Star Wars and star power — plus Marvel, Pixar, and plenty of Disney — at this year’s D23 EXPO

Jim Hill

9 years ago

When D23 — Disney's official fan club — launched the D23 EXPO
back in 2009, all the "wonderful worlds" of Disney was pretty much
just Disney. And — of course — Pixar, a Disney acquisition in 2006. And ABC,
which Disney purchased over a decade before that.

But now Disney's "world" has come to include a
"universe" and a "galaxy" (albeit one far, far away). So
how does Disney bring all of these seemingly disparate brands together for its
biennial fan event? In a word, seamlessly.

Take — for example — this Saturday morning's "Worlds,
Galaxies, and Universes: Live Action at The Walt Disney Studios"
presentation (which will be hosted by Walt Disney Studios Chairman Alan Horn).
While special guests from "The Force Awakens" will be making
appearances at this highly anticipated panel, J.J. Abrams let it be known last
month at Comic-Con that there would be no new footage seen from this film 'til
the Fall.

This news will obviously disappoint some "Star
Wars" fans. Not to worry, though. Other divisions at Disney will be
picking up the "Star Wars" – related slack over the course of this
three-day long event. Making sure that the Anaheim
Convention Center isn't seen as a
Force-free zone.

Take — for example — the Disney Interactive pavilion on
the show floor. If event attendees swing by here, they can then try their hand
at Star Wars Battlefront from Electronic Arts as well as Disney Infinity 3.0
(which will feature all sorts of new Star Wars characters and Play Sets). Then
there's Force For Change, which will set up its obstacle course on the EXPO
show floor to benefit UNICEF. Nearby, Padawans can hone their skill at the Jedi
Training Academy,
which will take place multiple times over the weekend on Center Stage.
Meanwhile, there will be an area within Walt Disney Archives Presents Disneyland:
The Exhibit that pays tribute to Star Tours by displaying everyone's favorite
robotic pilot, Rex. Plus there will be heaps of new, collectible Star
Wars-related merchandise in both the Disney Store and the Disney Dream Store.

But enough about Star Wars. There's a whole 'nother "universe"
to explore. Marvel fans who attend Saturday's "Worlds, Galaxies and
Universes" panel can expect to see footage from upcoming releases that
take place in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. And animation fans who attend
Friday afternoon's "Pixar and Walt Disney Animation Studios: The Upcoming
Films" presentation (which will be hosted by the one & only John
Lasseter) can count on seeing never-before-seen footage from Pixar's upcoming
"The Good Dinosaur" & "Finding Dory" and Disney
Animation's "Zootopia" & "Moana."

You see? That's what's great about the D23 EXPO. While pop
culture fans may currently be fixated on a single aspect of the Walt Disney
Studio's upcoming release schedule (i.e., "Star Wars – Episode VII."
Which — just last week — some seemingly clairvoyant members of the financial
press predicted that "The Force Awakens" would go onto earn $2.2
billion worldwide once it's released to theaters on December 25th), the
Official Disney Fan Club refuses to take such a myopic view of the Mouse House.
Their goal is to give those who make their way to the Anaheim
Convention Center this Friday,
Saturday and Sunday a true sense of how deep the Disney bench is. That there's
far more to Disney's world than just that galaxy which is far, far away.

Which is why — in Stage 23 on Saturday, August 15th —
Disney Theatrical will be staging "The Originals." Which will be a 70
minute-long live concert starring Broadway's original Mary Poppins (Ashley Brown), Tarzan (Josh Strickland), and the Genie (James Monroe Iglehart) from "Aladdin." Mouse House managers are so
confident that this live concert featuring memorable tunes from the Disney on
Broadway catalogue will be a must-see for D23 EXPO attendees that they've
already arranged for Brown, Strickland & Iglehart to give two presentations
of this program on Saturday. One at 11 a.m.
and then another at 2 p.m.

Meanwhile over in Hall C, Walt Disney Parks & Resorts
will be offering Official Disney Fans Club Members a detailed look of the
biggest project that the Company has ever attempted: the Shanghai Disney
Resort. More than 3/4th of this 12,500-square-foot pavilion will be taken up by
maquettes, models, concept art and engineering drawings that were used in the
creation of this $5.5 billion project (which is currently scheduled to open in
the Spring of 2016).

And if that's not enough, on Friday morning at 10 a.m. up in Stage 23, the creative team
that's putting together "The Muppets" (i.e., that highly anticipated
sitcom which debuts on ABC on September 22nd) will be on hand to discuss
"The Magic Behind the Muppets." Which promises to give D23 EXPO attendees
a behind-the-scenes glimpse at what it takes to bring Miss Piggy & pals to
life.

And in that very same space on Saturday night, "Once
Upon a Time" fans will get a sneak peek at Season Five. Co-creators and
executive producers Edward Kitsis ("LOST") and Adam Horowitz
("LOST") along with series stars Ginnifer Goodwin and Lana Parrilla
will be there to discuss what happens when the citizens of Storybrooke travel
to Camelot. D23 own's Jeffrey Epstein will serve as the moderator of the Q &
A portion of this sure-to-be popular panel.

And speaking of Mr. Epstein, Jeffrey had a number of
suggestions for those who might be attending their first-ever D23 EXPO. Which
— come to think of it — would also be very good suggestions if one were
planning on going down to San Diego
for Comic-Con.

"Come prepared. Download the app. Go to our website.
Learn about what's actually going to be shown at the EXPO. Don't just show up
without a first, second or third choice for everything that you want to see.
Because while it's going to be an amazing EXPO, it's also going to be a busy
EXPO. And the more prepared a Guest is, a better experience they will
have," Epstein explained.

"More to the point, they should make use of StagePass
for presentations in Stages 28 & 23. The FastPass-like system, means they
then won't have to wait in line. They'll be guaranteed a seat," Jeffrey
continued. "And this year, we added StorePass to make shopping a more
seamless experience. If people utilize all of these tools — the app plus
StagePass & StorePass — they'll then be able to get the most out of the
EXPO."

So just to review here: There will be plenty of Star Wars to
be seen and experienced at this year's
D23 EXPO. Just not in the "Worlds, Galaxies, and Universes: Live Action at
The Walt Disney Studios" panel. There you'll get to see members of the
"Force Awakens" cast, along with a host of other stars.

But which members? Which stars? You'll need to be seated in Hall D23
(which seats 7,500, by the way. Up from the 4,000 seats that were available at
previous D23 EXPOs) on 10:30 a.m. on Saturday in order to
find out.

This article was originally posted on the Huffington Post's Entertainment page on Monday, August 10, 2015