By: Dominic Jones
This year's D23 Expo is going to be a huge event for Star Wars fans. Not only will The Force Awakens and Battlefront have huge presences, but Star Wars creator George Lucas will honored as well! Lucas will be honored with a Disney Legend Award, along with six other Disney Legends.
The award will given out at a presentation on the morning of Friday August 14th at 10:00am PST hosted by Disney CEO Bob Iger. About the award, Iger said,
"The Disney Legend Award is our highest honor, and we are incredibly proud to recognize these eight talented individuals who have contributed so much to the world of entertainment and the Disney legacy. The Disney Legend Award is our highest honor, and we are incredibly proud to recognize these eight talented individuals who have contributed so much to the world of entertainment and the Disney legacy."
No word yet on whether George Lucas will be the D23 Expo to accept his award. I, for one, hope he will. Especially since The Force Awakens will be there as well. This would a nice chance for a photo op with Lucas and JJ Abrams and the new cast.
All seven recipients are,
GEORGE BODENHEIMER,
who retired from his role as Executive Chairman of ESPN in May
2014, enjoyed a remarkable 33-year career that began in the company’s
mailroom in 1981. Working his way through the ranks, he became executive
vice president of sales and marketing in 1996, before being named the
network’s fifth president in 1998. He held
that role until 2012, when he stepped down from day-to-day operations.
ANDREAS DEJA is a link to Disney’s past and one of the greatest animators of its
modern era. Deja is known for his rich portraits of villainy, having animated Gaston for
Beauty and the Beast, Jafar for Aladdin, and Scar for The Lion King. He has also brought life to heroes such as mighty Hercules, the precocious Lilo (Lilo & Stitch), regal King Triton (The Little Mermaid), wise Mama Odie (The
Princess and the Frog), and loveable Tigger (Winnie the Pooh). In 2007, he was awarded the prestigious Winsor McCay Award for his contributions to the art of animation.
EYVIND EARLE,
one of the greatest of Disney artists, brought his unique style to
a number of memorable projects but perhaps the purest realization of
his vision remains the visual styling and backgrounds for the Disney
classic
Sleeping Beauty. Earle’s career with Disney began in 1951, working on background artwork for
Peter Pan. He created the look of the 1953 animated short Toot, Whistle, Plunk and Boom, which won an Academy Award® for Best Short Subject, Cartoons in 1954. His most noticeable contribution, however, remains his work on
Sleeping Beauty. The film’s eye-catching look, in its design and backgrounds, are the perfect representation of his unique style.
DANNY ELFMAN provided the songs and score for The Nightmare Before Christmas,
for which he also provided the singing voice of Jack Skellington. He also scored several Disney films including Alice in Wonderland, Avengers: Age of Ultron, Dick Tracy, Dead Presidents, Flubber, Good Will Hunting
(Oscar® Nomination: Best Score), A Civil Action, Instinct, Frankenweenie, and Oz the Great and Powerful. Elfman also wrote the theme for ABC’s Desperate Housewives and penned the music for the Mystic Manor attraction
at Hong Kong Disneyland. His music is featured in Disneyland’s annual Haunted Mansion Holiday. His upcoming Disney projects include Alice in Wonderland: Through the Looking Glass.
GEORGE LUCAS, whose Star Wars films
made him one of the most successful filmmakers
of all time, is also a longtime Disney fan who has left an indelible
impression on Disney parks. His first project with Disney was Captain EO, the 1986 3-D spectacular starring Michael Jackson and directed by Francis Ford Coppola. Star Tours and Indiana
Jones Adventure at Disneyland, as well as Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, Indiana Jones et le Temple du Péril in Disneyland Paris, and two blockbuster Indiana Jones Adventure attractions at Disneyland
and Tokyo DisneySea round out Lucas’ timeless work in conjunction with Disney.
SUSAN LUCCI portrayed Erica Kane on ABC’s fabled soap opera All My Children for
41 years, a role that TV Guide deemed unequivocally the most famous character in the history of daytime television, earning Lucci 21 Daytime Emmy® nominations
to which she won the prestigious Emmy for Best Actress to an
industry-wide standing
ovation on her 19th nomination. Shortly thereafter, she received
her Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, presented to her by Bob
Iger, Chairman and CEO of The Walt Disney Company. The iconic actress
has also appeared on ABC’s Dancing with the Stars and Hope
& Faith, as well as Disney Channel’s That’s So Raven. Lucci currently stars in the international hit Lifetime series,
Devious Maids, produced by ABC Studios, as the wealthy and effervescent socialite, Genevieve Delatour.
JULIE REIHM CASALETTO,
who began her Disney career as a tour guide, became Disneyland’s
first Ambassador in 1965—a role created to help Walt, who found it
increasingly difficult to attend all the events to which he was invited.
As Disneyland’s first Ambassador, she was chosen “as a personification
of Disneyland’s world-famous spirit of friendliness
and happiness.” She became the template upon which decades of
Ambassadors would pattern themselves.
CARSON VAN OSTEN
helped bring Disney characters to life in a variety of media, all
around the world, for three decades. During Van Osten’s tenure, he
oversaw creative content for motion picture tie-in advertising, many
Disney publications, and also established some of the first licensing
style guides for Disney Consumer Products. The talented
artist designed logos for Mickey Mouse’s 50th and 60th birthdays, the
Walt Disney Studios logo and water tower design, and the Disneyland
Hotel clock tower “Mickey” logo in Paris.
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