In 2019, Disney revealed different projects from themselves, Pixar, Lucasfilm, Marvel, and Disney Parks. The conference was mostly focused on their new streaming service called Disney+ which will be available for streaming on 12th November in the United States, Canada, and the Netherlands. Australia and New Zealand will become the next two countries to get the streaming service as it will launch on 19th November there. No further launch dates for other countries are provided yet, unfortunately. Probably we'll have to wait to the beginning of 2020. Another who attended the D23 Expo this year too was Disney's newly purchased The Simpsons, who also came with some news.
I have searched most of the Internet to get all the revelations from the D23 Expo 2019 so let's hope I've caught it all. Let's get started!
D23 Expo 2019
Oh My Disney has uploaded a video to YouTube called "D23 Expo by the Numbers". The video shows different places with people, the panels, and decorations from the conference. Some small boxes are showing telling facts in the form of numbers. Watch it here.
For every D23 Expo, Disney is making some people into "Disney Legends". Any human can get the title from Disney, but you have to do something big for the company to be honoured as a Disney Legend. Twelve people were honoured at the Expo in 2019. You can read about them all and read what they had to say, here.
Disney
At the Expo, Disney revealed the first footage from Jungle Cruise, a live-action movie starring Dwayne Johnson and Emily Blunt and based on the attraction with the same name. Two trailers were released with the first one beginning in the Amazon jungle in Brazil, and the second one taking place in London, each showing the perspective of Johnson's and Blunt's characters, respectively. Unfortunately, the trailers are not released for non-attendees. The trailers are anyway neither official trailers for the movie, but they gave the audience a look of the movie.
Disney has earlier used their attractions for live-action movies, one of them being the very popular franchise "Pirates of the Caribbean" which got 5 movies between 2003 and 2017. Others are Haunted Mansion and Tomorrowland, although the last one is only based on the theme park.
Also, footage for Mulan was released at the weekend. Neither it is available to see anywhere, but Collider was at the place and explains what happens, read it here.
The upcoming movie "Maleficent: Mistress of Evil", the sequel to "Maleficent" from 2014, also had something for the audience at D23. Disney revealed a new poster and some footage for the movie which will premiere later in 2019.
The footage is described as following: "In the footage, Aurora brings Maleficent to the castle to meet Phillip and his parents. While at dinner, they begin talking about Maleficent's curse on Aurora, believing it no more than a fairy tale. Maleficent tries to explain how fairies have recently gone missing, stolen away by humans. The King and Queen seem not to care. Eventually, the Queen says that Aurora will finally have a real mother in her life, which angers Maleficent. She stands up and glows green and attacks the party. Other footage shows Chiwetel Ejiofor's character with horns and an army." - Screenrant.com
One of the most interesting revelations from Disney's live-action movies is the first look at the upcoming movie "Cruella". The movie is going to star Emma Stone as Cruella, with Emma Thompson, Paul Walter Hauser, and Joel Fry.
It's not the first time Cruella is seen in a live-action movie. Disney released a live-action movie called "101 Dalmatians" in 1996, with a sequel titled "102 Dalmatians" in 2000. Here it was Glen Close who portrayed the evil puppy killer.
Cruella is set to premiere on 28th May 2021 in the United States.
Walt Disney Animation Studios
A new, original animated movie is coming in 2020 from Walt Disney Animation Studios. The movie is called "Raya and the Lost Dragon" and is set to premiere on 25th November 2020. The voice cast includes Cassie Steele (Degrassi: The Next Generation) as Raya, and Awkwafina (Crazy Rich Asians) as Sisu, the Last Dragon. The movie is set to explore themes of community and hope, inspired by the beautiful and diverse cultures of Southeast Asia.
"The animated film follows Raya, a lone warrior from the fantasy kingdom of Kumandra, who teams up with a crew of misfits in her quest to find the Last Dragon - thus bringing light and unity back to their world." - Oh My Disney
At the Expo, an exclusive 3-minute piece was released. And Disney has shared concept art for the movie on their social media, see it here.
A lot of new announcements for Walt Disney Animation Studios' upcoming sequel Frozen II were also revealed at D23.
Evan Rachel Wood and Sterling K. Brown are joining the cast of Frozen II as Anna and Elsa's mother Queen Iduna, and a new character named Lieutenant Destin Matthias, respectively.
It's not known how big a role the new character will has, but the mother of Anna and Elsa will appear in a flashback.
Two new songs called "Into the Unknown" and "All is Found" were also introduced in the shown footage. The songs are two of seven all-new original songs by Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez. "Into the Unknown" is described as Frozen II's answer to "Let It Go".
Two clips were shown to the audience. The first clip shows a flashback of Queen Iduna holding Anna and Elsa as children while singing a lullaby for them. The next clip shows the present with Anna, Elsa, Olaf, Kristoff, and Sven playing charades. When it's Elsa's turn she becomes distracted and then brings the game to an end, saying it's time for bed. Meanwhile, Kristoff tries to propose to Anna, but she is too distracted by her sister. Anna tries to comfort the troubled Elsa by singing the same lullaby as their mother did.
The movie will explore why Elsa has powers and what happened to her and Anna's parents.
A new poster was also introduced and features both Anna and Elsa.
Pixar
The next movie from Pixar is called "Onward" and is set to be released on 6th March 2020 in the United States. At the D23 Expo, Pixar had the chance of telling more details about the movie. Long before the 2019 Expo, we already knew the plot details and actors for the movie, but Pixar has now shared some new footage.
For the audience, an 8-minute preview of the movie was shown. Besides that, a poster and a new still were also revealed:
The movie premiering after Onward is "Soul". The movie is directed by Pete Doctor who previously directed the Pixar movies Monsters, Inc. (2001), Up (2009), and Inside Out (2015).
Pixar has revealed images of the main characters and concept art for the movie alongside the cast and the first plot details.
The cast was revealed to be Jamie Foxx and Tina Fey as the main cast, with Daveed Diggs (Paul, Joe's neighbourhood nemesis), Phylicia Rashad (Libba, Joe's mother) and Ahmir Questlove Thompson (Curly, the drummer in Joe's band).
The plot details vary a lot from site to site but here's what I could find: "Soul tells the story of an unsatisfied middle school band teacher named Joe Gardner (Foxx) who believes his purpose in life is to play jazz - but life keeps getting in the way of him fulfilling that purpose. Finally, he gets the job of a lifetime, only to accidentally die (or, just, die) and find himself at the You Seminar, a celestial workshop for souls to be created and given personality traits before they move on to real humans. While Joe is at the You Seminar, he meets a new soul nicknamed 22 (Fey) who has such a loathing for humans, she's avoided Earth altogether. However, Joe and 22 eventually work together to find a way to get Joe back to Earth, traveling along the cosmic realms along the way. "Joe's adventure will make him think again about what it truly means to have soul," said Doctor."
"Soul aims to crack open the origins of our passions, dreams, and interests that make us all human, according to Doctor. "I'm directing a film that asks the ultimate question that we've all thought about at one time or another: Why am I here? Where did I come from? And what am I here for?" Doctor revealed. "But who would make a cartoon about that? Metaphysics? We're calling it Soul." - EW.com
Soul is set to premiere on 19th June 2020 in the United States.
Marvel
For Marvel fans around the world, D23 revealed several things of their upcoming movies, one of them being the release date to the sequel of Black Panther. The sequel will hit the American cinemas on 6th May 2022 and is titled "Black Panther II". The official logo for the movie was also revealed.
New footage and costume for the upcoming Black Widow movie were also revealed. The footage isn't released online but a description has been written: "It hasn't been released online, but the standout scenes featured David Habour's Red Guardian suiting up. He was shown working with both Natasha Romanoff and Yelena Belova, with a telling line about family getting back together again; this suggests the character's comic book origin has been rewritten in some way. The footage moved to an action sequence in which Yelena and Natasha traded banter. It ended with Black Widow in the white costume, engaged in battle against Taskmaster. The villain was still in full costume with a mask, meaning their identity is still unknown." - Screenrant.com
The new costume for Black Widow is all white and was on display on a mannequin at the D23 Expo. Brandon Davis from ComicBook has uploaded a video to his Twitter account showing the costume.
Another movie coming to the Marvel Cinematic Universe besides all the sequel is "Eternals". At the Expo, Marvel showed concept art of what the main cast will look like in the movie.
At the San Diego Comic-Con earlier in 2019, Kevin Feige, President of Marvel Studios, revealed the first cast of Eternals: Angelina Jolie as Thena, Richard Madden as Ikaris, Kumail Nanjiani as Kingo, Lauren Ridloff as Makkari, Brian Tyree Henry as Phastos, Salma Hayek as Ajak, Lia McHugh as Sprite and Don Lee as Gilgamesh. In the weeks between SDCC and D23, Barry Keoghan and Captain America's Gemma Chan were cast for the movie. The day exactly before the panel speaking about Eternals, Kit Harington was cast too. The three new cast members will play Druig, Sersi and Dane Whitman aka Black Knight, respectively.
The image below shows each of the cast members in their current costumes, from left to right: Ikaris, Kingo, Makkari, Phastos, Ajak, Sprite, Gilgamesh, Thena, Druig and Sersi. Kit Harington and his character aren't present, probably because of the casting that happened the day before.
The Expo could also be very special for fans of ABC's Marvel series "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." The very first episode of the 7th season was screened, just a year ahead of its official premiere. And what more interesting is that the very first episode of the series actually was screened to the attendees 6 years ago at D23 Expo 2013.
Executive producer and head of Marvel Television, Jeph Loeb said to the fans: "This is really, really a special event. We showed the pilot to a whole bunch of you," and continued, "and somehow after that we made 136 more episodes. It's really an incredible achievement and we couldn't have done it without you."
S.H.I.E.L.D., a short form for "Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division, has long been a mainstay of Marvel Comics. S.H.I.E.L.D. got more success from the Marvel Cinematic Universe where it all started in the end credits of MCU's first movie Iron Man (2008) where Samuel L. Jackson stepped out from the shadows and introduced himself to Robert Downey Jr.'s Tony Stark: "Nick Fury. Director of S.H.I.E.L.D."
The other best-known S.H.I.E.L.D. agent than Nick Fury is Phil Coulsen, played by Clark Gregg, who took the stage with Loeb and Jeff Ward, who plays Deke Shaw. Executive producers Jed Whedon, Maurissa Tancharoen, and Jeff Bell joined too.
"Once upon a time, I worked on a little indie film called The Avengers," joked Gregg. "But then this mischief-making person stuck me with a pointy thing and ended my Marvel career." After that, some fans started an online "Coulson lives" movement. "Ironically, my favorite memory was getting a call from this guy (pointing at Loeb) and Whedon saying, 'We think you may not be so dead.'"
And that's how Agent Coulson came to lead Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. When the audience could ask questions, one fan broke down in tears talking about her affection for the character and how he represented "the everyman" character who stands among the super-powered heroes. Clark Gregg hugged her, returned to the stage and said: "It's been such a big part of my life for 11 and a half years now. Because there was a need for someone who wasn't super except for his heart."
Marvel also announced a new animated TV series which will hit Disney Junior in 2021 titled "Spidey and His Amazing Friends". The series will be the first full-length series to appear on the channel.
"In Marvel's Spidey and His Amazing Friends, Peter Parker, who is used to working solo, must discover what it takes to become a truly amazing super hero: being a spider friend who works well with others. Together with his friends Miles Morales and Gwen AKA Ghost-Spider, they will team up with heroes such as Hulk, Black Panther and Ms. Marvel, to defeat evil foes and learn that teamwork is the best way to save the day." - Deadline.com
Another TV series from Marvel is coming to Disney Channel. The series is titled "Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur" and is an animated series. The series is execute produced by Disney Television Animation, Laurence Fishburne and Helen Sugland's Cinema Gypsy Productions (Black-ish), Marvel Animation & Family Entertainment, and Emmy Award-winner Steve Loter (Kim Possible). Jeff Howard (Planes) and Kate Kondell (Tinker Bell and the Pirate Fairy) will serve as co-producers and story editors. The series will follow the 13-year-old super-genius Lunella Lafayette and her T-Rex, Devil Dinosaur. After Lunella accidentally brings Devil Dinosaur into present-day New York City via a time vortex, the duo works together to protect the city's Lower East Side from danger.
The news was announced during Disney Television Animation's panel by Fishburne. He said: "As an avid comic book fan, I am thrilled to be involved with 'Marvel's Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur.' Disney Channel is the perfect platform to explore this pint-sized female African American superhero and I can't wait for their audience to enjoy the lighthearted adventured of Lunella and Devil Dinosaur."
Senior vice president of Marvel Animation & Family Entertainment, Cort Lane said: "Lunella doesn't know she is the smartest person on the planet, but audience will soon know how very cool Moon Girl is. Her adventures with giant buddy, Devil Dinosaur, are filled with so much wonder and joy, and this historic partnership with Disney Television Animation and Cinema Gypsy Productions proved the right formula to bring them to television."
Star Wars
At the Expo, fans got their first look at the next chapter in the immersive virtual reality experience, Vader Immortal: A Star Wars VR Series. Actually, I don't know anything about this. You can read about it here.The Rise of Skywalker, the 9th movie in the Star Wars saga, will be released worldwide in December 2019. Now a few months before the premiere, Disney has revealed footage and more for the upcoming movie. The audience at the Expo could see the reunion of The Rise of Skywalker cast, a teaser poster, behind-the-scenes photos, and even a special look.
Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Billy Dee Williams, Anthony Daniels, Keri Russell, Kelly Marie Tran, Joonas Suotamo, Naomi Ackie, a few droids, Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy and J.J. Abrams, director of both The Force Awakens and The Rise of Skywalker, took on the stage to reveal new stuff.
One of the things was about the new character Zori Bliss in the upcoming movie. Keri Russell, who plays her, took the stage with J.J. Abrams to share a few details. "She's very cool and a little bit shady," Russell revealed. "She's kind of a criminal and sort of this old friend of Poe's."
A teaser poster featuring Rey and Kylo Ren in a duel with Palpatine showing in the dark was revealed. Fans also got a look of the upcoming movie in a special look which combined clips from the 8 other movies in the Star Wars saga.
Fans around the world weren't allowed to watch the special look before Monday 26th August where it was released online. You can watch it here.
Besides the exciting look at the 9th movie, a new trooper was also revealed. It is called a "Jet Trooper" and is equipped with a rocket pack and a slim and sleek new white helmet. The costume was displayed at the Expo alongside the new Sith Trooper (also new in Episode IX) and other Trooper costumes from Star Wars movies.
At the panel, J.J. Abrams also shared an emotional story about Carrie Fisher: "The character of Leia is really, in a way, the heart of this story. When we were talking about this story we realized we could not possibly tell the end of these nine films without Leia," Abrams said. The actor passed away before filming began, but Abrams still had some unused footage of Fisher from The Force Awakens, "that we realized we could use in a new way so Carrie, as Leia, gets to be in the film." But here's where the story takes a turn. "I wasn't supposed to be here," Abrams said, as he wasn't originally intended to direct the first and last installments in the sequel trilogy. But before her death, Fisher wrote a prescient dedication into her book The Princess Diarist. "She was almost sort of supernaturally witty and magical in a way," Abrams said. On the pages she had written, "'And special thanks to J.J. Abrams for putting up with me twice.' Now, I had never worked with her before The Force Awakens and I wasn't supposed to do this movie, so it was a classic Carrie thing to sort of write something like that and it could only mean one thing for me. And I could not be more excited to have you see her in her final performance." StarWars.com
Probably the most exciting revelation at D23 for the Star Wars franchise is an official timeline. Although the timeline isn't uploaded by Disney or Lucasfilm to the public, a few attendees have taken a photo and shared on the Internet and social media. The timeline combines every Star Wars movie and series except for the LEGO based series.
You can view the timeline here.
The Simpsons
The Simpsons was purchased by Disney along with 21st Century Fox earlier in 2019, and they even got their own panel at the D23 Expo. The team and actors behind the TV series shared exclusive clips and answered fan questions. You can read some of the moments here. The panel also brought the very first Disney merchandise for The Simpsons, which also is some of the very first Disney/Fox merchandise. As far as I have could find at the moment, two items were available: a printed poster with the family and a big Bart head with Mickey ears.
Disney Parks, Experience and Products
Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge, a themed area inside Disneyland Resort, was also attending D23 with its own panel. The panel spoke about the music and sounds that make Galaxy's Edge a wholly immersive experience. The area also opened at Walt Disney World Resort on 29th August. Read more about it here.
Another Galaxy's Edge panel was "The Inspiring Women Behind Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge", six of the women who helped make the experience alive. They have shared stories about the experience with the Galaxy's Edge. It is pretty interesting and a few images from the area and panel are provided. You can read it here.
A new, first-of-its-kind immersive vacation experience is heading to Walt Disney World Resort. Dubbed the Halcyon, fans at D23 Expo got a glimpse of Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser which was on display inside the Disney Parks pavilion.
When it is landing in WDWR, guests will check-in for a two-night adventure. Here they can interact with the characters and act as active participants in the stories that unfold around them during their galactic journey.
The Halcyon, a part of the Chandrila Star Line, is an elegant craft befitting galactic voyagers and explorer who like to travel in style. The model of the ship, shown next to a pretty known Corellian freighter, the Millennium Falcon, for the size, is a Corellian MPO-1400 Star Cruiser crafted in 1:200 scale.
From the panel of Disney Parks, Experiences and Products led by Chairman Bob Chapek, a huge bunch of news was revealed. Some of them including Zootopia coming to Shanghai Disney Resort, a whole new attraction based on Frozen, and a new Marvel land coming to Disney California Adventure and Disneyland Paris called "Avengers Campus". Also revealed was a brand new attraction inspired by Moana/Vaiana, Disney Store coming to Target, and three new Disney Cruise Line ships, with one of them being called "Disney Wish".
The panel was closed with the magical words which I think I would share: "Thank you for helping us celebrate hope, magic, and the power of a wish to change a life - and the world," said Bob Chapek. "Because after all, we're all here because of one man's wish to build a place where both he and his daughter could have fun together. And look what that's led to: millions of families around the world brought together by the magic of Disney and millions of magical memories that last a lifetime."
Unfortunately, I don't think I can tell about the news for this panel, but if you want to read about all the things, D23 has written an article on their website where they also share some images. It's long but also interesting reading. Read it here.
D23 has also uploaded a video of some of the moments from the panel which you can watch here.
Disney+
Few days before the D23 Expo, on 19th August actually, Disney+ launched its very first social media accounts. It is very cool if you have an account on either Facebook, Instagram or Twitter as you now can follow the streaming service for updates and news. The different Disney companies on Twitter actually made a "story" out of this news, which you can see it here.
Disney has during D23 also released the official trailer for Disney+. The video shows a vault of content with scenes from different Disney Classics, the movies from Pixar, Marvel and Star Wars, Disney's live-action movies alongside Disney series and DCOMs.
You can watch the video right here
Disney+ is launching on 12th November. A monthly subscription will cost $6.99, with an annual subscription set at $69.99. At the day of launch, Disney+ will have 7,500 episodes, 25 original series, 400 library movie titles, and 100 recent cinema movies releases available. The streaming service will be ad-free, only supported by subscription fees, and it will be available on gaming consoles, smart TV's, and connected streaming devices.
Diary of a Female President will be available in January on Disney+. It was announced by executive producer and recurring guest star Gina Rodriguez and lead actress Tess Romero.
"Told using the narration from her dairy, this half-hour single camera comedy series follows 12-year-old Cuban-American Elena's journey from middle school to ultimately becoming president of the United States." - Oh My Disney
Encore! is an unscripted reality series executive produced by Kristen Bell, the voice of Anna in Frozen, and it will follow former castmates of high school musicals, tasking them with re-creating their original performance years after they last performed it.
At the Expo, the official trailer was revealed.
Forky Asks a Question is a new collection of short films starring Toy Story 4's Forky and he will be asking all the important questions about how the world works: What is love? What is time? And the most important question of all: What is cheese? Tony Hale, the voice of the character, announced the first short to premiere, called "What is Money?"
High School Musical: The Musical: The Series. The name is long and it feels strange. When the title was revealed it felt pointless for many, as the word "Musical" is featured 2 times in the title. Disney has released the trailer and a poster for the upcoming series, and when you have watched the trailer, the name will give a lot more sense.
Watch the trailer here.
If you've seen the trailer, you might already know, but let me explain the title: it's a High School Musical series where the characters inside set up a musical about the movies where the characters will audition as Gabriella, Troy, Ryan, Sharpay and all the others.
The series will star a few Disney Channel stars including Olivia Rodrigo (Bizaardvark), Joshua Bassett (Stuck in the Middle), Sofia Wylie (Andi Mack), and Dara Renee (Freaky Friday).
The cast and showrunner Tim Federle invited 3600 fans to watch the first episode of the series in the D23 Expo Arena. The series includes 10 episodes, set at the real-life East High, where the original movies were filmed.
A video of the cast from D23 was uploaded to YouTube by Disney
Lady and the Tramp is a live-action movie based on the animated movie from 1955. Instead of a cinema premiere like all other remakes, the movie will premiere on Disney+.
Watch the official trailer here.
The two stars of the movie, the rescue dogs Rose (Lady) and Monte (Tramp) even attended D23 Expo. A video shared by Variety shows the dogs on the red carpet. Watch it here.
Lamp Life is a new series of shorts featuring the Toy Story character Bo Peep. At D23, the first logo for the series was revealed:
Lizzie McGuire will also come to Disney+ in a completely new series. The announcement was made by no other than Hilary Duff who will reprise her role as Lizzie, and she revealed some small details about the series: "The good news is, just like me and everybody who loved Lizzie and grew up with her, Lizzie's also grown up. She's older, she's wiser - and she has a much bigger shoe budget, which is super exciting. She has her dream job, she has kind of the perfect life right now. She's working as an apprentice to a fancy New York City decorator. She has her dream guy who owns a cool SoHo restaurant. She has her dream apartment in Brooklyn, and she's getting ready to celebrate her 30th birthday." Her life sounds pretty ideal... but, Duff reassured fans, "She's still dealing with that 13-year-old no-holds-barred animated Lizzie that's constantly babbling in her adult Lizzie head." - D23.com
Loki will see Tom Hiddleston return as the title character in a series set after the events of Avengers: Endgame. Kate Herron will direct with Michael Waldron as head writer. Hiddleston promised in a video to D23 Expo guests: "It's your boundless enthusiasm and your support that mean that Loki still has more story left to tell, and it will never stop surprising and delighting me that you think he's cool. This journey isn't over yet - in fact, it's only just begun." The series is set to premiere on Disney+ in 2021 and will be connected with MCU.
Monsters at Work is a series from Disney Television Animation and will take place in Monstropolis, where new characters will be seen. Ben Feldman and Aisha Tyler will play their roles as Tylor and Millie, respectively, in the series inspired by Pixar's Monsters, Inc. The beloved characters Mike and Sulley will make special appearances in Monsters at Work, who once again will be voiced by their original voice actors Billy Crystal and John Goodman. Feldman and Tyler shared a special look at their characters and revealed that the series takes place immediately after Monstropolis makes the switch to laugh power.
Moon Knight was revealed by Kevin Feige at the Expo, a new live-action series coming to Disney+. The series will take place within the Marvel Cinematic Universe and follow Marc Spector, who suffers from a version of dissociative identity disorder, and his confused mental state makes it difficult for him to differentiate between reality and hallucination. The logo was also revealed:
Ms. Marvel is an upcoming series by Marvel to be released on Disney+. No details have been given as the series is in development but it will connect with the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The series will star the superhero, Kamala Khan. At the Expo, Marvel revealed the logo for the series.
Muppets Now is a new Muppet series but now unscripted. Not many details are known yet as it will first premiere on Disney+ in 2020, so we'll have to wait a while.
The Muppet haven't been so active in the last years, with the last Muppet movie being Muppets Most Wanted from 2014, celebrating its 5th anniversary in 2019, an ABC series only cancelled after one season, and Disney Junior's reboot Muppet Babies.
Noelle is the first Christmas movie to be released on Disney+. The movie's two stars Anna Kendrick Billy Eichner, Kris Kringle's daughter and son, respectively, shared the first trailer for the movie. Watch it here.
"In the upcoming holiday comedy, Kris Kringle's daughter is full of Christmas spirit and holiday fun, but wishes she could do something "important" like her beloved brother Nick, who will take over from their father this Christmas. When Nick is about to crumble like a gingerbread cookie from all the pressure, Noelle suggests he take a break and get away... but when he doesn't return, Noelle must find her brother and bring him back in time to save Christmas." - D23.com
Obi-Wan Kenobi will get his own series premiering on Disney+. Neither the plot details or a title have been revealed, but Ewan McGregor will reprise his role as the Jedi in the series. It was also revealed that the scripts have been written for the series and production should begin in 2020.
Ewan McGregor previously played Obi-Wan Kenobi in the Star Wars movies The Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith. His last Disney role was in the 2018 movie "Christopher Robin" where he played the title character as an adult.
One Day at Disney is a collaboration between Disney+ and Disney Publishing Worldwide, the two will bring a collectible book and documentary series. On 3rd December 2019, Disney+ will debut the first short of its 52-episode, short-form series One Day at Disney, highlighting the creative forces in front of the cameras and behind-the-scenes at The Walt Disney Company. A new episode will be released every week and focus on one person and their job at Disney, either it is from the Parks, at one of their animation studios or another place at the company.
The series will be released the same date as a feature-length documentary and 224-page, hardbound coffee table book are available. On 21st February 2019, 76 photoshoots took place around the world to capture the work Disney employees do every day and they are featured in this special book which is ready to pre-order from shopDisney.com.
Disney has also released a trailer.
Phineas and Ferb The Movie: Candace Against the Universe is great news for Disney Channel and Phineas and Ferb fans. The franchise's second movie is premiering on Disney+ in 2020. The creators of the movie and the franchise, Dan Povenmire and Jeff "Swampy" Marsh, shared that Phineas and Ferb will travel across the galaxy to rescue their sister Candace. Vincent Martella and Ashley Tisdale will reprise their roles as Phineas and Candace, respectively, with David Errigo Jr. joining as Ferb.
Project Hero is a 20-episode series coming to Disney+ on 12th November. The series was previously announced, but at the Expo more details were given. Read all about it here.
Rogue One will get a prequel series on Disney+. The series will see Diego Luna and Alan Tudyk reprise their roles as Cassian Andor and K-2SO, respectively. Nothing big was revealed at D23, nor a title, but the series will start shooting in London in 2020. The series will follow Cassian Andor's adventures as a rebel spy during the formative years of the Rebellion before the events of A New Hope.
She-Hulk is the transforming monster version of Jennifer Walters, a lawyer and Bruce Banner's cousin. Unlike Bruce Banner's Hulk, She-Hulk can control her emotions but is almost permanently in her She-Hulk persona. While Bruce Banner's Hulk came to live from gamma radiation, She-Hulk came to live after Walters received a blood transfusion from Banner.
Nothing but the series and a logo was revealed but Kevin Feige says the series is "unlike anything we've done before." It will connect with the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Stargirl was introduced by the stars Grace VanderWaal and Graham Verchere and is a coming-of-age movie based on the New York Times' best-selling young adult novel by Jerry Spinelli. The movie is set to premiere on Disney+ in early 2020. Stargirl is directed by Julia Hart from a screenplay by Kristin Hahn, Julia Hart and Jordan Horowitz. The movie also stars Maximiliano Hernandez, Darby Stanchfield, Giancarlo Esposito and Disney Channel Star Karan Brar (Jessie, Bunk'd, Invisible Sister).
Star Wars: The Clone Wars will get its 7th and final season in February 2020 as revealed on the D23 Expo. The series started with a cinema movie in 2008 and 5 seasons premiered at Cartoon Network, where the series was airing. A 6th season was created and was exclusively available on Netflix, but with Disney's purchase of Lucasfilm in 2012, the series will now premiere the last season on Disney+.
The Falcon and the Winter Soldier is one of Marvel's many series to hit Disney+. At the Expo, it was revealed that Wyatt Russell has been cast as John Walker aka US Agent and Emily VanCamp will reprise her role as Sharon Carter in the series. The series is set to be released in 2020. After the events of Avengers: Endgame, Falcon (Anthony Mackie) and the Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan) team-up.
The Mandalorian is the first live-action Star Wars series to be released and it will be available on the first day of Disney+ launching. The first trailer and a poster have been released during D23. Watch the trailer here.
The World According to Jeff Goldblum is a National Geographic series and it will be premiere at Disney+. The star and host of the series is no other than Jeff Goldblum himself. The series will consist of 12 episodes.
Watch the trailer here.
Timmy Failure: Mistakes Were Made is directed by Tom McCarthy with screenplay by McCarthy and Stephan Pastis and based on the best-selling book series by Pastis. The movie follows Timmy Failure, who, along with his 1,500-pound polar bear partner Total, operates Total Failure, Inc., a Portland detective agency. A first look was shared by Sean Bailey at the Expo and the movie is set to premiere on Disney+ in early 2020.
Togo will be a Disney+ Original movie. A scene was released at the Expo and its an untold true story set in the winter of 1925 across the treacherous terrain of the Alaskan tundra. The movie is directed by Ericson Core from a screenplay by Tom Flynn with Kim Zubick as producer and it stars Willem Dafoe, Julianne Nicholson, Christopher Heyerdahl, Richard Dormer, Michael Greyeyes, Michael McElhatton, and Michael Gaston. The movie will premiere in early December.
WandaVision will show the actors Paul Bettany and Elizabeth Olsen as Vision and Wanda Maximoff (Scarlet Witch) playing two super-powered beings trying to live ideal suburban lives, just until they begin to suspect that things are not as they seem in this series Kevin Feige described as "half classic sitcom and half epic MCU adventure." Bettany and Olsen made a surprise appearance at the Expo with Kat Dennings and Randall Park, who both will reprise their roles from Thor and Ant-Man and the Wasp. Kathryn Hahn who will play a new character in the series also joined them. The series will premiere in 2021. A poster was also revealed:
What If...? is an upcoming animated series based on the "What If" Marvel comics. The series will take each of the Marvel Cinematic Universe movies and focus on a character and imagine what would have happened if the events in the movies would have turned out differently. The first episode of many should ask the question: "What if Peggy Carter became Captain America?" The voice by Peggy Carter in the series, Haley Atwell joined director Bryan Andrews and head writer Ashley Bradley on stage. "It feels like the gift that keeps on giving", said Atwell regarding the opportunity to give life to the character in this new way, and she credits the fans for their love for Peggy. "They brought her back," she shared. The series will premiere in the summer of 2021.
Other things
Kermit the Frog himself was at the D23 Expo. "For years I've just been your typical singing, dancing, talking frog," Kermit said, "so it was great to be asked to do something different." The famous frog introduced the audience to the creators of the Disney Channel series "Amphibia" and "Big City Greens". "That's a show with 'green' in the title. Why wasn't I cast on that show?" Kermit asked.
Amphibia's creator Matt Braly, store editor Jack Ferraiolo and the four cast members Justin Felbinger, Amanda Leighton, Brenda Song and Disney Legend Bill Farmer were at the panel with Big City Greens' creators Chris Houghton and Shane Houghton with the four voice actors Bob Joles, Marieve Herington, and Artemis Pebdani.
The teams behind the series teased new storylines for the second season of each series.
"Braly shared exclusive concept art for Season 2 of Amphibia, depicting the Plantar frog family in their slug-drawn cart heading for a rocky new landscape surrounding an active volcano. The frogs and their human guest - Anne, the show's main character, who has been magically transported into this world of talking frogs - will be "hitting the road," Ferraiolo said, "as they try to find a way to find Anne's friends and get her back home." - D23.com
"Getting transported into a world of frogs sounds right up my lily pad," quipped Kermit.
Amphibia is an animated series like Big City Greens that premiered in June 2019, but it isn't a well-known series yet in several countries including big parts of Europe.
For the series most countries may be familiar with, fans of Big City Greens can start to be excited.
In the United States, Season 2 will premiere this September, and it will actually include the very first Christmas themed episode. "It's a half-hour special that is also a musical with six new songs," Chris Houghton said. "I'm very happy and proud of it, and I can't wait for you guys to see it."
Chris also added, "things get really weird and fun" when speaking about Season 2 where fans can expect some guest stars to visit the Green family. "I can't say any celebrity names", he said.
A preview of a new series of Disney Television Animations shorts titled "Random Rings" was featured at the panel. The shorts will feature a Disney Channel character and telephone unsuspecting real people, whose conversations then become hilarious short cartoons. The first episode of this new series included Cricket Green from Big City Greens and was showed at the panel. The episode is titled "Cricket Calls a Karate School" and was also uploaded to YouTube where additional episodes will be available - already a few have been uploaded.
Disney Movie Reward opened in 2006 and is a program where you can get rewards. The program has been available in the United States and Canada since then, but later it became available in other countries like Germany and the United Kingdom as well. At D23, Disney revealed that the program will change its name to "Disney Movie Insiders" from 26th September, and the announcement teased a few of the new program's features, as well as a new mobile app. The members of the program will be able to watch trailers and special content for upcoming movies, buy movie tickets directly, earn and redeem points for amazing rewards in new and unique ways, receive access to exclusive perks and sweepstakes, and play interactive experiences on the mobile app. The new program is available to the United States and Canada only.
D23 has released a video of the top 23rd moments of the Expo to YouTube. It's magical to watch and it shows a lot of the revelations from the panels. Watch it here. Also uploaded are videos showing the Disney+ panel and from the live-action and animated movies.
If you did not attend but want to see something from the Expo and its panels, Disney has uploaded photos to D23 Expo Press. But beware you might be envious of seeing these photos. They are pretty magical and every Disney fan's dream. See them here
D23 Expo will return in the summer of 2021.
Sources/images: See link
Have I missed something or have I made a mistake? Please feel free to share the news or correct me at the e-mail provided at the bottom of the website.
Please understand that all this information is learned from other websites (see sources) as I did not attend in person.
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