ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Disney previewed upcoming films and television series such as “Moana 2” in a rousing presentation with previews, live performances and surprise appearances by actors such as Dwayne Johnson, Zoe Saldaña and Jude Law.
Fans welcomed the CEO at Disney’s D23 convention Robert Iger with a standing ovation on Friday at the start of the presentation. “The world needs to be entertained perhaps more than ever now, and we take that responsibility seriously,” he said, before presentations were given of new films in the “Avatar,” “Toy Story” and “The Incredibles” franchises.
The first surprise of the evening, Auli’i Cravalho And Dwayne Johnson from “Moana” thrilled the more than 15,000 spectators at the Honda Center with a performance of a song with drummers and dancers in costumes in the style of the popular cartoon.
The actors reprise their roles as Moana and Maui in “Moana 2”, Before giving an extensive preview of the film, Johnson said that working on the films had been special for him, pointing out that his daughters, who are 6 and 8 years old, were in the audience.
Disney afterwards released the first full trailer of the film online. The footage introduces new (Moana now has a little sister) and familiar characters, such as her pet pig Pua and the Kakamora, a band of arrow-throwing, coconut-clad pirates.
Johnson also announced that he would continue his long-standing work on Disney projects to direct a live-action Monster Jam film. The studio did not provide any news on Johnson’s other Disney project, the Live action film “Moana”, that is in development.
Star Wars Updates
Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni teased the May 2026 Star Wars film “The Mandalorian & Grogu”, Filming on the movie only recently began, it is said. Favreau said he felt compelled to “put something together for the presentation,” showing a short clip of the title characters, as he put it, “on a whole new journey.”
Law spoke about Star Wars: Skeleton Crew and announced that it will be released on Disney+ on December 3rd.
“I fell in love with ‘Star Wars’ as a 10-year-old boy,” Law said before showing footage from the show, which was billed as a coming-of-age story.
Updates on “Avatar,” “Frozen” and Pixar sequels
Pete Docter, chief creative officer of Pixar Animation, announced that the studio is developing a third “Incredibles” film, with Brad Bird returning to direct.
“Toy Story 5” director Andrew Stanton said the summer 2026 film will be a toys versus technology story featuring Woody, Buzz and the rest of the crew.
Jennifer Lee, Chief Creative Officer of Walt Disney Animation Studios, has released concept art for Frozen III, showing Anna, Elsa and Olaf looking toward the horizon while a menacing creature lurks close behind them. The film will be released in 2027.
Director James Cameron and actors Zoe Saldaña and Sam Worthington reunited on stage to announce the official title of the third “Avatar” film: “Avatar: Fire and Ashes.”
“The new movie is not what you expect, but it’s definitely what you want,” said Cameron, who will be awarded “Disney Legend” status at a ceremony marking the closing of D23 on Sunday.
Fans got a glimpse of Zootopia 2, which will be released in November 2025. The film’s star, Ginnifer Goodwin, also announced that Ke Huy Quan will join the cast as Snake.
Fresh from Comic-Con, Marvel gives further insights
After the lightning of Announcements from Marvel At Comic-Con International, studio president Kevin Feige came out after a welcoming video from Ryan Reynolds, who thanked the audience for supporting his box office record-holder “Deadpool & Wolverine.”
Ryan Coogler, the Director of the “Black Panther” filmsspoke with Feige about Ironheart, starring Dominique Thorne and Anthony Ramos. The cast gave a first look at the series, which focuses on Thorne’s character Riri Williams, who was first introduced in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.
Feige also spoke about “Marvel’s first family,” the Fantastic FourPedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Joseph Quinn and Ebon Moss-Bachrach greeted the audience in a short video clip in their costumes from the set in the UK, where filming began late last month.
Fans also got a first look at “Daredevil: Born Again,” which is set to stream on Disney+ in March. Feige said the new series will capture the essence of the Netflix original, with Charlie Cox reprising his role as Matt Murdock, but will also take the characters down a new path. A second season is in the works.
Great musical moments
Music will play a central role in Mufasa: The Lion King, the upcoming prequel to the 2019 photorealistic film, a remake of the 1994 animated classic. Director Barry Jenkins and Lin-Manuel Miranda, who composed the original music for the new film, unveiled a clip featuring the new song “I Always Wanted a Brother,” which describes the early relationship between Mufasa and Scar.
Rachel Zegler and Gal Gadot took the stage to promote their live-action film “Snow White,” which is set to hit theaters in March 2025. Zegler plays the original Disney princess and “Wonder Woman” Gadot plays the evil queen. The film will feature new songs from the duo Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, known for “La La Land” and “Dear Evan Hansen.”
Jared Leto and Jeff Bridges took the stage to promote “Tron: Ares,” whose music comes from Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross’ Nine Inch Nails.
Kathryn Hahn sang a new song from her upcoming Marvel series “Agatha All Along,” another catchy tune for fans of the 2021 Musical number “WandaVision”She praised songwriters Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez, who wrote the hit song from “WandaVision,” after which the series is named, and previously wrote hits from “Frozen” and “Coco.”
“Freaky Friday” returns
Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan have announced the official title of the highly anticipated sequel to “Freaky Friday”: “Freakier Friday.”
Curtis, who will be honored as a Disney Legend on Sunday, said when they unveiled the first images from the new film, it seemed as if no time had passed since the film was shot in 2003.
Pixar talks about its new stories and series
Docter also announced a Pixar original film, “Hoppers,” starring Bobby Moynihan and Jon Hamm, and gave exclusive sneak peeks at the upcoming film “Elio.” The young star of “Elio,” Yonas Kibreab, brought Saldaña back to the stage and announced her as the lead character, joining America Ferrera and Jameela Jamil in the cast. The film will be released in June 2025.
Pixar will also have two new series on Disney+ for the first time. Following the record-breaking success of “Inside Out 2,” the studio is creating “Dream Productions,” a show set between “Inside Out” and “Inside Out 2” that will stream on Disney+ in 2025. “Win or Lose,” Pixar’s first long-form series, will debut on Disney+ on December 6.
