Disney fans from around the world will once again gather in Anaheim, California, on August 9, 10 & 11, 2024, for D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event presented by Visa. This year, D23 has been revamped with returning fan favorites and new surprises, featuring three days of showcases and presentations, an expanded show floor with the latest from Disney brands and partners, increased shopping opportunities and a week-long celebration of Disney fandom leading up to the event. Ticketing pre-sales begin March 26.
Today, Disney shared a sneak peek at programming, logistics, ticketing, and D23 Member benefits in anticipation for D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event. D23 also debuted the key art for the event featuring Sorcerer Mickey, a nod to the very first event in 2009.
“This August at D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event, we’re excited to give tens of thousands of our biggest fans an experience like no other,” said Asad Ayaz, Chief Brand Officer, The Walt Disney Company. “Disney has the most powerful brands and passionate fans in the world, and we’re taking D23 to a whole new level this year to give them more of what they love from across the worlds of Disney in one incredible weekend.”
This year D23 is introducing a new venue for some of the programming: The Honda Center will be home to three nights of showcases. Friday night will begin with the star-studded Disney Entertainment Showcase, featuring exclusive looks at the movies, series and stage shows fans love and a glimpse of what’s next. Saturday night will showcase Disney Experiences, featuring the latest on new and highly anticipated projects in development around the world for Disney parks, experiences and beyond. The weekend will conclude Sunday evening with a special ceremony to celebrate the 2024 class of Disney Legends, hosted by Ryan Seacrest (details below).
Before D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event, guests can kick off the weekend’s festivities at the first-ever D23 Day at the Disneyland Resort on Thursday, August 8. Disneyland Resort will welcome D23 fans from rope drop to late night featuring unique offerings for fans including a custom cavalcade and an energetic dance party at Disneyland Park, and special photo opportunities, specialty foods, themed merchandise, and more at both parks. Disney Junior will also join the festivities and host a music-filled celebration at Disney California Adventure Park. (More info here.)
The Anaheim Convention Center will once again showcase Disney storytelling and innovation with an immersive and expanded show floor full of experiences and activities for all ages. Fan-favorites will return including pavilions from Pixar, Walt Disney Animation Studios, Disney+, Marvel Studios, Disney Experiences, Lucasfilm and a first-of-its-kind exhibition from the Walt Disney Archives entitled “A Great Big Beautiful Car Show.”
Fans can take advantage of shopping opportunities including a dedicated space to shop and experience limited-edition merchandise and collectibles. Other fan-favorite shopping destinations will return, including Mickey’s of Glendale, The Hollywood Studio Store and The Emporium. Plus, The Walt Disney Company Store will make its debut and feature exclusive D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event branded products.
Guests will also have the opportunity to attend specially curated shows, panels and presentations, along with conversations with storytellers, creators and talent. These presentations will feature distinctly Disney content that will entertain fans of all generations on five different stages at the Anaheim Convention Center.
Plus, the first ever D23 Day at Angel Stadium will take place on Sunday, August 4. The first 23,000 fans through the gate will receive a commemorative and one-of-a-kind D23 Mickey Mouse bobblehead. (Details here.)
Fans can also enter one of the most expansive sweepstakes in Disney history. D23: The Ultimate Disney Sweepstakes – FANtastic Prizes is a spectacular lineup of exclusive prizes and engaging experiences. One of the prizes is a sail on the seven-night maiden voyage of the newest Disney Cruise Line ship, the Disney Treasure. Entries open July 8, see rules and more info here.
Learn more at ultimatefanevent.d23.com.
2024 Disney Legends Award Honorees
D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event presented by Visa, will conclude on Sunday, August 11, with the Disney Legends Awards Ceremony. The Disney Legends Award honors artists and visionaries throughout the company’s history who have pushed the envelope of creativity, challenged conventional wisdom and broken the restraints of the status quo in search of new possibilities and excellence. The ceremony will take place at 5 p.m. at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California.
“To be named a Disney Legend is the highest honor our company can bestow on anyone, reserved for those whose talent and achievement have earned them an enduring place in our history,” said Bob Iger, Chief Executive Officer, The Walt Disney Company. “The 14 individuals to be honored as Disney Legends this year have each made extraordinary creative contributions across the worlds of Disney and we look forward to celebrating them at D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event.”
This year’s honorees include Disney animator Mark Henn, The Simpsons executive producer James L. Brooks, Marvel comics hero Steve Ditko, Muppet maestro Frank Oz and Imagineering exec Joe Rohde; household names like Angela Bassett, James Cameron, Harrison Ford, Miley Cyrus, Jamie Lee Curtis, Kelly Ripa and composer John Williams; as well as four-time Oscar-winning costume designer Colleen Atwood and pioneering Disney parks hospitality icon and manager, Martha Blanding.
The Disney Legends Awards program is a 37-year tradition of The Walt Disney Company, which began when Fred MacMurray (The Shaggy Dog, The Absent-Minded Professor, The Happiest Millionaire) was honored in 1987. The awards ceremony is just one of the many spectacular events fans can enjoy during the three-day D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event in August 2024.
Disney Legend honorees receive a two-foot-tall bronze Disney Legends sculpture that signifies the imagination, creativity, and magic they have brought to the company. Disney Legends Award recipients will also participate in a handprint ceremony at the end of the event, and their bronzed prints will be displayed in the Disney Legends Plaza at the company’s Burbank headquarters.
Learn more about all the 2024 Disney Legends here.
James L. Brooks
Acclaimed for character driven, writer centric projects that deftly combine comedy and poignancy — such as 20th Century’s Broadcast News (1987) — James L. Brooks is a TV and film icon responsible for some of the most beloved entertainment projects of all time. James made one of the most impressive directorial debuts in film history with Terms of Endearment (1983), for which the multi-hyphenate took home three Oscars for writing, producing and directing. Growing up in New Jersey, Brooks’ career trajectory kicked off as a writer for CBS News in New York. When he moved to Los Angeles in 1965, a chance meeting with established writer Allan Burns led to his writing for television comedies, and before long, James created the groundbreaking ABC series Room 222 in 1969 and Taxi in 1978. In 1986, Brooks founded his production company, Gracie Films, where he and his team are trailblazers in the world of television.
At Brooks’ invitation, Matt Groening created animated interstitials for the company’s The Tracey Ullman Show featuring a dysfunctional family, which led to a full-fledged animated series — the first since the 1960s — The Simpsons, in 1989. The longest-running primetime scripted show in television history, The Simpsons quickly exploded into a cultural phenomenon. Currently in its 35th season, The Simpsons has won 37 Emmy Awards. Brooks also co-produced and co-wrote The Simpsons Movie in 2007. Brooks , who continues to serve as executive producer of the misadventures of the animated citizens of Springfield, maintains that the series has not outlived its popularity, especially now with it streaming on Disney+. Brooks is currently working on his next feature film for 20th Century Studios, Ella McCay.
Steve Ditko
Originally hailing from Johnstown, Pennsylvania, Steve Ditko’s love for comics began at a young age. After serving in the U.S. Army, where he drew comics for the Army newsletter, one of his idols, Batman artist Jerry Robinson, became his mentor. By the early 1950s, his first work appeared in print, and shortly thereafter made his way to Atlas Comics, the precursor of Marvel Comics. The artist would quickly leave his mark, leading Disney Legend Stan Lee to rechristen Amazing Adventures as Amazing Adult Fantasy (later Amazing Fantasy) to showcase Ditko’s talents. In 1962, that collaboration led to one of the most popular comic-book characters of all time. The introduction of Spider-Man in Amazing Fantasy #15 stands as one of the landmarks of both Ditko’s career and Marvel history.
Ditko went on to co-create most of Spider-Man’s now-infamous rogues’ gallery and re-envisioned many of Marvel’s iconic characters to what we know today. He redesigned Iron Man’s armor into the popular red and gold design, and in the Hulk comics, he codified Bruce Banner’s transformations to be a function of his anger. It is perhaps with Doctor Strange, Master of the Mystic Arts, that Ditko truly expressed his visionary impulses — the early stories in Strange Tales could only have come from the mind of Steve Ditko. He left Marvel to pursue other work in 1966 but returned in 1979. In the 1990s, Ditko helped to co-create all-new characters, including Speedball and Squirrel Girl. One of the greatest artist-writer talents in comic-book history, Ditko’s imagination and creative vision changed the comics industry and super hero storytelling forever.
Mark Henn
Mark Henn joined Walt Disney Animation Studios in 1980, where he became an assistant animator on The Fox and the Hound (1981). His first major assignment was animating Disney’s most beloved character, Mickey Mouse, in Mickey’s Christmas Carol (1983), marking Mickey’s first big-screen appearance in 30 years. Henn would go on to serve as the supervising animator for Simba as well as five female leads, more than any artist in the history of the studio: Ariel (supervised with fellow Disney Legend Glen Keane), Belle (supervised with James Baxter), Jasmine, Mulan and Tiana. He also animated Simba from The Lion King (1994), the title character in Pocahontas (1995) and Giselle from Enchanted (2007).
Most recently, Henn has helped a whole new generation of Disney animators bring “the illusion of life” to character animation in CG features such as Ralph Breaks the Internet (2018). He was lead 2D animator on Big Hero 6 (2014) and Frozen (2013) and served as a 2D animator for “Mini Maui” in Moana (2016). In 2000, Mark brought his vast animation experience to directing with the acclaimed short, John Henry. In 2013 he received the prestigious Winsor McCay award for lifetime achievement, ASIFA’s highest award in animation. And in 2018, befitting his longtime association with Mickey Mouse, Henn was commissioned to paint Mickey’s official portrait for the character’s 90th anniversary. From Mickey to a little mermaid and Mini Maui, the enchantment of Disney animation is personal for this animator.
Frank Oz
Creator. Director. Producer. Performer. Writer. Actor. Icon. Superlatives all that describe the one and only Frank Oz. As a respected director, Oz has helmed more than a dozen films, including co-directing The Dark Crystal (1982) with Disney Legend Jim Henson, The Muppets Take Manhattan (1984), Little Shop of Horrors (1986), Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (1988), Touchstone Pictures’ What About Bob? (1991), In & Out (1997), Bowfinger (1999), The Score (2001), Death at a Funeral (2007), Muppet Guys Talking (2017) and others, as well as the 2021 Hulu presentation of the long running Off-Broadway hit he also directed, Derek DelGaudio’s In & Of Itself. A four-time Emmy winner, Oz is the recipient of The Art Director’s Guild Contribution to Cinematic Imagery Award, The Comedy Awards’ Creative Achievement Award, The Saturn Lifetime Achievement Award, two George Foster Peabody Awards, three Gold Records, two Platinum Records and a host of other accolades and honors.
He originated and performed the characters of Grover, Bert and Cookie Monster for Sesame Street, along with Miss Piggy, Fozzie, Sam Eagle and Animal for The Muppet Show, performing in hundreds of television shows and specials with The Muppets — including the memorable Muppet*Vision 3D for Disney Parks. Oz also originated and performed the character of Yoda for George Lucas’ Star Wars galaxy, first in The Empire Strikes Back (1980) and followed by Return of the Jedi (1983), The Phantom Menace (1999), Attack of the Clones (2002), Revenge of the Sith (2005), The Last Jedi (2017) and The Rise of Skywalker (2019). He has acted in several live-action movies, from The Blues Brothers (1980) to Knives Out (2019), and has voiced characters in Disney and Pixar’s Monsters, Inc. (2001), Inside Out (2015) and Inside Out 2 (2024).
