Welcome, foolish mortals and D23 members... to a recap of our recent Halloween installments of the D23 Spotlight Series! To usher in October, we celebrated several frightful favorites from across the realms of Disney, alongside our friends from the Walt Disney Archives and Walt Disney Imagineering.
Starting in Glendale, California, fans gathered at the historic Grand Central Air Terminal for the D23 Halloween Boo-nanza—which featured a host of carnival games, snacks, and terrifyingly good tunes. Spooktacular fashion was also brought to the forefront with fans dressed as iconic characters, creatures, and even attractions (King Arthur Carrousel from Disneyland Park, if you’re wondering). Whatever the dress, it was a perfect match for our slew of photo ops—including the original Winifred Sanderson stone figure from Hocus Pocus (1993)—to keep the party going. The Walt Disney Archives also turned some heads with their “Heads Will Roll” display, featuring fanciful manifestations of notable noggins such as Predator, a Facehugger, singing bust stand-ins from 2003’s The Haunted Mansion, and more!
The head-lines continued with a presentation on Disney’s adaptation of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow—the memorable segment of 1949’s The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad—led by the director of the Walt Disney Archives, Becky Cline. This session featured rarely seen hand-drawn animation sequences; video commentary from legendary Walt Disney Animation Studios animator and director Eric Goldberg on the film’s innovative techniques; and a deep dive into the history of the original Sleepy Hollow story. Cline also included plenty of pictures from her own trips to Sleepy Hollow, NY, for anyone trying to get a head-start on a rewatch or a trip of their own.
Fans also got to peek behind the curtain at Walt Disney Imagineering’s history in creating illusions and special effects, unpacking the legacy of the Haunted Mansion attraction for the occult-ish occasion. Special Effects designers Scott Thompson and Mason Lev walked (or Doom Buggied?) attendees through the illusions utilized by early Imagineer and future Disney Legend Yale Gracey in the original Haunted Mansion attraction, and how they’ve personally worked to build on his legacy. You can see some of Thompson and Lev’s work in Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance and Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway—and our guests personally got to see behind-the-scenes footage captured while developing effects for these must-see attractions.
The ghoul times continued with our Spooktacular Spotlight event at Walt Disney World Resort in Florida, where guests were floored (rightfully and frightfully so) with another exploration of Walt Disney Imagineering’s illusions and special effects! Imagineering executive Daniel Joseph shared insightful tales of his contributions to illusions and effects development, which, of course, included a callback to the Haunted Mansion and its gasp-worthy ghosts. This time, we traded starfighters and runaway railcars for tea saucers and Xandarian spacecraft, as guests learned of spine-tingling tidbits behind some incredible effects found in Enchanted Tale of Beauty and the Beast at Tokyo Disneyland and Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind at EPCOT.
Our Florida fans were also treated to an early private viewing of the new “Disney Villains: Unfairly Ever After” stage show at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, for a fully villainous VIP visit.
If Spotlight Series events like these catch your fancy, don’t dilly dally—check out the D23 Events page for upcoming holiday happenings (or haunts). Fangs to all our spooky-pookies who stopped by... we can’t wait for our next brew together!
