Boardwalk Times: Stories from the Seashore — Disney's D23 Expo Aftermath
Disney's D23 Expo gave us new looks at upcoming projects and teased us with exciting plans for the company ahead of its 100th anniversary.
Welcome back to Boardwalk Times: Stories from the Seashore! In this month’s newsletter, we will discuss the Disney D23 Expo aftermath including all the news, my previous predictions, and my own personal experiences at the convention. I also have some podcast plugs and the LINKS OF THE MONTH.
D23 Expo Aftermath
Well, this month’s newsletter will be highlighted by Disney’s D23 Expo which took place September 9 through September 11 at the Anaheim Convention Center. This fan event gave us news about the future of Disney while offering attendees the chance to see exclusive footage of upcoming projects.
In last month’s newsletter, I laid out predictions ranging from bold to realistic. I didn’t get too much right but some of my bold predictions came true, and some of my realistic predictions didn’t come to fruition. Let’s take a glance at how I did.
What I got right: Encanto attraction sorta, Avengers E-Ticket, Happily Ever After, TRON opening date, DinoLand USA updates sorta, and Pixar and Disney Animation announce future feature films.
What I got wrong: Frozen III, Turning Red to Canada pavilion, Encanto franchise expansion, More Marvel to WDW, Boatload of Disney+ series, A film based on a Disney Parks attraction gets announced, Galaxy’s Edge expansion, EPCOT updates, Disney’s Metaverse strategy, D23 Disney+ subscriber deal, Disneyland’s Tomorrowland, 20th Century Fox IP to Disney Parks, The Mandalorian timeline, Pirates of the Caribbean Disney+ series, Star Tours new scenes, Kevin Feige reveals more of Phase 6, and the Disney Parks universe on Disney+.
I’m happy with the things that I got sorta right. I did get a lot more wrong than I thought. I know some of my predictions were out there but Frozen III, a new Encanto series, and Kevin Feige revealing Phase 6 felt like good locks. Maybe I’ll have some better luck for D23 Expo 2024.
Now let’s take a look at what happened at D23 Expo…
Walt Disney Animation, Pixar, and the live-action Walt Disney Studios made a flurry of announcements and revealed exclusive footage. I attended this panel so here are some of my thoughts and reactions on each announcement/exclusive footage shown.
Disenchanted looks to be pretty solid from the first trailer. It should dominate on Disney+ over Thanksgiving weekend.
We got to see an exclusive first look at Peter Pan & Wendy during this panel. David Lowery’s fingerprints are all over this film. The first look featured most of the classic Disney Peter Pan moments. The film is called Peter Pan & Wendy after all so expect some story changes.
Haunted Mansion looked way better than expected. There is a deep appreciation for the lore. The cast seems pretty stacked and there are more surprises to be revealed.
Mufasa: The Lion King doesn’t premiere until 2024 but we got to see a sneak peek. Is it bad I’m more excited to see Seth Rogen’s Pumbaa and Billy Eichner’s Timon return than the film itself? (Their characters were included in the sneak peek).
We got to see an early glimpse of Snow White, which will premiere in 2024. Both Rachel Zegler and Gal Gadot look phenomenal in it. I can’t wait for this one.
Our first look at The Little Mermaid included seeing the whole “Part of Your World” sequence. Truly a remarkable scene and Halle Bailey delivers. It’s upsetting to see the vitriol towards Halle online due to her casting in this film.
The footage that we got to see of Elemental was straight-up awesome. Pixar has another deep and emotional hit on its hands. I can’t wait to explore more of the world of Elemental.
I’ve been in love with Pixar’s Win or Lose Disney+ series since it was announced at Disney Investor Day 2020. Pixar is also using unique animation styles in every episode to reflect the personality of every character. Nice touch!
Elio and Inside Out 2 are Pixar’s 2024 films. Elio has some promise just from hearing about the concept. I’m not sold on Inside Out 2 but I’m cautiously optimistic that it is a worthy follow-up.
We finally got to see our first look at Iwájú and it didn’t disappoint. Sleek, futuristic, and a lot of visual wonder. I spoke to an animator who worked on the project, and I think we’re in store for a real treat.
The sequence from Strange World we watched was really fun. I’m hoping that the “strangeness” of this film doesn’t deter audiences from seeing it in theaters.
We got the reveal that Walt Disney Animation’s 2023 film during its 100th year would be Wish, a film that is inspired by the legacy of films from the studio and asks “How did the wishing star, upon which so many characters wished, come to be?” Directors Chris Buck and Fawn Veerasunthorn gave us story details and showed us concept art and various animation tests. Wish seems to be a hybrid of 3D/watercolor animation. The Kingdom of Rosas, where the film takes place, also seems very familiar. (Expect a lot of Disney Animation easter eggs). Ariana DeBose will voice Asha and she performed one of the excellent songs from the film, live on stage at Hall D23.
Read: 6 Questions We Still Have After The Pixar, Walt Disney Animation, and Live Action Panel from D23 Expo.
The Lucasfilm/Marvel Studios/20th Century Studios panel sold out in 15 minutes and left me with a pretty early morning of waiting around. The panel still provided some news that I enjoyed from the show floor.
Ahsoka got more story details, and we got our first look at Jude Law in Skeleton Crew.
Harrison Ford got pretty emotional speaking about Indiana Jones 5.
Marvel went pretty wild in comparison to Lucasfilm and 20th Century. Marvel revealed Werewolf by Night’s first trailer, Secret Invasion’s first trailer, Daredevil: Born Again got additional hype, Tim Blake Nelson was announced for Captain America: New World Order, and the Thunderbolts cast was announced. Plus a few other things.
The panel ended with a first look at Avatar: The Way of Water and an Avatar poster being the giveaway. After speaking with some attendees it seems like the consensus was that Avatar: The Way of Water shouldn’t have gone on last and that it definitely shouldn’t have been the giveaway item. Most people were attending for Marvel Studios and wanted that to be the giveaway item/main event of the panel.
The Disney Branded Television panel gave us our first looks Percy Jackson, National Treasure, The Santa Clauses, and others. I’m shocked they didn’t actually give more time to talk about Disney-branded Disney+ series instead of some of the Disney Junior/Disney Channel fare. Here are some other quick takeaways:
Despite the epic performances, Disney should’ve discussed The Muppets Mayhem and High Schoool Musical: The Musical: The Series season four on stage at Hall D23 instead of revealing stuff over press releases. Maybe it was cut because the day was running late?
Percy Jackson and the Olympians may be the Disney-branded hit that Disney+ desperately needs.
National Treasure: Edge of History looks to be fun for fans both new and old.
John Stamos used his time he was given to promote Big Shot season two to remember his buddy Bob Saget and their last trip to Disneyland. A pretty emotional moment in Hall D23.
Descendants 4 was announced. It will be interesting to see how this popular Disney Channel franchise charts its future course.
The Parks panel gave us a ton of new details. Here’s a few quick reactions.
Josh D’Amaro is a charismatic host. He also comes across as self-aware about the Disney Parks and its fandom.
I’m thrilled Happily Ever After—at least the song—is coming back. I wasn’t too thrilled I missed the opening performance by Jordan Fisher at the panel due to Disney’s delays in getting us into the hall.
The Avengers Multiverse attraction is absolute hype. Dare I say it unlocks more possibilities than the quinjet concept? Feige is a parks nerd so I can’t wait to see what they come up with. Also, the poster with the featured characters is mind-blowing.
Disneyland’s Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway looks superior to Walt Disney World’s version and it hasn’t even opened yet. I still can’t believe Disneyland lost nothing for this attraction, yet Hollywood Studios had to close an opening day classic…
We didn’t get too many details on Tiana’s Bayou Adventure but I’m expecting more announcements to come.
Thrilled I got the name of the newest Disney Cruise Line ship right: Disney Treasure.
It’s shocking that Arendelle: The World of Frozen is coming to Paris, Hong Kong, and Tokyo but not stateside. At least yet.
I desperately want Duffy to return stateside after D23 Expo.
I wrote about the Blue Sky session at length… Here’s the one about DinoLand USA and the other on what lies beyond Big Thunder.
The new nighttime spectaculars coming to Disneyland look like a lot of fun. It’s also crazy that Disney is using Disney100 as an excuse to sunset Enchantment and Harmonious at Walt Disney World after mixed reviews.
Read: 10 Questions We Have After The Disney Parks Boundless Future Panel
Another big aspect of the D23 Expo was Disney’s teases for its future membership program and its “next-gen storytelling.” This is something we will be covering in the coming months. Especially, the whole Disney Prime idea. Perhaps, it will be a future newsletter? Just another reason to subscribe below.
MY PERSONAL JOURNEY AT D23
I figured topic two for this month we could just discuss D23 Expo more but from my personal point-of-view. Here are a few things I learned after attending D23 Expo.
The amount of free stuff and posters is wild and it will definitely not fit in your carry on so you’ll have to ship stuff home.
By the end of D23 Expo, I was running on about three hours of sleep.
Don’t try to bring in a glass Starbucks Frappuccino bottle. Security will take it away and you’ll be devastated. (I was running on three hours of sleep though).
I recommend doing this event with a friend or family member. I will hopefully never do this solo again (only would do it solo again if given priority access—not kidding).
It is sensory overload and there is so much cool stuff going on and you won’t be able to hit it all.
I was lucky to get into all the Hall D23 panels I wanted to do except Marvel Studios. I’ll see Kevin Feige doing his thing one day!
The rumors about the food inside the Convention Center are true (a light selection that is often expensive and doesn’t taste the greatest). Although I did enjoy my Mocha Latte and muffins that I got after finding out I wasn’t able to attend the Marvel Studios panel.
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Podcast Plugs 🎙
We are continuing our season of Better Call Hulk! Catch up and listen to our She-Hulk after-show. (Apple) (Spotify)
Sara Edwards and Giovanni Delgadillo are back with This is the Waycast: Andor. They will be breaking down this thrilling departure from typical Star Wars fare on a weekly basis. (Apple) (Spotify)
LINKS OF THE MONTH
— Can Tony Gilroy Bring New Hope to ‘Star Wars’? (The New York Times)
— Multiverse of Madness screenwriter Michael Waldron describes a fantastic post-credit scene for the film, that sadly didn’t make the cut. (Empire)
— Over D23 Expo, the media witnessed the more personal side of Disney CEO Bob Chapek. It seems like more and more people are warming up to Chapek. (The New York Times)
— Disney news sites like Attractions Magazine got to have lunch, take a stroll, and talk with Chapek as well. (Attractions Magazine)
— Boardwalk Times has a new writer, Kelly McCubbin. Kelly’s first piece was about the PeopleMover, and I encourage you to read it along with his other pieces that cover Walt Disney Imagineering’s 70th anniversary, Haunted Mansion, and Disney’s IP for the theme parks.
— Universal Parks has created a new Products and Experiences division. (Theme Park Insider)
— Former Disney CEO Bob Iger was awarded honorary knighthood by the late Queen Elizabeth II. (The Hollywood Reporter)
— Why Disney didn’t buy Twitter. (Recode)
— Massive Deadpool 3 news: Hugh Jackman returns as Wolverine. (Boardwalk Times)
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