts were unveiled as Julia Louis-Dreyfus (Valentina Allegra de Fontaine), David Harbour (Red Guardian), Hannah John-Kamen (Ghost), Sebastian Stan (James “Bucky” Barnes/The Winter Soldier) and Wyatt Russell (John Walker/U.S. Agent) joined director Jake Schreier on stage (the team also features stars Olga Kurylenko as Taskmaster and Florence Pugh as Yelena Belova); in theaters July 26, 2024.
- Feige capped the Marvel Studios presentation with The Marvels, revisiting key moments in the MCU before welcoming to the stage director Nia DaCosta and cast members Iman Vellani, Teyonah Parris and Brie Larson to give fans a special look at scenes from the new movie; in theaters July 28, 2023.
For 20th Century Studios, Bergman returned to the stage and was joined virtually by Academy Award-winning producer/director James Cameron, currently in New Zealand and hard at work on the highly anticipated sequel Avatar: The Way of Water, in theaters on December 16.
Returning cast members Sam Worthington (Jake Sully), Zoe Saldaña (Neytiri), Sigourney Weaver (Kiri) and Stephen Lang (Colonel Miles Quaritch) appeared on stage with producer Jon Landau to share some fun anecdotes and exciting revelations about the film before introducing new cast members Jamie Flatters (Neteyam), Jack Champion (Spider), Bailey Bass (Tsireya) and Trinity Jo-Li Bliss (Tuk). The audience also got to don a pair of Dolby 3D glasses to immerse themselves in new scenes from the film.
