By Glenn S. Demby, Esq.
Disney used its D23 fan expo—a sort of single company Comic-Con where the largest presentations were delivered to an audience of 7,500 (even more people than can be seated in Comic-Con’s Hall H at the San Diego Convention Center)—to deliver updates on and promotions for most of the films in its licensed products pipeline. Included at D23, held Aug. 14-16 in Anaheim, was one film that was new to us: Gigantic, a Jack and the Beanstalk tale, coming in 2018.
Some highlights:
Film |
Release Date |
D23 Notes |
The Good Dinosaur |
11/25/15 |
Footage from the Pixar film shown. |
Star Wars: The Force Awakens |
12/18/15 |
Surprise D23 visit by Harrison Ford. |
Zootopia |
3/4/16 |
Shakira to voice character of pop star Gazelle. |
The Jungle Book |
4/15/16 |
Film footage sneak peek and poster giveaway. |
Captain America: Civil War |
5/6/16 |
Exclusive footage introduced by producer Kevin Feige and star Chris Evans, with a special D23 “Easter egg.” |
Alice Through the Looking Glass |
5/27/16 |
Interactive experience Travel Through the Looking Glass allowed fans to become characters, with full digital-makeup and cinematic 3D objects applied to their reflections. They then received a 10-second video and still image to share on social media. |
Finding Dory |
6/17/16 |
Ellen DeGeneres appeared to promote the Pixar film in which Finding Nemo’s forgetful Dory searches for answers about her past. |
Dr. Strange |
10/26/16 |
Showed pre-production piece that offered fans “a taste of the look and feel” of the upcoming Marvel film. |
Moana |
11/23/16 |
Music by Tony-winner Lin-Manuel Miranda, Grammy-winning composer Mark Mancina and Opetaia Foa’i of world music band Te Vaka. |
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story |
12/16/16 |
Shooting started on first Star Wars spinoff film. Cast announced: Felicity Jones, Diego Luna, Forest Whitaker, others. |
Beauty and the Beast |
3/17/17 |
Musical greeting from stars Emma Watson, Josh Gad and Luke Evans sent from the London set where they are filming. |
Toy Story 4 |
6/16/17 |
Celebration of the 20th anniversary of Toy Story included filmmakers and songwriter Randy Newman but no details about the next installment in the beloved Pixar franchise. |
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales |
7/7/17 |
Surprise D23 visit by Johnny Depp, costumed as Captain Jack Sparrow. |
Untitled Han Solo film |
5/25/18 |
Christopher Miller and Phil Lord will direct this Star Wars spinoff, with Lawrence Kasdan and his son Jon Kasdan writing the screenplay. |
Gigantic |
TBD 2018 |
Jack and the Beanstalk tale set in Spain during the Age of Exploration, from Walt Disney Animation Studios with music by Frozen’s Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez. |
Star Wars: Episode IX |
TBD 2019 |
Colin Trevorrow to direct. |