“Share the Joy” this Holiday Season

November 16, 2016February 9, 2017

The Walt Disney Company has a legacy of making a difference in communities around the world during the holidays, with a focus on families in need. During the holiday season, Disney’s “Share the Joy” campaign celebrates happiness, hope, and laughter with communities that need it most. Disney believes that every family deserves a little holiday cheer! That’s why Disney’s “Share the Joy” campaign will help bring season’s greetings and goodwill through contributions, gift and food donations, collaboration with local organizations, and volunteerism in service to deserving kids and families.

Disney VoluntEARS, Cast Members and employees will “Share the Joy” across the globe, and we invite you to join us! Whether serving with your family at a local food bank this season or giving a new toy to a deserving child, our collective actions can have an uplifting impact that helps make dreams come true.

Here are a few ways you can get involved:

Feeding America: As part of the Disney’s “Share the Joy” holiday campaign, Disney and Feeding America have teamed up to inspire healthier generations by expanding nationwide access to nutritious foods, including fruits and vegetables, in local communities. Disney announced a $1 million Feeding America donation to help strengthen local produce programs at Feeding America member food banks across the country. Together, Disney and Feeding America serve food to more than 46 million people, including 12 million children, each year. To get involved or volunteer at your local food bank, visit FeedingAmerica.org/BeInspired.

Family Volunteer Day powered by Disney and generationOn: Family Volunteer Day, as part of Disney’s “Share the Joy” campaign, will demonstrate and celebrate the power of families who volunteer together. For more than 25 years, Family Volunteer Day has offered families an opportunity to experience the true spirit of the holiday season. Start the holiday season by taking time to volunteer as a family. Join generationOn and Disney on November 19, the Saturday before Thanksgiving, to come together and support your community! Visit generationOn.org /FVD to get involved.

Toys for Tots: Disney’s “Share the Joy” is brightening the lives of kids and families this holiday season and you can “Share the Joy” by inspiring others, too! Disney VoluntEARS, Cast Members, and employees will donate thousands of new, unwrapped toys to deserving kids and families in local communities. We invite you to join us! For more than 60 years, Disney has supported the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve Toys for Tots Foundation as a way to connect with children and families in need during the holiday season. Disney’s relationship with Toys for Tots began in 1948 when Walt Disney and his animators personally designed the original Toys for Tots train logo, which is still in use. Donate a new, unwrapped toy to a deserving family today. Visit ToysforTots.org/BeInspired to learn more.

Disney VoluntEARS “Share the Joy”: Disney’s “Share the Joy,” in collaboration with dozens of non-profit organizations, will help bring season’s greetings and support hundreds of deserving kids and families. Disney VoluntEARS, Cast Members, and employees will serve others through adopt-a-family, adopt-a-child, holiday family feast, and distributing holiday comfort kits in communities near and far. Help us “Share the Joy” this holiday season! Visit us at thewaltdisneycompany.com/philanthropy or follow us on Twitter @CitizenDisney.

To get involved, visit Disney.com/BeInspired. “Share the Joy” with us this holiday season.

Peek into Live-Action Beauty and the Beast—Plus More in News Briefs

November 16, 2016November 16, 2016

By Courtney Potter

Brand-New Trailer for Disney’s Live-Action Beauty and the Beast

It’s a tale as old as time, a song as old as rhyme… and it’s coming to the big screen as a live-action adaptation! Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, directed by Bill Condon, doesn’t waltz into a cinema near you until next spring—but we’ve just been gifted with a brand-new, first-look trailer for the film! Check out the clip, above!

Featuring a truly all-star cast—including Emma Watson, Dan Stevens, Luke Evans, Josh Gad, Emma Thompson, Ewan McGregor, Stanley Tucci, and Kevin Kline—Beauty and the Beast includes all the music you’ve come to know and love from Oscar® winners Alan Menken and Howard Ashman (plus a few songs written for the stage adaptation by Menken and lyricist Tim Rice). Meet Belle and friends when the film premieres on March 17, 2017.

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Save the Date!
Be sure to mark these upcoming Disney events on your calendar:

D23 and Walt Disney Archives
November 19–20, 2016
D23 Destination D: Amazing Adventures
December 4, 2016
Light Up the Season with D23
December 11, 2016
Holiday Gingerbread House Workshop at Downtown Disney
December 13, 2016
D23’s Disney Springs Holiday Celebration
December 13, 2016
D23’s Moonlight and Mistletoe Dinner
July 14-16, 2017
D23 Expo 2017
Studios
November 23, 2016
Moana opens in theaters
December 16, 2016
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story opens in theaters
March 17, 2017
Beauty and the Beast opens in theaters
May 26, 2017
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales
opens in theaters

Parks
November 7, 8, 10, 11, 13, 15, 18, 27, 29; December 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 9, 11, 13, 15, 16, 18, 22
Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party at Walt Disney World Resort
November 10–January 8, 2017
Holidays at the Disneyland Resort
November 11–January 8, 2017
Holidays at Disney Springs
Television
November 20, 2016
Elena and the Secret of Avalor is simulcast on Disney Junior and Disney Channel at 7 p.m. ET
November 24, 2016
The Wonderful World of Disney: Magical Holiday Celebration, 8–10 p.m. ET on ABC
November 24, 2016
Freeform’s Countdown to 25 Days of Christmas begins
November 25, 2016
Disney Parks Presents: A Descendants Magical Holiday Celebration, 8–9 p.m. ET on Disney Channel
December 1-25, 2016
Freeform’s 25 Days of Christmas
December 25, 2016
The Disney Parks’ Magical Christmas Celebration, 9–11 a.m. on ABC

Mickey Mouse Debuts New Video on ABC’s Good Morning America

Mark your calendars! This Friday, November 18, Mickey Mouse will be visiting the set of ABC’s Good Morning America for a very special reason: He’ll be celebrating his big birthday and debuting his brand-new music video, “What We Got”!

Mickey’s visit with Robin Roberts, George Stephanopoulos, and the rest of the GMA gang in New York City is the finale of his worldwide birthday tour—where he surprised fans and friends from Los Angeles to Kyoto, Japan (and everywhere in between!) while shooting the music video. That same day, “What We Got” from Walt Disney Records will be available for both purchase and digital streaming—and the video itself will be featured all over social media, including right here at D23.com! Mickey fans are invited to join the party by using the hashtag #HappyBirthdayMickey.

But that’s not all: Disney Channel will air blocks of Mickey Mouse programming all day Friday, including the premieres of two new cartoon series—and Disney Junior will debut the teaser trailer for its upcoming new series Mickey and the Roadster Racers.

Happy birthday, Mickey! And many happy returns!

Adventure Awaits with Rogue One: Recon 360 Video Experience

The countdown is officially on—Rogue One: A Star Wars Story will lightspeed into theaters next month. And to celebrate its impending arrival, Verizon and ILMxLAB have just debuted Rogue One: Recon, a short, immersive 360 video that lets viewers experience Star Wars from the perspective of an everyday Rebel X-wing pilot in space… culminating with a thrilling, unexpected battle against the evil Empire!

Follow Jyn Erso on her daring missions for the Rebel Alliance when Rogue One debuts in theaters on December 16.

Shanghai Disneyland Breaks Ground on Toy Story Land

Shanghai Disneyland, the latest addition to the Disney Park and Resorts roster—filled with all manner of amazing attractions and memorable entertainment. And while they’ve only been officially open since June 16, they’re already breaking ground on an expansion.

Toy Story Land, a one-of-a-kind experience for guests, will continue Shanghai Disney Resort’s commitment to remain “authentically Disney, distinctly Chinese” and will open to the public in 2018. Everyone’s favorite toys, from one of Disney’s most popular franchises ever—and one that’s been well liked in China since the first film’s debut in 1995—will come to life (and play) in a totally immersive land with three brand-new attractions and a themed character greeting area. It’ll be more fun than a Barrel of Monkeys!

Make like Mr. Potato Head and keep your eyes peeled (see what we did there?) for more info on Toy Story Land as it becomes available.

Marvel’s The Inhumans Coming to IMAX and ABC in 2017

We’re getting another dose of Marvel fun on our television sets next year—and the show’s debut is set to make a little history. Marvel’s The Inhumans will premiere versions of its first two episodes in IMAX theaters across the country! It’s the first time a live-action TV series has debuted on the big screen! ABC will then premiere the weekly series a bit later in the fall, with additional exclusive content that can only been seen on the network.

The Inhumans, a race of superhumans with truly unique powers, were first introduced in Marvel Comics by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby in 1965. Since then, they’ve grown in popularity—and have become some of the most iconic characters in the Marvel Universe. Marvel’s The Inhumans on ABC will explore the never-before-told, totally epic adventures of Black Bolt and the royal family.

What other seminal Inhumans will we see in the series? Medusa? Gorgon? Lockjaw? You’ll have to watch to find out…

Behind the Scenes of the New Disney A to Z with Dave Smith

November 16, 2016

By D23 Team

For anyone who’s curious about The Walt Disney Company, this comprehensive encyclopedia is your one-stop guide! Filled with significant achievements, short biographies, historic dates, comprehensive lists, and tons of trivia, this newly updated collection covers all things Disney—from A to Z—through about 8,000 entries and more than 800 images.

Dave Smith, chief archivist emeritus of the Walt Disney Archives and the ultimate authority on all matters Disney, adds and enhances thousands of entries based on 10 years of historical perspective since the encyclopedia’s last wide release.

D23’s Steven Vagnini sat down with Dave for a conversation about the origins of Disney A to Z and a peek behind the scenes at crafting this new and expanded edition. Get a copy of the latest edition, here.

Steven Vagnini (SV): Let’s go back in time. Can you tell us a little bit about how Disney A to Z came to be in the first place?
Dave Smith (DS): I had a meeting set with the head of Hyperion Books—the entity that used to publish Disney books, now it’s Disney Editions—to get suggestions for books that might include information from the Archives. One of the ideas was to do a Disney encyclopedia. Well, my first thought was that would be a horrendous job, and it was not something that I would want to get involved in. But that was just my first impression. Over the next couple of days, I gave this a little bit of thought and realized that having an encyclopedia would be very useful for the Archives. It would put a lot of the information we have in the Archives out where people could have it at their fingertips. I also realized that we had been collecting materials in the Archives for more than 20 years and it would probably be easier than I thought to compile the information into an encyclopedia. I said, ‘Okay, I’ll be glad to do it.’ Two years later, it was completed. I got a couple of people to help write some of the entries for the original edition, but I did most of it myself. What I would do would be to take a list of all of the television shows, a list of all of the feature films, a list of the educational films, a list of park attractions, and then write entries and check these off as I wrote them. So it just grew, piece by piece, until it became an encyclopedia. And now that we’ve gotten through five editions, we’ve been able to improve on it each time a new edition comes out. Things that we found that we left out that really should have been there, we can add them. And also we’ve had the opportunity to keep it up to date. It’s important to continue to create new entries for the new films and television series and so forth that Disney gets involved in, but also to change the ones that are no longer exactly as they were stated in the previous edition, like a TV series ending or a park attraction closing.

SV: Two decades have passed since the first release in 1996, so we’re celebrating the 20th anniversary of Disney A to Z, with 8,000 new entries added in that period! We have seen The Walt Disney Company grow in those years, so now Disney A to Z includes the worlds of Marvel Studios films and the new productions from Lucasfilm and Pixar. So as you hear the announcement of a brand-new acquisition of this nature, do you at all first think, ‘Oh my goodness, I have to update the encyclopedia.’?
DS: I do. And I keep an update on my computer at home and as soon as I hear of new television series or a new attraction at the parks, I’ll see if I can find enough information to do an entry.

SV: A limited fourth edition was also recently released. Can you tell us about that?
DS: Yes, Sam’s Club decided to pay for a new edition of Disney A to Z in 2014. The problem was this was a limited distribution, and it was very hard for a lot of the Disney fans to acquire copies. It was not sold online, and you had to actually go to a Sam’s Club store, and they sold out quickly. So there was immediate demand for another edition of the book that would be available much more widely. Of course, because we did the work updating the third edition to the fourth edition, it was quite easy to update the fourth edition to the fifth edition. And all of the information is totally up to date up through July 1, 2016, which is when we submitted the final text.

SV: So comparing this brand-new fifth edition to the last wide release in 2006, what have been some of the major additions?
DS: As you say, Disney has acquired other companies, such as Marvel and Lucasfilm, so while the encyclopedia is not going back and doing the entries for, say, all of the earlier Star Wars films, we are starting with the acquisition date and from then on creating entries on any films or TV series or so forth that are created by those entities. So you don’t look in there if you want to find out information on the first Star Wars films or ABC series before Disney bought ABC because that was never the purpose of the encyclopedia. Certainly with Shanghai Disney Resort, we made an effort to do entries on all of their attractions and restaurants and shops as we had done for all of the other parks. One thing that we did as we were working on the fourth edition was to increase greatly the number of entries regarding the parks. We had been selective in earlier years and not listed every single restaurant and shop. With the fourth edition, we decided we wanted to include everything, and so we went back and created entries for the shops and restaurants that had not been included in the third edition.

SV: So that touches on one of the challenges of assembling a book such as this: being able to determine what warrants a new entry. Can you share your perspective on that?
DS: I include the items that I think are important and that people may want to have more information about. There is a limit to what you can do and you just can’t have an entry on every single thing in the “Disney universe.” I should say that, to my knowledge, there has hardly been anything that was removed from the book. I think maybe one or two entries that I can think of that were deemed irrelevant and were dropped. But other than that, it’s been a steady growth of the encyclopedia, not a drastic change and certainly not dropping entries to get within a page count that would be reasonable.

SV: And that brings us to another question: in what ways do you see people using this book?
DS: Probably the same way I use the book [laughing]. A lot of people have said that I was the top Disney expert in the world. Well, I’ve never known that I’ve really deserved that label because, in my job, I had to be a generalist. I had to know something about everything that Disney got involved in. So I didn’t specialize and I didn’t try to learn all of the dates and the spellings and the names of people and the names of actors in films and where films were shot and all that sort of thing. So a lot of that information is in the encyclopedia, so I—just like anybody else—look up an answer when I get a question. I keep that book on my desk, and I am opening it up and referring to it almost every day. Well, let me say one thing that I do a lot of proofreading of publications for the Company. And every once and a while, when I’m reading through the text of a new book or a major magazine article, or something like that, something won’t look right. Did they spell the name of that actor right or not? And I flip open my book and check. And it’s just so easy to have the information at your fingertips without having someone in the Archives walk across the room and pull out a file drawer and look something open up. So that’s one thing that really was a great help for the Archives was to have this material compiled into one book so that the Archives staff could use it as much as anybody else. Just recently, I was talking a reporter that covers Disney for the Los Angeles Times, and he said he’s got Disney A to Z on his desk and refers to it all the time.

SV: What I really enjoy about the book is sometimes just flipping through it. It’s fun to stumble upon an entry and learn something new that I didn’t know before about a film or an animated short or a random subject.
DS: Well, Disney has just expanded so far, so widely, that it’s not possible to remember everything. Back in the early days of the Company and on up through the 1970s, we weren’t making a lot of movies; we’d make two or three movies maybe in a year. And you would remember those movies because they didn’t come out that often and you were looking forward to the next Disney movie so that you could go see it in the theaters. Well, starting in the 1980s, we started doing a lot more movies each year; we’d do 15 to 20 movies in a year. The Company’s expansion makes the existence of an encyclopedia so much more important, and it’s an easy place to look up that information.

SV: What do you hope readers get out of the new fifth edition?
DS: I hope people will realize that’s it’s an important new edition because even if you have the third edition, that one is very much out of date today. As I’ve said, I have more than 250 pages of additions and changes to that edition, so it’s really important that people use the latest edition if they want the most accurate information and certainly if they want any information on what Disney has done in the last 10 years.

Who’s That Good Luck Charm-ing Voice in Moana?

November 14, 2016

By Jim Frye

In Walt Disney Animation Studios’ (WDAS) upcoming Moana, the super-charming actor Alan Tudyk plays the scene-stealing rooster Heihei. And although many people will recognize him as the star of such high-profile TV projects as Firefly, iRobot, the film Serenity, or the new series Con Man, Tudyk is no stranger to expressing himself creatively behind the scenes as evidenced by his “appearance” in a long string of hits from WDAS: he voices King Candy in Wreck-It Ralph, Alistair Krei in Big Hero 6, Duke Weaselton in Zootopia, the Duke of Weselton in Frozen, and Moana’s crazy sidekick, Heihei. I guess you could call him Disney’s good luck charm. (It’s also interesting to note, he plays the droid K-2S0 in December’s Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.) Here, D23 speaks exclusively with Tudyk about the many roles he’s had with Disney.

D23: In Moana you play the rooster Heihei. How fun was that?
Alan Tudyk: I love this character very much. You know, in a Disney animated movie, a rooster can be anything. You know, they don’t necessarily just make rooster sounds as we know them. They can be soliloquies if that’s what the character is about. It was a blast. A blast.

D23: Can you tell us about Heihei?
Tudyk: Heihei is a rooster and he’s stupid—in the nicest way. He’s the dumbest, dumbest rooster on the planet and he only speaks in rooster sounds. He does a lot in the movie and it was such a fun, fun, fun exercise to express with just those sounds.

D23: How does Disney keep creating such great films?
Tudyk: The team they have working together in concert is amazing to me. The process from taking it from the script in the beginning to what you get in the end—making such an affecting story every step of the way. And they don’t miss a beat, and it’s very thorough, and they share creative ideas with actors. They hire people and they want to imbue their characters with the actors’ ideas, their personalities.

D23: You’ve been in a quite a few Disney animated films lately. What’s that been like?
Tudyk: I think anybody would want to be a part of something like that. I’ve yet to meet an actor, especially a voiceover actor or otherwise, who wouldn’t love to be part of Disney’s animated movies. Because it’s just such high quality. Everybody looks forward to it. They’re a step above. It’s not even bragging, it just kind of is. And it has been for a long time. They’ve set the standard. And certain days you feel like you’re just playing around with friends, and that’s how it should be, you know? That’s why you started in this business.

D23: So, are you the good luck charm for Walt Disney Animation Studios?
Tudyk: I mean I’ve tried to convince them that the reason they’re on such a streak is me. So I don’t want to say another reason right now, so I’m going to go with that one. Because they may read this and find out that it’s actually something about John Lasseter. Actually, it’s brilliance and the process with which they make these movies.

D23: What makes you such a good fit for these films?
Tudyk: I think because I started in the theater and there’s a certain commitment to character in that type of acting that lends itself to this type of work. I would just go from thing to thing and they were always different with a lot of different accents, a lot of different types of people I got to portray, and it continued in movies. In animation, you can go as far as your imagination goes, and so if you go off-roading for a little while—if your character takes over, if you can find a character that’s really strong—they’ll go along with you on the ride, and that’s what people will see pieces of in Moana.

Oh Boy! Mickey’s Coming to Good Morning America

November 14, 2016November 1, 2017

By Nicole Nalty

We’ve already shared some of the fun celebrations taking place for Mickey Mouse’s birthday—save the date: Friday, November 18!—and we’ve been following his journey around the world (check out Mickey’s new Instagram), but we’ve just heard some more exciting news about the big cheese’s big day––he’s going to be on GMA!

That’s right, Mickey Mouse will visit with the anchors of Good Morning America (GMA) on November 18 to chat about his international adventure. Mickey’s stop in New York City will mark the end of his journey around the world, where he surprised fans in Los Angeles, Kyoto, Shanghai, Rome, Paris, Cusco, and Rio de Janeiro. What a jetsetter!

Mickey will also debut his brand-new music video, “What We Got,” during his appearance on GMA. If you miss Mickey’s moment, you can find the music video on his Facebook page, and on other Disney platforms (including D23!). Don’t forget to share your favorite Mickey moments using #HappyBirthdayMickey.

We can’t wait for Mickey to show us “what he’s got!” Stay tuned to D23 for more Disney news.

Creating a Mouse-terpiece: Mickey Mouse’s Design Through the Years

November 10, 2016April 12, 2023

By Jocelyn Buhlman

D23 takes you on a journey through the style of Mickey Mouse, from his early moments as a daydream on a train to his transformation into a video game hero, to his debut in his recent series of shorts. His design is timeless, but the process to become the icon he is today involved a lot of silly antics and quirky costume changes. Which style of Mickey is your favorite?

1. Plane Crazy, 1928
In terms of production, this high-flying animated adventure was Mickey Mouse’s first film created, although it was not theatrically released until after Steamboat Willie. Mickey hasn’t quite found his iconic look yet, keeping both his hands and feet bare as he soars through the sky.

2. Steamboat Willie, 1928
Mickey finally gets some footwear, and a chance to show off one of his most iconic outfits. Steamboat Willie is considered Mickey’s debut cartoon, and because of that, his happy little boat deckhand ensemble has become beloved by Disney fans everywhere and a symbol of Walt Disney Animation Studios.

3. When The Cat’s Away, 1929
Have you ever wondered what Mickey’s life would be like if he was the size of a normal mouse? Only one animated short ever explores Mickey’s life as an actual, mouse-sized mouse. When The Cat’s Away imagines Mickey and Minnie as part of a group of rowdy rodents living in the house of a cat. This short also features the premiere of Mickey and Minnie’s now iconic white gloves, a fashion choice that has become standard for a wide variety of well-known animated characters.

4. The Jazz Fool, 1929
Often when someone thinks of classic cartoons, there’s a specific design that comes to mind: black and white, rubbery limbs, and eyes with a slice cut out of them like a piece of pie. This style of eye, fondly nicked named “pie eyes,” first appeared on Mickey in this short and is frequently associated with Mickey’s early cartoons.

5. The Karnival Kid, 1929
“Hot dog!” Did you just read that in Mickey Mouse’s voice? That has become one of his catchphrases, so it is only fitting that his first spoken words would be so similar in nature. The Karnival Kid has Mickey cast as a vendor, selling hot dogs to his sweetie, Minnie Mouse. This short is not just notable for Mickey speaking his first words, but also for a visual gag that may have inspired one of the most famous pieces of Mickey Mouse merchandise ever: Mickey tips his ears like a hat to Minnie Mouse, and the imagery of his ears being used as a hat foreshadows the classic Mouse Ear hats used by the Mickey Mouse Club and sold as a must-have souvenir at Disney theme parks all over the world!

6. The Band Concert, 1935
Not only does Mickey debut some dapper new duds in The Band Concert, but he does it all in bold, bright colors! The Band Concert establishes Mickey’s red and yellow clothing color scheme for good in his first full-color animated experience to be released in theaters. Walt Disney knew the importance of looking forward to the future, and with this development of color cartoons, he knew he was never going back to black and white.

7. Brave Little Tailor, 1938
Another one of Mickey’s most well-known outfits premiered with the advent of color animated shorts. In this fairy tale, Mickey is cast as the tailor who accidentally becomes the “Royal High Killer of the Giant” and wins the love of Princess Minnie. Mickey’s peasant outfit instantly became an iconic costume remembered for years to come.

8. The Pointer, 1939
This short, where Mickey tries to train Pluto to become a hunting dog, establishes the most classic version of Mickey Mouse. His now flesh-toned face and pupilled eyes—a new style supervised by artist Fred Moore—have become standard for Mickey Mouse’s modern design.

9. The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, 1940
Although The Pointer established Mickey’s new look, another on-screen appearance would truly popularize it. Included as part of the epic feature film Fantasia, The Sorcerer’s Apprentice also features one of Mickey’s most classic outfits: His red robe and Yen Sid’s blue-and-white-starred hat have come to symbolize Disney everywhere, from the Disney theme parks show Fantasmic! to the Walt Disney Animation Studios in Burbank.

10. Pluto’s Party, 1952
Mickey becomes more stylized in this short about a party for a certain playful pup. Mickey’s face becomes more pear-shaped, and he gains more expression with the addition of eyebrows to his design. This look also is used for the Mickey Mouse Club logo, a symbol beloved in the hearts of Disney fans everywhere.

11. Mickey Mouse Works, 2000
This TV show from the early 2000s established the modern look of Mickey Mouse, throwing back to the old-school Mickey design established in The Pointer and The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, while also introducing Mickey Mouse to the modern era. This design was the standard for Mickey Mouse cartoons of the 2000s, such as The Prince and the Pauper (1990, pictured above), House of Mouse (2001), and The Three Musketeers (2004).

12. Kingdom Hearts, 2002 and Epic Mickey, 2010
All of Mickey’s prior redesigns were made for hand-drawn animation on the movie and television screens, but Mickey also had several redesigns for a new medium: video games. Two of his most famous appearances are his role as King Mickey from the series Kingdom Hearts and as the protagonist and namesake of Epic Mickey. In Kingdom Hearts, Mickey’s design is similar to his usual early 2000s design, but he is dressed to match the design aesthetic of the human characters of the game. Epic Mickey, on the other hand, revives Mickey’s style from his The Band Concert days, to better match his design with that of Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, his co-star. Both video games are notable for casting Mickey as an epic hero while exploring different parts of popular Disney stories.

13. Mickey Mouse, 2013
The recent entry in animated adaptations of Mickey and friends’ cartoon capers features a stylized design harkening back to Mickey’s days of rubber limbs and pie-eyes but with an emphasis on the potential for silliness and mischief. The cartoon makes the best of both worlds with a modern sensibility inspired by the classic look of Mickey Mouse that we have all come to associate with the best of Disney.

14. Mickey Mouse “Leader of the Club” Milestone Statue, 2023
Considering the rich past century of stories from The Walt Disney Company and what they mean to fans around the world, Grammy®-winning music producer James Fauntleroy designed this statue with a platinum panache so D23 Gold Members can bring the Disney100 Celebration home with them.

This “platinum pop star” tribute features a stylish varsity jacket with the Disney100 Celebration logo as well as some additional flair that pays tribute to Mickey’s own fandom as a reflection of Disney’s past, present, and future. These attributes embody what it means to be a fan and ground us to where it all began…because as Walt Disney once reflected: “I only hope that we never lose sight of one thing—that it was all started by a mouse.”

The Mickey Mouse “Leader of the Club” Milestone Statue is available to all new and renewing D23 Gold Members in 2023!

This Minnie Mouse Art is as Adorable as Minnie Herself

November 10, 2016November 11, 2016

By Nicole Nalty

Is there anyone cuter than Minnie Mouse? She’s been America’s sweetheart since her debut in 1928, and although her look has changed over the years (as every fashion icon’s does!), Minnie is fabulous in any style.

With Minnie as a muse, nearly 100 artists from The Walt Disney Company shared their varied interpretations of the iconic mouse for The Art of Minnie Mouse, a collector’s volume full of polka dots, pinks (and reds!), and perfect ensembles. While thumbing through this original artwork, you’ll also find a never-before-published complete filmography of Minnie’s animated appearances and a timeline of Minnie’s milestones.

The book’s cover showcases a stellar piece by Eric Tan. Of the many fabulous submissions that the Disney Editions team received for the book, Eric’s piece immediately jumped out as one of the best of the best and became a clear winner for the front cover.

Eric’s rough pencil sketch of Minnie Mouse

Eric’s final art, as shown on page 53 of the book’s interior

Read on to see stunning spreads and images from The Art of Minnie Mouse, available now.

Make Merry at Disney Parks Around the World

November 10, 2016November 29, 2016

By Jocelyn Buhlman

It’s the most magical time of the year, as we put away our goblins and ghoulies from Halloween and start wrapping the streets of Disney Parks with tinsel and snow! Nothing warms our hearts like a little Christmas cheer, and you can stay cozy all winter with the holiday offerings you’ll find at the Disney theme parks. No matter where you’ll be in our wonderful worlds this holiday season, you can have yourself a merry Disney holiday season at one of our theme parks’ very special celebrations.

Disneyland Resort

Disney California Adventure Park gets into the spirit with the brand new Festival of Holidays, which celebrates holiday festivities of diverse cultures with food, music, dance, and craft-making and includes celebrations of Diwali, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Christmas/Navidad, and Three Kings Day. Princess Elena, from the Disney Channel series Elena of Avalor, will make her Disneyland Resort debut as part of the Festival of Holidays, performing music and posing for a special character meet and greet. Also be sure to catch Disney ¡Viva Navidad!, returning as part of the fun at Festival of Holidays.

If you’re looking for some of the park’s classic holiday traditions, never fear! World of Color – Season of Light returns, bringing the warmth and heartfelt spirit of the holidays to this stunning, nighttime water spectacular, with its 1,200 powerful fountains shooting water as high as 200 feet to help tell the story. And jolly old St. Nick arrives at Redwood Creek Challenge Trail for Santa’s Holiday Visit. His joyful elves have transformed the trail into a magical playground of holiday fun and games, including opportunities for guests to join the ranks of Santa’s elves.

Disneyland Park turns into a winter wonderland with Sleeping Beauty’s Winter Castle, covering the castle in magical snow and icicles for the holiday season. The Believe… in Holiday Magic fireworks keep the snowflakes in the air with a special snowfall finale you’ll always remember! Returning once again to spread Christmas cheer is A Christmas Fantasy parade, a daily procession with floats, music, marching “tin soldiers,” and more. Santa appears in the parade and will also be found welcoming guests in Critter Country. And special for November 18, guests and cast members in Disneyland will celebrate Mickey Mouse’s birthday with a special cavalcade that precedes A Christmas Fantasy Parade. Other holiday classics returning to the park include it’s a small world Holiday, Haunted Mansion Holiday, and Jingle Cruise.

The park itself becomes a jewel of holiday spirit with twinkling lights, festive holiday garland and nearly 1,800 ornaments decorate the soaring Christmas tree in Town Square, Main Street, U.S.A., an ideal place for guests to begin their holiday traditions.

Walt Disney World

Magic Kingdom Park provides Christmas classics such as Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party, Mickey’s Once Upon a Christmastime Parade, and the Holiday Wishes fireworks show. New offerings include Mickey’s Most Merriest Celebration, a show starring Mickey and friends in front of Cinderella’s Castle, featuring medleys of delightful classic and contemporary holiday songs, and magical holiday projections on Cinderella Castle building to a sensational, snowy finale. Queen Elsa will also be spreading the holiday spirit to Cinderella’s Castle with A Frozen Holiday Wish (Castle Dream Lights), transforming Cinderella Castle into a glimmering, shimmering ice palace for the holidays.

Epcot spreads cheer across the globe with the Holidays Around the World Marketplaces and entertainment, letting guests experience and taste what the holidays are like all over the world. If you’re looking for some classic holiday traditions, be sure to experience Epcot’s Candlelight Processional, which captures the spirit of the season in the retelling of the Christmas story by celebrity narrators, accompanied by a 50-piece orchestra and choir. Additionally, Epcot’s nightly IllumiNations: Reflections of Earth fireworks show adds a special seasonal finale, featuring holiday greetings in native languages from the countries of World Showcase, along with the classic song “Let There Be Peace on Earth” to add a heartwarming finish.

Disney’s Hollywood Studios enters a world of “Lights! Cameras! Holidays!” with their all-new nighttime spectacular, Jingle Bell, Jingle BAM!, which sends beloved Disney animated characters on a spirited yuletide adventure to get Santa back to the North Pole in time for Christmas Eve. Jingle Bell, Jingle BAM! combines state-of-the-art projections, fireworks, special effects, and Christmas music to create a dazzling, one-of-a-kind holiday experience for guests—ending with a special message from Santa himself. And if you want more than just a message from Santa, be sure to check out the new opportunity to meet Santa Claus at the Once Upon a Time shop starting November 14. The beautiful, vintage setting reflects the bygone days of Santa’s visits to the great department stores across the country.

Disney’s Animal Kingdom greets guests with a dramatic, animal-themed holiday tree at the park entrance, along with a variety of characters in their holiday best, such as Mickey and Minnie Mouse, Baloo, King Louie, and more! If you want holiday cheer that lasts all day, enjoy holiday daytime-into-nighttime experiences, such as Tree of Life transformations, Kilimanjaro Safaris, Kali River Rapids and Expedition Everest.

Tokyo Disney Resort

Tokyo Disneyland will be creating a Christmas fantasy with holiday trees and holiday photo locations all throughout the themed lands, including a special photo location in Fantasyland where the finished photo will look like a pop-up storybook! The celebration continues with the Disney Christmas Stories Parade, which is themed to seven stories of Disney Christmas, including Frozen, Mickey and friends, and Toy Story. Classic holiday attractions such as Haunted Mansion Holiday Nightmare and the Country Bear Theater Jingle Bell Jamboree will be returning to keep the holiday spirit strong all season long.

Tokyo DisneySea celebrates not only the holidays, but the 15th anniversary of the park with a nighttime entertainment fantasy on the waters of Mediterranean Harbor called Colors of Christmas: Nighttime Wishes. Once the show is over, enjoy Colors of Christmas: Afterglow, where the Christmas tree and the floating illuminations in Mediterranean Harbor will sparkle and change colors in time to holiday music, allowing Guests to continue to enjoy the atmosphere. If you want A Perfect Christmas, try viewing the show by the same name, starring Mickey and Friends in a celebration of the joys of Christmas. The park’s festive décor includes a 15-meter-tall Christmas tree, Fiesta de la Luz lights along the Lost River Delta, and more!

Disneyland Paris

Disneyland Park is decked in its festive best, including a giant Christmas tree that is lit in a caroling sing-along by Mickey and friends! If you want more holiday happiness from Mickey, Minnie, and the gang, be sure to catch Disney’s Christmas Parade on Main Street, U.S.A., with yuletide performers and two new festive floats. And the Disney Dreams! Of Christmas nighttime spectacular returns, now with your favorite characters from Frozen. Still have that Frozen fever? Sisters Elsa and Anna celebrate the holidays with a special Frozen Sing-Along and A Royal Welcome of a carriage ride down the streets of Disneyland! Have you been naughty or nice this year? If you’ve been extra good, make sure to visit with Father Christmas in Fantasyland.

Walt Disney Studios Park is the home of a very merry meet ‘n’ greet with Santa and Disney Characters, featuring Thumper, Miss Bunny, and Santa himself! And to make your holidays extra special, stop by after November 20 to meet Moana, the newest heroine to star in a Disney Animated film!

Hong Kong Disneyland Resort

Hong Kong Disneyland is enchanting guests with A Sparkling Christmas, starting with Santa Goofy. You can send special holiday letters to your loved ones at the Santa Goofy Holiday Mailbox in the Christmas Post Office on Main Street, U.S.A. and receive a special Santa Goofy commemorative postmark on each letter you send. Enjoy the special seasonal entertainment, Holiday Wish Moments, on Main Street, U.S.A. with Minnie, Donald, Pluto, and Chip ‘n’ Dale. In the evening, join them all in a special show, A Magical Twilight Snowfall, for a holiday wish. If you want even more festivity, every night you can watch the 18-meter Christmas tree turn aglow for the season with the A Holiday Wish-Come-True Tree Lighting Ceremony. If you need even more Christmas cheer this holiday season, be sure to sample the more-than-50 Christmas treats available in the park and 100-plus options for Christmas-themed gifts!

Shanghai Disney Resort

Shanghai Disneyland celebrates its first-ever Christmas, decking out the park in dazzling decor, with a special overlay for Mickey Avenue, where Mickey and friends greet park guests in festive holiday attire. The highlight of the holiday celebration is the 20-meter-tall Christmas tree, which is lit in a special ceremony every evening while the Enchanted Storybook Castle gleams in the background. If you want to share the seasonal spirit with others, there are 30 limited-release merchandise items, including Mickey and Minnie plushes dressed in their holiday best, along with special Christmas ornaments, holiday clothing, and more available to purchase. Special holiday food will be offered at the Royal Banquet Hall to complete your experience with authentic holiday feasts.

How 2D Animation Brings Moana’s Mini Maui to Life

November 10, 2016November 10, 2016

By Courtney Potter

Walt Disney Animation Studios’ latest film, Moana, sails into a cinema near you this month, and with it comes the story of a fierce young woman on a journey of self-discovery, a mighty demigod looking to regain his hero status, and some truly epic adventure! Directed by Ron Clements and John Musker, the film introduces some major CG animation advancements—including new techniques to animate hair (check out both Moana and Maui’s luscious locks, created with a fast new computer system called Tonic) and to bring life to the ocean water itself.

But there’s one aspect of the film that harkens back to the days of Walt Disney and his legendary original animators: Maui’s tattoos. Early on in the process, filmmakers decided to bring the demigod’s tattoos—representative of longstanding tradition in Samoa—to life in a time-honored, two-dimensional way. Says director John Musker, “As Maui’s personality began to take shape, we thought, ‘What if a particular tattoo was like his alter ego?’… Eric Goldberg, who’s one of the world’s greatest hand-drawn animators, served as animation supervisor—helping to create these vignettes that play out like billboards on Maui’s chest… It’s a wonderful marriage of hand-drawn and CG animation.”

Recently, D23 was lucky enough to speak with Goldberg about the unique challenges of bringing a hand-drawn, 2-D character to a 3-D, CG-animation world.

On the idea behind making Mini-Maui a full-fledged Moana character…
Eric Goldberg: “Big Maui’s body is covered in tattoos, and most of these tattoos represent his past accomplishments—his deeds of daring-do. Within these visualizations, there’s a small figure representing Maui himself—and over the course of creating the story, we started to refer to him as Mini-Maui, because he became a character of his own right. He actually has personality and a relationship with big Maui. First of all, he’s Maui’s biggest cheerleader and supporter. He’s Maui’s alter ego; he can be ‘swagger-y’ and confident, too, but more than anything else he’s his conscience. One thing John Lasseter [chief creative officer, Pixar and Disney] wanted us to put into the character was that he should be able to kind of ‘give it back’ to big Maui once in a while, so that he’s not just namby-pamby, but you know he can do it with his tongue in his cheek… ”

On the ever-evolving process of combining hand-drawn and CG-animation…
“The way this worked—which was very uniquely collaborative—is, both the CG animators and the hand-drawn animators were issued the scene together. For one particular scene, I was working with an animator named Justin Webber… he says, ‘We thought it’d be really funny to have Maui poke Mini-Maui in the belly,’ and I said, great. I made him this drawing where ‘X’ marked the spot, [saying] that’s where the finger has to go when you animate big Maui. We decided to go ahead and map it onto CG Maui’s body. It didn’t work the first time because of the distortion that you get on his musculature—and so Carlos [Cabral, head of characters and technical animation] and his team of wizards figured out how to get him in the right proportions… [then] I thought well, since he’s getting poked in the belly, he should react to being poked in the belly. Justin and I actually had to agree on the frame number where the poke was going to occur so that we could both animate accurately and have it look like they’re reacting to each other.”

On the interesting challenges Mini-Maui presented…
“This stuff is done traditionally, which also means it’s cleaned up traditionally. So our cleanup lead, Rachel Bibb, did some drawings—and if you look closely, you can see that the white of his eye is actually black and his pupil is actually white. The reason is, they have to draw it this way—even the teeth are blacked in—because it eventually all needs to reversed out to look [correct]. Our cleanup artists have to think in negative… We wanted the tattoos to appear like [real] tattoos, which is dark out of light. If somebody draws in ink on a person’s body it’ll be dark—so since Mini-Maui and the other tattoos were all going to be dark, we have to draw it with a line around it first. But instead we don’t have to fill it all in beforehand. We can reverse it out and get the effect. It’s much easier… ”

On what makes Mini-Maui so special…
“All the animation of the tattoos is done traditionally; it’s all drawn on paper. I went ahead and made model sheets where I’m pushing some his expressions in order to make them readable and get more of an emotional range on him. One reason that’s important is because he is a pantomime character; he has to express everything with his facial expressions and his body… A lot came out from [the story room] and a lot came out just from us batting it back and forth as animators and with John and Ron—and saying ‘Wouldn’t it be fun if Mini-Maui did this?’… We were constantly trying to think of ways that would make things work and be funny.”

Meet Maui—and Mini-Maui—when Moana premieres around the country on November 23!

Robots, Monsters and… Friendship! MECH-X4 Brings Thrills and Heart to Disney Channel

November 10, 2016

By Jocelyn Buhlman

MECH-X4, Disney’s new, live-action series premiering this Friday, November 11 (8:30 p.m. EDT), follows the adventures of Ryan Walker, a “technopath” who controls a 150-foot-tall robot along with his friends, Harris and Spyder, and his brother, Mark. Together, they must protect the city from the threat of giant monsters and uncover the mystery behind the robot.

It’s a story that strikes a familiar chord: a group of kids just trying to get through the perils of high school, only to face a challenge of the supernatural, science-fiction monster variety. The story’s been told everywhere from movies to our daydreams, and there’s a reason it resonates with us so strongly. “It’s energized nostalgia,” Executive Producer Steve Marmel describes. It’s a story in which not only kids can see themselves, but their parents can relate to it, too.

Executive Producer Anupam Nigam emphasizes, “Disney really pushed us to make it serialized and make a show that families would want to watch together.” He adds, “Our running joke is that we hope that parents are the ones saying, ‘Hey, MECH X-4 is on! You can finish your homework later! You don’t have to eat those Brussels sprouts—come on, let’s go watch the show!’”

Things are looking promising for all those families seeking something to watch together: MECH-X4 has already been picked up for a second season. What made Disney so enthusiastic about the show? Anupam describes it as, “a little bit like catching lightning in a bottle.” He explains, “This is the first time in my career that a show was picked up before a season even aired. The confidence Disney has in it is amazing.” Both producers credit Disney for pushing the show to be the best it can be. Steve explains they were encouraged to, “make sure every episode ends with an ‘Oh my gosh!’ moment that propels you into the next episode.”

Anupam adds, “We’re hoping that the cliffhangers and the serialized aspect of it will make kids want to talk about it on the playground or in the cafeteria. Two questions we always ask ourselves when we are talking about episodes are ‘What makes the episode unmissable?’ and ‘What makes this someone’s favorite episode?’”

Really, though, the heart of the show is what draws the most appeal. Steve describes MECH-X4 as, “a show about two brothers and four kids who just happen to work inside a giant, monster-fighting robot.” It’s not just about saving the city from snake-octopus monster combinations and piloting a mysterious and cool giant robot (although we’re already excited just by that!). The relationships between the characters, and how they grow to understand and support each other, is just as important as science fiction thrills. Anupam summarizes it best: “We realized that the show is greatest when they are all together as a team.”

Are you ready to watch this team, and discover the mystery of MECH X-4 yourself? Pop some popcorn, grab your family and tune in to Disney Channel this Friday, November 11, at 8:30 p.m. ET to catch the start of an expanded premiere weekend that will debut 4 new episodes back-to-back through Sunday, November 13!

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Disneyland Resort

Walt Disney World

Tokyo Disney Resort

Disneyland Paris

Hong Kong Disneyland Resort

Shanghai Disney Resort

Save the Date!
Be sure to mark these upcoming Disney events on your calendar: