Back in the day, Disney never ever exhibited at SDCC in any big way. We used to argue that Disney had no need to attend the San Diego Comic-Con because they had their own convention that ran every day and in four different locations.
Well, times have changed. In the LA Times, Geoff Boucher and Dawn Chmielewski write that D23, Disney’s upcoming fan convention, is very much an outgrowth of the Comic-Con formula.
Will the success formula of Comic-Con International work for a Mickey Mouse operation?
The leadership at Walt Disney Co. hopes so as it moves forward with the D23 Expo, a four-day event next month in Anaheim that will celebrate — and sell — all things Disney with celebrity appearances and slick sneak previews of upcoming films, television shows and theme park attractions.
[snip]The event at the venerable Anaheim Convention Center will be a chance for Disney to promote feature films such as Burton’s “Alice,” “The Princess and the Frog” and “A Christmas Carol” but also will serve as a big tent for Disney’s varied empire. Attendees will not only be offered the chance to buy new teen-pop CDs and vintage animation cels, for example, they also will be pitched travel packages for the Disney Cruise Line.
The whole article is full of useful info. We’ve long wondered if movie companies would tire of the consumer-based spectacle of Comic-Con, but probably only Disney has the technical support and experience to launch their own big event right out of the box.
Are you going to D23? Send us your reports!
I don’t want to tell anyone their business, but the just-announced Amy Adams Kissing Booth is a really, really bad idea.
Isn’t this just a reworking of the Disneyana conventions?
The most interesting aspect: traveling conventions.
Glad to see Iger respecting the fans.
Surely Disney is hoping for another Pirates success, but if they think this kinda thing will sell more Disney cruises, hopefully they are mistaken, as all I’ve ever heard was horror story after horror story of those things, from crude environmental practices to bad quality trips.
At first I was interested in this but then I went to the D23 website where they have the schedule posted. Unless you’re staying in Anaheim, their 10 PM showings of Sleeping Beauty, The Shaggy Dog and other films are inconvenient. They also have the kind of single tier programming you’d expect from a small convention, and all of it is geared to new Disney films, etc. Nothing on classic Disney (other than the 10 PM showing of Sleeping Beauty and Shaggy Dog). It reflects the same thinking found on the Disney Channel where nothing Disney made before the 1980s is presented. So unless I want to just hang out in the dealer’s room, there’s nothing much of interest there.