10 2009 ; 7 years ago 2009 03 10 headquarters burbank california u.s. key people bob iger adam sanderson 1 2 owner the walt disney company website official website d23 full name d23 the official disney fan club is the official fan club for the walt disney company . founded in 2009 the organization is known mainly for its biennial exposition event d23 expo . the name d23 refers to d for disney and 23 for 1923 the year walt disney headed to california and founded the company . 3 membership includes disney twenty three a quarterly publication yearly gifts events exclusive merchandise offers and discount and early access to the d23 expo fan convention . 4 contents 1 history 2 events 3 d23 expo 3.1 2009 the ultimate disney fan experience 3.2 2011 the ultimate disney fan event 3.3 2013 3.3.1 d23 expo japan 3.4 2015 3.5 2017 4 see also 5 references 6 external links history edit d23 was introduced on march 10 2009 by robert iger during the company s annual meeting . 3 4 5 d23 had a booth at san diego comic con in 2009 followed by the first d23 expo on september 10 13 2009 . 3 in march 2010 d23 announced that the expo would be biannual instead of annual with a destination d event in the off year . 6 in february 2013 the walt disney company japan announced the first d23 expo japan on october 12 14 2013 . 7 in april 2013 d23 and tcm festival team up for the 75th anniversary showing of snow white and the seven dwarfs and a kirk douglas hosted showing of 20 000 leagues under the sea newly restored from original camera negatives . 8 events edit events include d23 expo 2009 present biannual 9 destination d 2010 biannual alternating with the expo planned to be smaller and more focused . disneyland 55 september 24 and 25 2010 disneyland hotel s grand ballroom 6 advance screening disney studio lot screening of past animated films with panel discussion lunch with a legend 2014 d23 day walt disney studios and archives members tours held three times a year member vip studio tours 2015 available to gold members and are during the work week and include a disney legend lunch and a unique vip gift light up the season 2015 original a annual event for employees to mark the start of the holiday season d23 members have their own version on the studio lot which consists of carols cocoa and a tree lighting . member night at newsies on tour 2015 10 present behind the scenes experiences 2015 present member mixers at disney stores 2nd time in 2016 member only mornings of shopping discounts games and goodies disney fanniversary celebration 11 d23 expo edit the expo is biannual 9 featuring disney legends ceremony mousequerade fan costume contest emporium fan trading of memorabilia walt disney archives curated exhibit 12 fan art contest 2013 7 2009 the ultimate disney fan experience edit the first d23 expo was held at the anaheim convention center in anaheim california on september 10 13 2009 . 13 it featured pavilions from walt disney imagineering showcasing models and tests for future attractions corporate responsibility which feature a photo op as well as projects for overseas troops and homeless shelters disney consumer products showing the many products being sold by disney within the next few years a disney dream store costumes and props from the walt disney archives a collectors forum where people from all over the country showcased and sold memorabilia . events were held in the d23 arena stage 23 storytellers theatre and walt disney studios theatre . many future projects were announced including an expansion of fantasyland at the magic kingdom an extensive re hauling of star tours for disneyland and disney s hollywood studios 14 a film based on the beatles yellow submarine a fourth film in the pirates of the caribbean franchise a new muppet film 15 as well as clips and sneak previews promoting projects such as prep & landing tangled beauty and the beast in 3 d a set of viral muppet videos and a film series with guillermo del toro . celebrity appearances included john travolta nicolas cage patricia heaton kelsey grammer tim burton selena gomez donny osmond tom bergeron kym johnson betty white robin williams joseph fiennes johnny depp as captain jack sparrow as well as live performances by miley cyrus 16 honor society and the muppets . 2011 the ultimate disney fan event edit the hidden mickey booth in the collectors forum of d23 expo 2011 . the d23 expo returned for its second time at the anaheim convention center in anaheim california on august 19 21 2011 . 17 closely resembling the inaugural d23 expo on 2009 the show floor has expanded its pavilions with disney channel and radio disney the collector s forum walt disney studios disney living disney corporate citizenship and disney interactive media group . the treasures of the walt disney archives has expanded by 12 000 square feet 1 100 m2 since the inaugural d23 expo . 18 the show floor also featured a new pavilion similar to the walt disney imagineering pavilion from the d23 expo 2009 walt disney parks and resorts s carousel of projects which shows the highlights of the developing projects coming soon in disney parks around the world . 19 shopping opportunities include the d23 expo dream store returning from the inaugural expo . other d23 expo exclusive stores include mickey s of glendale from walt disney imagineering headquarters in glendale california and the walt disney archives treasure trove from the walt disney archives in burbank california . other stores include a small world village and a disney store in the disney living pavilion . another popular area was the collectors forum 20 where guests could buy disney collectibles and connect with the disneyana fan club 21 mouse planet 22 mice chat 23 hidden mickey author nancy temple rodrigue and artist brian rood with his one of a kind the rocketeer . 20 24 events took place at the d23 arena stage 23 stage 28 the red carpet at the talent round up area storytellers stage at the disney living pavilion and at the disney channel radio disney stage . the disney channel stage held performances from coco jones china anne mcclain a first look for radio disney s n.b.t. next big thing and a karate exhibition from leo howard . guests also had the chance to meet and greet the cast of good luck charlie jake and the never land pirates and the never land band lemonade mouth film so random phineas and ferb kickin it fish hooks a.n.t. farm handy manny special agent oso pair of kings and shake it up . robert downey jr. at the 2011 expo promoting marvel s the avengers . 25 stage 23 hosted many events involving sneak peeks to projects from the walt disney studios and abc studios including marvel s the avengers the muppets brave monsters university once upon a time and prep and landing naughty vs. nice and the celebration for the 25th anniversary of pixar . 26 27 stage 28 hosted walt disney imagineering panels for the disney cruise line cars land buena vista street star tours the adventures continue the little mermaid ariel s undersea adventure the voices of the parks and vintage photos and videos of disneyland and walt disney world . 26 28 29 the first rounds of the udtt were held on august 18 2011 one day before the d23 expo which narrowed from thousands to one hundred and from one hundred to 20 . it was hosted by dan roebuck guest starred in lost and wizards of waverly place who narrowed down the final round from 20 people to 3 . after two full days of trivia questions john kurowski is the winner of the inaugural ultimate disney fan trivia tournament . his name will be engraved in a ludwig von drake cartoon character trophy which will be preserved in the walt disney archives and john kurowski will also win a preview cruise on the disney fantasy ship which will set sail to the public part of the disney cruise line in 2012 . 30 the d23 arena hosted many milestone events only at the d23 expo . this is the second time that the disney legends ceremony has taken place in front of guests at the d23 expo originally taken place at the walt disney studios . this tradition started in 1987 and since then 287 people have been awarded . in the expo the company honored 12 people who contributed to the the walt disney company . this includes jodi benson barton boyd jim henson linda larkin paige o hara regis philbin anika noni rose lea salonga ray watson guy williams and jack and bonita wrather . 31 2013 edit entrance to the d23 expo 2013 at the anaheim convention center in anaheim california . the d23 expo returned for a third time august 9 11 2013 at the anaheim convention center . the walt disney studios presented exclusive looks at live action films including saving mr. banks maleficent muppets most wanted tomorrowland and thor the dark world as well as animated productions from such as the good dinosaur frozen party central and get a horse . 32 33 lucasfilm had its first appearance at d23 . 34 media outlets had speculated that casting information for star wars episode vii star wars the force awakens would be announced at the event 35 but no such announcement was made . 36 walt disney parks and resorts showcased pavilions relating to avatar land future star wars attractions marvel s avengers academy on the disney magic disney springs and shanghai disneyland . 37 38 d23 expo japan edit the first japanese d23 was held october 12 14 2013 in the maihama area at the tokyo disney resort . this expo celabrated multiple anniversaries 90th anniversary of the company tokyo disney resort s 30th disney channel s 10th disney mobile s fifth the disney jcb card s fifth and dlife s first . 7 2015 edit d23 expo 2015 the fourth d23 expo was held on august 14 16 2015 at the anaheim convention center in anaheim california . 39 walt disney and pixar animation studios presented first looks of the good dinosaur finding dory zootopia moana toy story 4 and coco . marvel studios presented footage from captain america civil war and stills from doctor strange while lucasfilm presented a look at star wars the force awakens . walt disney pictures showcased alice through the looking glass the jungle book beauty and the beast pirates of the caribbean dead men tell no tales pete s dragon the finest hours and queen of katwe . 40 41 in addition the logos for the incredibles 2 and cars 3 were revealed . 42 43 disney interactive held presentations on several video games namely star wars battlefront disney infinity 3.0 and kingdom hearts iii . the presentations featured new in game footage trailers and reveals . 44 the presentations also included surprise announcements and special guests . 45 at the conclusion of the walt disney studios presentation iger made a surprise announcement that disney was developing a new star wars themed land for both disneyland and disney s hollywood studios . 46 2017 edit the fifth d23 expo will be held on july 14 16 2017 at the anaheim convention center in anaheim california . 12 see also edit the walt disney company walt disney parks and resorts references edit hill jim january 7 2014 . adam sanderson is named as the new head of d23 the official disney fan club . jimhillmedia.com . retrieved january 20 2014 . adam sanderson named head of d23 and walt disney archives . d23.com . january 7 2014 . retrieved january 20 2014 . a b