Disney has released the official schedule for the D23 2019 Expo. Founded in 2009, D23 is a biannual event that previews the Mouse House’s upcoming movie and TV projects. It’s more of a press and industry convention than San Diego Comic-Con, but has started to rival (and even exceed) SDCC when it comes to making major headlines in recent years. Of course, that’s by and large because of the sheer number of brands and studios that Disney owns now, including the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the Star Wars franchise, and both Disney and Pixar Animation.
Earlier this year, the Mouse House also added Fox’s movie and television assets to its collection of IPs. However, the latter studio’s projects will not be highlighted at D23, which will continue to focus solely on Disney’s in-house offerings and joint ventures instead. Their roster of upcoming projects will be even bigger than usual this year too, with the impending launch of the Disney+ streaming service this fall. Now, D23 has officially announced its schedule for this year’s expo.
Per D23’s announcement, the 2019 expo and its presentations will kick-off in Hall D of the Anaheim Convention Center, starting Friday, August 23. Things will start off in the morning with the Disney Legends Awards Ceremony, where people like Robert Downey Jr., Ming-Na Wen, Jon Favreau, and James Earl Jones will officially become Disney Legends for their own contributions to the Mouse House’s legacy. This will be followed by a presentation for Disney+ in the afternoon, where footage from some of the streaming service’s original content (like the Lady and the Tramp remake and The Mandalorian TV series) will be screened.
After that, on Saturday, August 24, Walt Disney Studios will be previewing its upcoming movie slate, including new projects from Marvel Studios, Lucasfilm, Disney Animation, Pixar Animation, and Disney’s live-action division. The presentation is expected to cover Disney’s animated sequel Frozen II (ahead of its release in November), along with Pixar’s latest original feature, Onward, and the live-action Mulan remake (which are both scheduled for March 2020). Of course, the Marvel Studios segment will probably end up grabbing the most attention. The studio has yet to reveal its official plans for Phase 4 of the MCU, so D23 would be the ideal time to unveil some release dates. And of course, the presentation will surely cover Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, which will bring the Skywalker Saga to a close this December.
Finally, D23 will wrap up on Sunday, August 25, with a panel for the Disney Parks, Experiences, and Products. Disney only just pulled back the curtain on Disneyland’s newly-opened Star Wars area, Galaxy’s Edge, but the D23 event will be more global in scope and cover the ongoing plans for Epcot at The Walt Disney World Resort in Florida. Even so, it looks like Saturday will be the biggest day, as far as D23-related entertainment news is concerned. You can thank Marvel for that one.
The D23 2019 Expo will take place from August 23-25.
Source: D23
