D23 Expo: Disney flexes its muscles and announces ‘The Incredibles 3’, the new ‘Inside Out’ series, and the trailers for ‘Deadpool’ and ‘Moana 2’ | Culture

Nothing is small at Disney. Neither its portfolio of classics, nor its number of franchises (beyond Disney pure accumulates Fox, ABC, Pixar, Marvel or Lucasfilm, mother of Star Wars), nor its profits (2.621 billion dollars, 2.4 billion euros, between April and June, as it was learned a couple of days ago), nor of course its legion of fans. Tens of thousands of them have met every two years since 2009 at the so-called D23 Expo (with Disney’s handwriting, of course, and the company’s founding date, 1923), a convention with more than 100,000 attendees in Anaheim, the city in southern California where the first Disneyland park opened. There they pay hundreds of dollars, from 100 to more than 2,500, to attend three days of a huge fair with dozens of talks on all topics – from how the parks’ dresses are made to the evolution of Peggy the pig and events on anniversaries such as the 20th anniversary of Disneyland. Grey’s Anatomythe 30 of Toy Story or Donald Duck’s 90s—, merchandising and events.

D23 is a meeting point for fans to become, in turn, the best promoters of the brand, while the house of the mouse takes advantage of its global exhibition, its meetings, its presence on networks and its incredible costumes and cosplays to promote themselves the best they can. So much so that the first day, Friday, August 9, culminated with a grand presentation, the largest in its history, of its most powerful audiovisual innovations. On Saturday they will show the new parks and experiences and on Sunday, at a gala, they will give the title of Disney Legends to stars such as James Cameron and Miley Cyrus.

At the Honda Center, a pavilion with more than 12,000 attendees with luminous bracelets with Mickey Mouse straps, fans dressed as Snow White, Deadpools and almost any element of the universe of this house have attended for three hours the display of the company founded by Walt Disney. The D23 Expo is the largest to date, due to the extension and the endless list of novelties and details exhibited in the so-called Disney Entertainment Showcase, that first big panel on Friday night. The first to appear on stage under a shower of applause was the CEO of the company until December 2026, Bob Iger. He was at that first D23 in 2009 and, foreseeably, will close his cycle at the next one; as he left the company in 2021, he was not at the last one, in 2022. “For the first time in five years I am here with you, the biggest fans in the world. Your energy and enthusiasm fuels us. Your passion makes us work even harder,” he said. “There is nothing we love more than entertaining, surprising and astonishing you. We take this seriously.” And yes, Iger was serious. Among the new features he presented were the arrival of The Incredibles 3the fifth installment of Toy Story by December 2026, a new series based on the universe of the blockbuster Inside Out and the arrival of Frozen 3 (and, they hinted, a fourth). The titles of the new ones have also been revealed. AvatarPercy Jackson and the sequel to Put yourself in my placeIn addition, there were many new trailers and clips from movies and series that delighted fans.

In fact, and unlike in 2022, when they announced the arrival of the second part of Inside Out (Intenselyin Latin America), this year much of the news was known or intuited, but the release dates, images, directors have been presented and, of course, everything has been embellished with dozens of stars on stage. Dwayne The Rock Johnson, once again boasting of his Polynesian roots, presented yet another film, about cars, Monster Jam, and, after a Maori dance, he presented, together with the singer Auli’i Cravalho, the trailer for the long-awaited film Moana 2 (the continuation of Moana), in which the protagonist will try to reach new worlds starting on November 27. The date is key in the US, because it coincides with Thanksgiving, a very family-oriented celebration that brings adults and children to the cinema. In fact, it will coincide in theaters with the highly anticipated Wicked and Gladiator 2.

Fresh from New Zealand for the occasion, James Cameron said that his third installment of Avatar will discover a Pandora “in a new way and never seen before” and has revealed that it will be titled Fire and Ash (Fire and Ash). The protagonists of Put yourself in my place (2003, Freaky Friday in the original and Crazy Friday (in Latin America), Lindsay Lohan and Jamie Lee Curtis, became a sensation by showing a couple of images of the second part, which they are already filming. They have announced that it will be called Freakier Friday (An even crazier Fridayliterally) and will arrive next year.

As for the world of animation, the Pixar world occupied many of the most anticipated news, especially the long-awaited announcement of the third part of The Incredibles, (no further details or dates). Also Pete Docter, the mind behind Toy Storyannounced that the fifth film in the saga will be directed by Andrew Stanton, who already commanded Wall E, Nemo and Dory in their respective feature films, and that it will arrive in December 2026. In addition, Docter revealed his storyline, and that is that toys will have a new, enormous challenge: the arrival of mobile phones, tablets and other technological devices.

Pixar already has the movie trailer ready Elio which will premiere next summer, presented at D23 Expo with, among other novelties, the voice of Zoe Saldana. There was also a trailer for the film for the summer of 2026, Hoppers, starring Jon Hamm, Bobby Moynihan and Piper Curda. She will play Mabel, a teenager who swaps her mind with a robot beaver to infiltrate the animal world. There are also two series in the works: Win or Looseabout a team of softball children’s series, whose eight episodes will arrive on Disney+ on December 6, and the highly anticipated, but little-known, about the universe of Inside Out. Is called Dream Productionsand will revolve around how dreams are created in the mind of teenager Riley. Its trailer is very much in line with the original two films. It will arrive next year.

In animation, Zootopia (Zootopiain Spanish) will have a second part. “We will meet some new members of the animal kingdom: reptiles,” explained actress Ginnifer Goodwin, who dubbed Judy in the original. “There is one reptile in particular that is a complete mystery, Gary, isn’t it terrifying?” she explained, showing a snake that will be played by Oscar winner Ke Huy Quan. In addition, some of the images that have inspired the universe of Frozen 3 and its director and producer, Jennifer Lee, has stated, in what seemed like a preview of a long room: “We still have some questions about Frozen. Many questions. Two films will answer them.” The third will arrive in autumn 2027.

The second season of will arrive I walkrwith Diego Luna, delayed after the strikes of scriptwriters and actors last year, as well as the film The Mandalorian & Groguwhich will continue the adventures of little Yoda and whose first images were seen at D23. Actor Jude Law has presented a series that mixes the universe of Star Wars with The Goonies (as he himself has said), and with touches that also recalled Stranger Thingscall Star Wars: Skeleton Crewwhich will arrive this December.

Marvel superheroes have also played a prominent role, especially after the huge success they have had in the last couple of weeks. Deadpool and Wolverine; its director, Kevin Feige, wanted to thank the fans for their attendance at the theaters, as well as its protagonist, Ryan Reynolds, in a recorded video. Also recorded, since they are filming, has been the participation of the protagonists of the long-awaited The Fantastic Fouramong them Pedro Pascal, whose trailer has been seen, as well as that of Captain America: Brave New World. In series they stand out Ironheartfrom Black Panther director Ryan Coogler, and especially Daredevil: Born AgainBoth will arrive in 2025.

Disney gives each audience their dose. Superheroes, Jedis, princesses, humor (the live-action film of Lilo & Stitchscheduled for next summer), horror (the protagonists of Agatha All Along have come on stage to sing their main theme live), teenagers (Rita Ora has announced that there will be a tour The descendants next summer; Percy Jackson has just started filming a new season, The Olympics), robotic science fiction (Tron: Ares has thundered with Jared Leto, Jeff Bridges, Greta Lee and the music of Nine Inch Nails), musicals (The Greatest Showmanthe 2017 Hugh Jackman film, is set to hit theaters in 2026) and even magic. To announce his upcoming world adventure show on National Geographic, (Do not attemptin 2025) the illusionist David Blaine has performed a trick with a deck of cards and has managed to get the 12,000 attendees to draw the same card at the same time. It is not Disney magic, but it was not bad at all.