Day two of the D23 Expo started off with a bang as we witnessed some of the most exciting live action films Disney has coming in the near future.
The presentation began with the same film (both animated and live action) montage that had started the Animation Studios’ presentation the day before. Once again, folks cheered loudly for their favorites as they flashed upon the screen. (I did make one small observation, though. Both days, the response for “Planes” was the same: basically silence. We have yet to see the movie, so I cannot make any judgments…it was simply an observation.)
After the hodgepodge of Disney films revved up the crowd, Alan Horn, Chairman of the Walt Disney Studios, took to the stage. He graciously thanked the fans for their loyalty and expressed his excitement to be at his first D23 Expo since coming to the company 14 months ago, after spending 12 years with Warner Brothers.
With many divisions within the Studios, each division was given its own section of the presentation (much like the animation presentation from the day before…if you missed it, you can read about it here).
Lucasfilm:
This was probably the division most anticipated, since there were throngs of Star Wars fans in the audience. However, they were left hanging since there was no new information, and not much was said about the new film.
It was announced that the next Star Wars film would be out in summer 2015, the Director will be J.J. Abrams, and John Williams will return to score the film. That’s about it. That information was available prior to the D23 Expo, and the frustration was felt throughout the room. There was a disturbance in the force. In my personal and humble opinion, I believe that rather than leave it out all together, they did this first in hopes of wowing the crowd with the rest of the presentation so fans would (with any luck) forget that nothing new was announced for Star Wars. Didn’t exactly work, but…
Move along, move along.
Marvel:
Marvel’s President, Kevin Feige, was announced on stage and brought with him a bevy of exciting projects.
First up was an extended look at “Thor: The Dark World”, arriving in theaters on November 8, 2013. The film’s stars Natalie Portman (Jane), Anthony Hopkins (Odin), and Tom Hiddleston (sans Loki-wear) were on hand to greet the fans. When asked why he wasn’t sporting the Loki costume (like he did for Comic-Con in San Diego), Mr. Hiddleston replied that there was no way he could make Disney fans submit to Loki.
Tom Hiddleston and Kevin Feige
Anthony Hopkins, Natalie Portman, Tom Hiddleston and Kevin Feige
Anthony Hopkins and Tom Hiddleston watch a preview for “Thor: The Dark World”
The next film up for Marvel was “Captain America: The Winter Soldier”, due out April 14, 2014. Along with Chris Evans (Captain America), Sebastian Stan (Winter Soldier), and Anthony Mackie (The Falcon), 
the crowd was treated to a never before seen preview of the film along with a rough cut of the first ever clip of the movie…it was so early that there was even some black and white animation still in the clip.
Kevin rounded out the Marvel division with an early look (that only one other audience had seen) at “Guardians of the Galaxy” (due out August 1, 2014), 
and the announcement of “Avengers: Age of Ultron” due out in summer 2015.
Disneynature:“Bears” will be the new Disneynature film, premiering on Earth Day 2014. A portion of the proceeds received within the first week will be donated to the National Park Foundation. The crowd was treated to a never before seen trailer of this fascinating looking film about bears living along the Alaskan Coast.
Walt Disney Studios:
Sean Bailey, President of Walt Disney Studios, was announced on stage and brought with him several exhilarating ventures.
Kicking off this section of the presentation was a look at “Muppets Most Wanted”. Ty Burrell, who stars as Jean Pierre Napoleon, drove out on stage in his itty bitty Interpol car. 
Sean Bailey lends Ty Burrell a helping hand
Watching him get in and out of that car was definitely a highlight for this Muppet fan…oh yeah, and the satellite feed with Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy and Tina Fey was pretty fabulous too…especially when Miss Piggy thanked everyone for attending “P23”. We were also treated to a full scene from the movie involving an evil Kermit lookalike and his human sidekick, played by Ricky Gervais, and a song called “I’m Number One”.
Next up was “Into the Woods”, a film adaptation of Stephen Sondheim’s popular musical. 
Directed by Rob Marshall, the film is expected out in theaters on Christmas Day 2014, and as of the time of the presentation, would begin shooting in two weeks. None of the cast/crew were on hand since they were gearing up to begin shooting, but some of the cast had been announced: Meryl Streep as the Witch, Johnny Depp as the Big Bad Wolf, with Anna Kendrick, Chris Pine, and Emily Blunt also appearing in the film.
The next film introduced to the audience was “Cinderella”, scheduled to arrive in March 2015. 
With so many films already about the story of Cinderella, Director Kenneth Branagh hopes to elevate the characters and story even more than previous versions. We were indulged with a rough pre-production look, as well as a behind the scenes peek at the film along with a video of Mr. Branagh talking about the film. A few of the cast were announced, including: Lily James as Cinderella, Richard Madden as Prince Charming, Cate Blanchett as Lady Tremaine, and Helena Bonham Carter as the Fairy Godmother. Again, none of the cast was present at the Expo.
The next movie was definitely one of the most anticipated films of the entire presentation. “Maleficent”, creeping into theaters July 2014, stars Angelina Jolie as the title character. 
Richard Stronberg (Director), Joe Roth (Producer), and Linda Woolverton (Writer) were all on hand to discuss the need of satisfying curious souls who have long wondered who Maleficent is and where she came from…and how she became so deliciously evil. (Maleficent is the villain from the film “Sleeping Beauty”, and my personal favorite) As soon as Angelina Jolie was brought on stage, the crowd erupted and was brought to its feet.
Ms. Jolie talked about how much she enjoyed playing the character and how she misses the horns. 
Other cast members announced (but not present) were: Elle Fanning as Aurora and Vivienne Jolie-Pitt as Young Aurora. The crowd was given a most anticipated look at the first ever footage from the film.
We then jumped from one of the most anticipated films to one of the most intriguing. “Tomorrowland” Director/Writer/Producer, Brad Bird and Writer/Producer, Damon Lindelof were on hand to show the crowd items found in a box labeled “1952”.
The story goes that this box was found deep within the Disney vault and had some curious items inside. A doctored photo of Amelia Earhart and Walt Disney, 
an “Amazing Stories” magazine dated August 1928, plans for It’s a Small world at the 1964 World’s Fair, and a badly damaged disc with some animation on it dated 11-63. 
The film, starring George Clooney, is expected to hit theaters in December 2014 and continues to be as much of an enigma (if not more of one) as it was prior to the presentation. It was announced that a pavilion would be opening on the show floor dedicated to the film.
Closing out the presentation was probably THE film that any Walt Disney fan was looking forward to the most. “Saving Mr. Banks” is the story of how Walt Disney brought the film “Mary Poppins” to life on screen and the battle it took with author P.L. Travers to create one of history’s greatest family films. 
The crowd was shown a clip from the movie, and was advised that we were the first audience to view it…and that the footage was not final. The clip was the scene where P.L. Travers meets Walt Disney for the first time. Announced to the stage were Jason Schwartzman (Richard Sherman) and BJ Novak (Robert Sherman), as they discussed the challenges of portraying one of the greatest songwriting teams in history. Jason Schwartzman told of how he had been to Mr. Sherman’s home to learn from the master, his techniques.
BJ Novak
Jason Schwartzman
Other cast members not in attendance, but announced were: Tom Hanks (Walt Disney), Emma Thompson (P.L. Travers), Bradley Whitford (Don DaGradi), Colin Farrell (Robert Goff Travers), and Paul Giamatti (Ralph).
Sean Bailey returned to the stage and once again thanked the fans for attending and closed out the show with an additional clip from “Saving Mr. Banks” of P.L. with the Sherman Brothers. Then, to our surprise, the curtain opened and there were Jason Schwartzman and BJ Novak at a piano being rolled out on stage while they were singing “Let’s Go Fly a Kite”. They introduced Richard Sherman, who joined them on stage along with kite dancers on stage and in the aisles throughout the arena…and no Disney presentation is complete without confetti…kite-shaped confetti to be exact!
We were slightly disappointed that Tom Hanks was not there (and dressed up as Walt Disney, for that matter), but all in all there are several films we are personally looking forward to and the presentation was, as always, impressive. We will be looking forward to what The Walt Disney Studios has in store for the D23 Expo in 2015!
No cameras or recording devices of any type were allowed into this presentation; therefore all photos in this post are copyrighted by Disney.
this happy place 