The A-list stars added to Disney’s hall of fame – and what that means for the studio’s future

Some 17 years ago, D23 was the name of a Disney-branded booth at San Diego Comic-Con. Almost two decades later, the three-day marketing-meets-merchandise super-convention which now bears its name pushed more than 100,000 attendees through its turnstiles.

The convention’s closing event – the Disney “legends” ceremony – inducts career trailblazers who have worked with or at the studio into their in-house hall of fame. This year’s inductees included Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, actress Anne Hathaway, musical trio the Jonas Brothers, animator Eric Goldberg and composer Lin-Manuel Miranda.

But the biggest applause was reserved for the company’s former CEO, Bob Iger. A studio executive who is bigger than the A-listers who star in his studio’s films? It seems odd, but that’s how the House of Mouse works. Iger, along with the company’s animators, ‘Imagineers’ and other behind-the-scenes personalities, have fan followings of their own.

“What executives typically do is they sign cheques, turn the lights on in the morning, occasionally I made coffee … but more than anything else, we’re around to support creators, the true talent that drives this company forward,” Iger told the audience who gave him not one, but two standing ovations. His successor, Josh D’Amaro, clearly has his work cut out for him.

Unsurprisingly for a blue-chip stadium presentation from a Hollywood studio, the event was a parade of A-list stars, including Emily Blunt, who introduced Johnson, and Orlando Bloom who introduced another award recipient, producer Jerry Bruckheimer. Iger’s award was introduced by no less than five stars: actors Harrison Ford, Robert Downey Jr and Ellen Pompeo, journalist Diane Sawyer and sports broadcaster Al Michaels.

But the show was almost stolen by legendary Vogue editor Anna Wintour, who shared her thoughts on The Princess Diaries and The Devil Wears Prada star Anne Hathaway with the 12,000-strong crowd at the Honda Centre stadium, in Anaheim, California.

Wintour described Hathaway as “an ideal [fashion show] front-row companion as well as the perfect theatre date”. Wintour also praised Hathaway for “her work ethic, her talent, her versatility, but most of all it is her kindness that is so impressive.”

Disney’s three-day event included two other stadium presentations, which included musical performances from Sheryl Crow, Beck, Los Lobos and Gloria Gaynor. The first revealed upcoming film and TV slate, included glimpses of Star Wars: Starfighter, Avengers: Doomsday, Frozen 3 and The Bluey Movie.

Disney also confirmed a new cast for the X-Men: Sadie Sink as Jean Grey, Kit Connor as Cyclops and Adam Driver as Mr Sinister; revealed Incredibles 3 would be in cinemas in June 2028; and announced plans for a live-action Tangled, with a planned release date of 2028.

The second stadium showcase focused on the studio’s theme parks and experiences, and unveiled a raft of updates and changes to Disney theme park attractions around the world, including a new Villain’s Land for Disneyworld in Florida, built around the studio’s movie villains – including Jafar from Aladdin, Maleficent from Sleeping Beauty and the Magic Mirror from Snow White – and plans for a Spider-Man-themed land at Shanghai Disney.

If the three stadium shows were the pizazz, then the real business of D23 is the ker-ching of cash registers in the labyrinthine corridors of the Anaheim Convention Centre, where Disney superfans are engaging in “activations”, where they can meet the character from Bluey, or step into Homer’s “hedge” meme from The Simpsons, or shop up a storm at the D23 Marketplace.

There are small-ticket items on sale including toys, action figures, caps, T-shirts and oh-so-many collectible pins, but there are also big-ticket items for sale, including an animatronic Pixar lamp for US$99, a remote-controlled MSE-6 Death Star “mouse droid” for US$129 and a limited edition “legacy” lightsabre hilt (both from Star Wars) for US$550.

The most expensive item in the house? A 24-karat gold and solid brass framed replica of Loki’s sceptre from the Marvel Universe, complete with hand-blown Ombré glass, real gemstones and a centrepiece 20.26-karat natural sapphire at its centre. The price tag? A mere US$500,000.

So what’s the takeout? Animation remains a major driver for Disney, with Pixar’s slate substantially reinvigorated. And the studio is dabbling in darker-themed content; in addition to Villain’s Land, Pixar is producing the studio’s first ever animated “ghost story”, Ghost Market, which will be released in 2028.

The trend is also towards legacy IP with plans for a Disney+ miniseries, Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, based the character created by Walt Disney before he created Mickey Mouse. Disney famously lost the rights, but they were re-acquired in 2006. At this year’s Legends ceremony, Iger revealed they were part of a trade with rival NBC, when NBC hired Al Michaels from Disney-owned ABC.

D23 is held every other year in Anaheim, California. The event draws as many as 100,000 people through its gates across a three-day weekend, excluding a separate D23 Disneyland day and, this year, a D23-branded baseball match at Dodger Stadium. The injection of revenue into the local economy, including accommodation, dining, transport and retail is worth an estimated US$55 million.

Disney alternates the event with Star Wars: Celebration, a (roughly) biennial Star Wars convention. Unlike D23 which is anchored in the city of Anaheim, in California, Star Wars: Celebration has been held as far and wide as Chiba, Japan, Essen Germany and Chicago, in the United States. The 2027 event, which will mark the 50th anniversary of Star Wars, will be held in Los Angeles.