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This past weekend, Disney held their own convention, that happens every two years, called D23 Expo and a lot of news came out this year from the worlds of Pixar/Disney Animation, Live Action Animation Adaptation, Star Wars and Marvel.
The only days’ worth recapping are Friday and Saturday. Sorry Sunday, no one cares about you.
So let’s look at what happened at this year’s D23 Expo!
Friday
John Lasseter, chief creative officer of Pixar and Walt Disney Animation Studios and the dude who directed the Toy Story films, hosted the tow hour panel showcasing new details, footage, behind-the-scenes and images from upcoming Pixar and Disney Animation films.
Coco
First out the gate and the film to get the most time was Coco (a film about the Mexican holiday ‘Day of the Died’) and this makes sense as the film comes out in the States on November 22, 2017.
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The showcased extended footage from the film and they also had a live performance of what I’m guessing will be the film’s big song “Remember Me” performed by Anthony Gonzalez (who voices Miguel) and Benjamin Bratt (who voices Ernesto de la Cruz).
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Coco makes its way to UK cinemas 19th January 2018.
Olaf’s Frozen Adventure
Next up was the first big reveal of the panel and that was they’ll be a new Frozen holiday special featurette called Olaf’s Frozen Adventure and Josh Gad surprised the crowd of a performance of a new song called “That Time Of Year.”
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As for Frozen 2 news, they’re having a hard time with finding a title so they’re sticking with Frozen 2 for the time being.
The new Olaf short will be 21 minutes and will be playing on the big screen before Coco.
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The Incredibles 2
The best Fantastic Four movie ever made is finally getting a sequel and we only had to wait 13 f*cking years!!!
Anyway, our favourite family of superheroes are coming back and even though the film is still in production, director and – voice of stylist Edna Mode – Brad Bird came on stage and was joined by Mr and Mrs Incredible (Craig T. Nelson and Holly Hunter), Violet (Sarah Vowell), Dash (newcomer Huck Milner and Frozone (Samuel L. Jackson).
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Bird also revealed some early animation and to the surprise of everyone they showed a teaser trailer/clip and it confirms the film picks up from where the original left us.
The Incredibles 2 hits US cinemas on 15th June 2018 and it’ll make their UK return on July 13, 2018.
Ralph Breaks the Internet: Wreck-It Ralph 2
The next big surprise came in the form of Wreck-It Ralph 2 as fans got treated to a global first look at a scene from the film and it pays homage to Disney Princess and it by all counts went down a treat and had everyone laughing.
The best thing about this clip is all the original Disney Princess voices return to their characters: Auli’i Cravalho (Moana), Kisten Bell (Anna in Frozen), Kelly MacDonald (Merida in Brave), Mandy Moore (Rapunzel in Tangled), Anika Noni Rose (Tiana in The Princess and the Frog), Irene Bedard (Pocahontas), Linda Larkin (Jasmine in Aladdin), Paige O’Hara (Belle in Beauty and the Beast) and Jodi Benson (Ariel in The Little Mermaid).
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They all come on stage for the biggest gathering of Disney Princesses ever.
We also learnt more about the film, which will feature Ralph (John C. Reilly) and Vanellope von Schweetz (Sarah Silverman) reuniting with Fix-It Felix (Jack McBrayer) and Sergeant Calhoun (Jane Lynch) as they take on the internet.
They’ll be joined by a new character called Yesss and will be voiced by Hidden Figures star Taraji P. Henson.
Ralph Breaks the Internet: Wreck-It Ralph 2 hits US theatres on November 21, 2018, and seven days later it makes its way to UK screens on 30th November 2018.
The last pieces of announcements weren’t anything major and they included:
- An original Disney Animation and it’ll explore the future of aviation. Been described as similar to Cars, but looks utterly gorgeous and this untitled film will come out in the US on April 12, 2019, and if I was a betting man November 2019 has been slated in the UK.
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- Slightly massive news regarding Toy Story 4, Lasseter has stepped down as co-director with his other co-director Josh Cooley (Riley’s First Date? short) taking over as the film’s full director. The film is still slated to come out on June 21, 2019, in the US and UK, however, it’ll likely move from the UK date as it’s the same day as Star Wars: Episode 9.
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- We’re getting an original film by Monsters University director Dan Scanlon. The film is based on his own experience of losing his father early and inspired by the question; who was my father? The story is set in a world of elves, trolls and sprites (no humans). Get the tissues ready because I adults will be crying.
“In the film, we’re going to tell the story of two teenage elf brothers whose father died when they were too young to remember him. But thanks to the little magic still left in the world, the boys embark on a quest that will allow them a chance to spend one last magical day with their father.”
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Saturday
This was the day that stole the weekend in film news as Disney showcased its Live Action panel and had everyone jealous as Marvel stole the whole Expo from under the noses of The Lion King.
Walt Disney Studios Chairman Alan Horn, he thanked the fans for making Disney, Marvel and Lucasfilm so much many and then went on to show off how much more money they’ll make from us in their slate from the rest of 2017 – 2019.
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A Wrinkle in Time
Ava Duvernay’s directed A Wrinkle in Time was the first live action film to take the stage.
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She was joined by her cast that included, Oprah Winfrey, Reese Witherspoon, Mindy Kaling, Chris Pine and newcomer Storm Reid. They showed off the first official teaser trailer and teaser poster, which everyone in the room got a copy of to take home.
The film is based on Madeleine L’Engle’s epic adventure book and the film will take across dimensions of time and space. Meanwhile, examining the nature of darkness versus light and ultimately, the triumph of love.
A Wrinkle in Time will be released in the US on March 9, 2018, and in the UK on March 23, 2018.
The Nutcracker and the Four Realms
The Nutcracker and the Four Realms was the next film to showcased and it's lucky as I didn’t know it even existed, but it’s apparently a new take on the classic E.T.A Hoffmann story.
It stars Keira Knightly as the Sugar Plum Fairy, Helen Mirren as Mother Ginger, Morgan Freeman as Godfather Drosselmeyer and newcomer Mackenzie Foy as Clara.
It’ll be opening in US theatres on 2nd November 2018 and even though there’s no UK release date set, I guess maybe March 2019.
Mary Poppins Returns
A film I’m still highly sceptical that we actually need is Mary Poppins Returns, it has nothing to do with Emily Blunt, I think she is the perfect woman for the role, it’s the film itself because I love the original film so much.
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The film is a sequel to the original and it follows Mary and her friend Jack, an optimistic street lamplighter played by Lin-Manuel Miranda, as they go on a new adventure with the new generation of the Banks family to help them find the joy and wonder missing in their lives.
Fans in the room were also treated to a first look which was accompanied by a live orchestra and things sound positive.
Emily Blunt is Mary Poppins in the upcoming sequel, #MaryPoppinsReturns. The brand new film opens in theatres December 2018. #D23Expo pic.twitter.com/egxozrpRbr— Walt Disney Studios (@DisneyStudios) July 15, 2017
Mary Poppins Returns to UK cinemas on 21st December 2018 and in the States on Christmas Day 2018.
The next things were new films confirmed to be underway:
- Mulan – Will be helmed by Niki Caro
- Jungle Cruise – A live-action adaptation to the popular Disney ride and will star Dwayne Johnson.
- Dumbo – Live-Action Adaptation of the Disney classic, directed by Tim Burton. Cast includes: Colin Farrell, Eva Green, Nico Parker, Finley Hobbins and a Batman Returns reunion on Michael Keaton and Danny DeVito. It’s being filmed in England and is slated to hit US cinemas on March 29, 2019, no UK date has been set.
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The Lion King
Similar to Jon Favreau’s Jungle Book stole D23 back in 2015. He was all set to do it again with The Lion King as fans were treated to a special look at the opening scene, which is apparently a shot-for-shot of the original animation and it wowed everyone inside.
Favreau said “This is a story that belongs to everyone who grew up with the original film.
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“I wanted to demonstrate that we could be respectful to the source material while bringing it to life using new techniques and technologies.”
No added official casting was announced a part from Donald Glover as Simba and James Earl Jones as Mufasa. However, there was a rumour going around that Hugh Jackman could be Scar.
The Lion King is slated to hit UK and US cinemas on July 19, 2019.
Star Wars: The Last Jedi
If things didn’t go down with Han Solo, I do think we would’ve had our first look at the next Star Wars spin-off as well as new of the third standalone film. However, they smartly kept the focus on The Last Jedi.
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Director Rian Johnson was joined on stage by Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Gwendoline Christie, Kelly Marie Tan, Laura Dern, Benicio Del Toro and Mark Hamill and we they showed a special behind-the-scenes featurette of the highly anticipated film.
Star Wars: The Last Jedi will be in UK cinemas on the 14th December a day before the US release.
Marvel Studios
Marvel closed the two-hour panel by Kevin Feige beginning with showing off the new and beautiful Marvel Studios’ official 10-year anniversary logo.
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With the biggest surprise of the whole weekend that brought the house and world down was bring on some of the cast of Avengers: Infinity War including, Josh Brolin, Robert Downey Jr, Tom Holland, Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Benedict Cumberbatch, Elizabeth Olsen, Anthony Mackie, Chadwick Boseman, Paul Bettany, Don Cheadle, Sebastian Stan, Dave Bautista, Karen Gillian and Pom Kelmentieff and one of the directors Joe Russo.
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Not only did a high population of the cast show up, but Feige also surprised everyone that broke the arena and the internet was the first look at Avengers: Infinity War.
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