In today’s pop culture scene, Disney rules the world. Disney’s D23 expo starts on Friday and it’s full of panels and events for fans of Star Wars, the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Disney’s theme parks, Pixar, and Mickey Mouse.
This weekend’s D23 convention takes place in Anaheim, California, just a few minutes from Disneyland, from August 23 to 25. As usual, Disney will use its fan expo to reveal tons of news regarding its various projects, as well as give fans a place to meet up, show off their cosplay, and get some one-on-one time with their favorite Disney personalities.
Whether you’re headed to the Anaheim Convention Center or following from home, here’s what you need to know about D23 2019.
D23 is streaming a handful of its panels online, though the biggest panels, including the Disney+ showcase and Disney’s first-ever Simpsons celebration, will only be available to convention attendees. Everyone else will have to rely on Twitter and sites like Digital Trends to get the latest news.
Still, there are a few events that at-home viewers might want to check out. At the “Disney Legends Ceremony,” which is scheduled to begin at 10:30 AM on Friday, August 23 (although, as of this writing, it’s running very late) will honor a number of familiar faces and old Disney legends, including Robert Downey Jr., James Earl Jones, Bette Midler, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and Mulan’s Ming-Na Wen, and more.
Similarly, Saturday’s “Marvel Comics: Marvel’s 80th Anniversary,” which begins at 5:30 PM, is comics-centric, but we wouldn’t be shocked if Disney used the occasion to trot out some Marvel Cinematic Universe stars (and maybe drop a few news tidbits), too. Just don’t expect to hear much about Spider-Man.
You can catch these panels, as well as a few others, at Disney’s D23 Livestream page or on the D23 YouTube channel, and you can check out the full schedule below.
The biggest panel at D23 is probably going to be the “Disney+ Showcase,” which begins on Friday, August 23 at 3:30 PM Pacific Time. That’s where we expect to see the first trailer for The Mandalorian, Jon Favreau’s live-action Star Wars show, and where Disney should share more about MCU tie-ins like Loki, WandaVision, and Falcon and Winter Soldier. Rumors suggest that Ewan McGregor’s Obi-Wan miniseries will get an official reveal at the event, too. Don’t miss this one.
“Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” runs at the same time — it starts at 3:00 PM on Friday — and probably won’t have any blockbuster announcements, but with S.H.I.E.L.D. heading into its final season next summer, this should be an excellent opportunity for die-hard fans to say goodbye.
Saturday’s “Marvel Comics: Marvel’s 80th Anniversary” panel will deal mostly with comic books, but if you only know Captain America, Iron Man, and the rest from the movies, pay attention. Marvel is publishing some great books right now, and this could just the excuse you need to make the jump from the silver screen to the printed page.
If you’re a Star Wars fan, D23 is packed with stuff you’ll like. “The Music and Sounds of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge” (Friday August 23, 12:00 PM) will give you a behind the scenes look at Disney’s latest theme park attraction. “Vader Immortal: A Star Wars VR Series — Episode II First Look” on Friday at 2:00 PM should be interesting to gamers, while “Heroines of the Disney Galaxies” on Sunday, August 25 at 10:00 AM will be hosted by Ahsoka Tano herself, Ashley Eckstein.
“Go Behind the Scenes with The Walt Disney Studio” on Saturday at 10:00 AM is a general look at Disney’s upcoming movies, but the studio says there’ll be some Star Wars and Marvel stuff there, too.
Finally, theme park geeks won’t want to miss “Sneak Peak! Disney Parks, Experiences, and Products” on Sunday at 10:30 AM. We’re betting that “Immersive Worlds: Bringing Films to Life in Disney Parks” on Saturday at 3:00 will have some interesting stuff, too.
10:00 AM — Dancing with the Stars and Disney!
10:30 AM — Disney Legends Ceremony (Streaming)
10:30 AM — Great Moments With Walt Disney
12:00 PM — At Work With Walt: James Algar’s 43 Years With Bambi, Lions, and Mr. Lincoln
12:30 PM — The Music and Sounds of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge
2:00 PM — Vader Immortal: A Star Wars VR Series — Episode II First Look
2:30 PM — Making Walks Talk: Disney Historical Sites and Museums in Conversation
3:00 PM — Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
4:00 PM — Behind the Art of Disney Costuming: Heroes, Villains, and Spaces Between (Streaming)
4:00 PM — In Conversation: Disney Legend Bill Farmer
5:30 PM — In Search of the Swiss Family Treehouse With Kevin & Jody
10:00 AM — Go Behind the Scenes with The Walt Disney Studio
10:00 AM — Women of Impact! Meet the Nat Geo Explorers Changing the World (Streaming)
10:00 AM — Digging Deeper: Uncovering Disney’s Hidden History
11:30 AM — Disney Channel’s Amphibia and Big City Greens Are Joined by Kermit the Frog!
11:30 AM — Making Holiday Magic at Disney Parks
12:30 PM — Haunted Mansion: Celebrating 50 Years
1:30 PM — Secret Walt Disney Company Project
1:30 PM — Secrets of Walt Disney’s Fun and Fancy Free
3:00 PM — The “ish” Universe: black-ish, grown-ish, and mixed-ish
3:00 PM — Ken Anderson’s Haunted Mansion ’57: A Year of Horror, Humor, and… Voodoo?
3:30 PM — Disney on Broadway in Concert: A 25th Anniversary Celebration
3:30 PM — Immersive Worlds: Bringing Films to Life in Disney Park
4:30 PM — Collecting the Creepy: 50 Years of Haunted Mansion Merchandise
5:30 PM — The Musical Journey of Disney’s Aladdin
5:30 PM — Marvel Comics: Marvel’s 80th Anniversary (Streaming)
6:00 PM — Travels With Marty: A Conversation With the Sklars and Imagineers
10:00 AM — The Little Mermaid: The 30th Anniversary Celebration!
10:00 AM — Heroines of the Disney Galaxies (Streaming)
10:30 AM — Sneak Peak! Disney Parks, Experiences, and Products
12:00 PM — Marc Davis in His Own Words: Imagineering the Disney Theme Parks
12:00 PM — Hidden Gems of the Walt Disney Animation Research Library
12:30 PM — Power Up Your Brain With Keegan-Michael Key
2:00 PM — Inspiring Women Behind Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge
2:30 PM — 50 Years of the Walt Disney Archives: 50 Years of Fun Finds
3:00 PM — The Art of Disney Storytelling (Streaming)
4:00 PM — Magical Journey: Take a Fantastic Ride With Imagineer Kevin Rafferty
4:15 PM — Disney Character Voices, Inc.: 30th Anniversary Celebration
5:30 PM — Disneyland ’59: Matterhorn, the Monorail, and Submarine Voyage
5:45 PM — Two Worlds, One Family: The Making of Tarzan
China just gave Hollywood a cautionary tale about AI filmmaking. Sanxingdui: Future Past, billed as the country's first fully AI-generated movie, hit theaters on October 23 and bombed at the box office.
According to Futurism, the film's reported $1.5 million production budget landed on more than 10,000 screens. Yet it pulled in only about $181,000, averaging roughly $20 per screen, making the budget difficult to recover.
Some of the best shots in Grok Imagine’s AI-made Odyssey don’t contain actors. Ancient landscapes stretch into the distance. Close-ups of grimy hands suggest people who have touched something rougher than a keyboard. For a few seconds, the illusion holds.
https://twitter.com/imagine/status/2113712964419063911
YouTube videos could soon look better without eating quite so much data, right? Thankfully, the platform plans to introduce a new video format called AV2 on its web player in early 2027, promising more efficient streaming and potentially fewer playback hiccups on slower internet connections. The big headline is a roughly 30% improvement in compression efficiency over AV1, YouTube's existing video format. That doesn't guarantee every video will use 30% less data, but it could make streaming a little easier on both internet connections and data allowances.
What is AV2, and why should viewers care?