For over a century, The Walt Disney Company has been a source of joy and inspiration for children and communities around the world through the stories, characters, and experiences we create. That commitment extends beyond entertainment, reflecting a long-standing belief — championed by Disney CEO Bob Iger — that storytelling, creativity, and direct action can help make a meaningful impact in the world.

Since Iger’s tenure began in 2005, Disney has contributed more than $4 billion through cash and in-kind donations toward its social responsibility efforts, primarily supporting nonprofit organizations focused on the wellbeing of children, families, and communities via three pillars of positive impact: children’s hospitals, wish-granting, and supporting veterans and their families. These pillars include longstanding partners such as Make-A-Wish®, Starlight Children’s Foundation, Blue Star Families, and hundreds of nonprofit organizations around the globe focused on youth development and community resilience.

This work also extends to internal programs — such as the Disney College Program and Disney Aspire — that help develop employees and guide them toward greater personal and professional growth.

Together, these efforts reflect Disney’s enduring commitment to creating a positive impact in communities both near and far.

In 2018, Iger announced a $100 million investment to reinvent the patient and family experience in children’s hospitals across the globe. The first hospital to partner with Disney on a comprehensive patient experience approach was Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston — the largest children’s hospital in the United States. Notably, Walt Disney himself supported fundraising efforts for the hospital prior to its opening in 1954, underscoring a legacy of care that continues today. 

Disney’s creative expertise also plays a unique role in these efforts. In 2018, Walt Disney Imagineers, working alongside patients and the hospital’s Play Team, helped design The Disney Reef at Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) in London — an immersive, underwater-themed outdoor play space featuring custom-designed sculptures of Disney characters. In 2024, Disney expanded its commitment at GOSH by announcing funding for a fully accessible MediCinema theater, bringing movie magic to patients, families, and caregivers alike. 

• In the Asia Pacific region in 2016, Disney announced a donation of over $3 million USD (RMB 20 million) tied to the opening of Shanghai Disney Resort to support Disney-themed play spaces and therapeutic activities in children’s hospitals across China.
• In collaboration with the China Soong Ching Ling Foundation and the Shanghai Charity Foundation, Disney has helped build 50 Disney Fun Houses across 41 cities in 24 provincial and municipal regions, bringing joy to children undergoing treatment and recovery.

Make-A-Wish

The Walt Disney Company is the world’s largest wish-granter through Make-A-Wish®, granting a wish every hour of every day. Disney has granted more than 170,000 wishes for critically ill children around the world. In the last decade alone, Disney has contributed more than $200 million through both cash and in-kind donations to Make-A-Wish America and Make-A-Wish International. 

Disney prides itself not just on the volume of wishes it grants, but also the way it constantly pushes the boundaries of what a wish can be. 

While many wishes take place at Disney theme parks, every segment of the company plays a role in bringing wishes to life. 

• ESPN: Through the My Wish series ESPN and Make-A-Wish have partnered for 18 seasons to connect children with their favorite athletes. 
• Disney Entertainment: Wish children have visited sets and met talent, including experiences with Luke Bryan on American Idol and Sebastian Stan on the set of Marvel Studios’ Thunderbolts*. 

Veterans and Military Families

Disney’s respect for military service members and their families is deeply rooted in the company’s history. Walt Disney and Roy O. Disney both served their country during World War I, and honoring those who serve has remained a continual tradition through daily flag retreats since the opening of Disneyland Resort in 1955. 

Disney also provides funding and media support to a broad network of nonprofit partners dedicated to easing the transition from military to civilian life as well as supporting veterans and military families. These include: American Corporate Partners, Bob Woodruff Foundation, Blue Star Families, Disabled American Veterans, Fisher House Foundation, Operation Gratitude, Student Veterans of America, USO, Veterans in Media and Entertainment, VetsInTech, and Wounded Warrior Project. 

Caring for Employees and Cast Members

Disney has taken numerous steps to support the growth and development of its employees and cast members across all stages of their career journeys. 

Over the past two decades, the Disney College Program has evolved from a longstanding internship initiative into a large-scale, globally recognized talent pipeline supporting thousands of students each year. 

Originally established in 1981, the program has steadily expanded its scope, housing, and participant opportunities. What began with fewer than 300 students now welcomes thousands of participants per semester, illustrating its transformation into one of the most competitive and sought-after internships in the industry. 

The Walt Disney Company’s groundbreaking education investment program, Disney Aspire, is a comprehensive employer-funded initiative designed to empower hourly employees and cast members by removing traditional barriers to higher education.

Disney continues to invest in its people through a comprehensive ecosystem of leadership, learning, and recognition programs. From expanded LEAD and Leadership Development Pathways to a broad portfolio of internships and professional programs spanning disciplines, campuses, and global regions, Disney is building strong pipelines into longterm roles. This commitment is reinforced by a robust internal learning platform that supports continuous development for both hourly and salaried employees. 

Caring for Our Communities

The Walt Disney Company makes sure to care for both the communities that it directly operates in and those in which it has a less direct connection. 

Over the past two decades, Disney has committed more than $100 million in disaster response and recovery funding to nonprofit partners supporting communities affected by major hurricanes — including Milton, Helen, and Irma — earthquakes in Yunnan and Nepal, fires such as those at Notre Dame Cathedral, and the devastating Los Angeles wildfires in January 2025. 

In response to the Los Angeles wildfires, Disney acted quickly to lead the entertainment industry’s response with a $15 million commitment to support immediate relief and longterm rebuilding in the community it has called home for more than 100 years. 

Disney also supports employees impacted by disasters through the Disney Employee Relief Fund, which has provided more than $5 million in grant assistance since the program began in 2021. The company maintains year-round disaster readiness through partnerships with organizations such as the American Red Cross, UNICEF, and Feeding America, helping ensure rapid access to food, water, and emergency aid. 

Disney continues to invest in long-term community solutions, including affordable housing. Through DisneylandForward — a multiyear public planning effort to update Disneyland Resort’s existing development approvals — the company made a $30 million investment in affordable housing, which represents the largest affordable housing investment tied to a nonresidential project in Anaheim’s history.

Disney has long supported healthier choices for families through a series of thoughtful initiatives informed by expert guidance. 

In 2006, with guidance from leading health experts, Disney introduced Nutritional Guidelines for children ages three and older. In 2010, the company launched Disney Magic of Healthy Living, a national multimedia initiative supporting parents in raising healthy, happy kids. These efforts expanded in 2012 with the introduction of Disney Check, helping families identify healthier food and beverage options that meet Disney Nutritional Guideline Criteria in stores, online, on-air, at Disney theme parks and resorts, and other places where Disney products are sold. 

Environmental stewardship is another cornerstone of Disney’s impact. Since 1995, the Disney Conservation Fund (DCF) has contributed more than $141 million to protect wildlife and wild places and connect families with nature worldwide. DCF-supported programs have helped protect more than 300 million acres of habitat — an area equivalent to 10,000 Walt Disney World Resorts — and provided millions of kids with nature experiences.  

Through relationships with organizations such as the International Fund for Animal Welfare, DCF has also supported animal rescue efforts during disasters, helping more than 200,000 animals across 39 countries. 

On March 15, during the Academy Awards on ABC, Disney Cruise Line premiered an emotional and uplifting new ad campaign showing how even the simplest moments on a Disney vacation can grow into lifelong memories and treasured family traditions.

The spot, dubbed “Midnight Magic,” follows a father and son as they share a quiet ritual aboard a Disney ship, tracing their relationship across the years, from childhood to adulthood and into grandparenthood.

Fair warning: keep a tissue handy because it’s a tear-jerker (in all the best ways).

“Disney has brought families closer together for generations,” said Asad Ayaz, Chief Marketing and Brand Officer, The Walt Disney Company. “This campaign embodies what guests tell us time and again: that the Disney experiences they cherish most are the ones spent with the people they love. We’re grateful to make that kind of Disney magic a reality.”

The creative team behind this short film drew inspiration from how Disney creates moments of real connection, sometimes in moments of grandeur and sometimes in the quiet moments they share as a family. In the ad’s story, those quieter moments take place during a nighttime stroll on a Disney cruise, when the ship feels like yours alone.

The campaign highlights Disney’s unique ability to touch lives, build meaningful connections and create happiness—not just through attractions, shows and amenities, but in the time spent with each other. The idea of a Disney cruise becoming a family tradition came straight from longtime fans and repeat guests.

The spot arrives during an exciting period of growth for Disney Cruise Line. Five new ships are planned by 2031, bringing the fleet to a total of 13 ships worldwide. That expansion includes the recent launch of Disney Destiny in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and the debut of Disney Adventure in Singapore earlier this month as the cruise line’s first ship in Asia.

Along with more departure ports around the globe to destinations spanning the Caribbean, The Bahamas, Europe, Alaska and beyond, this ongoing expansion is enabling Disney Cruise Line to welcome more families than ever before.

For more information about how to book a Disney Cruise Line vacation, guests can visit DisneyCruise.com.

For more than a century, The Walt Disney Company has continued to expand the ways in which audiences interact with its stories. At this year’s South by Southwest® (SXSW®) conference in Austin, Texas, Disney Consumer Products (DCP) showcased exactly how that legacy is expanding — powered by cultural insight, emotional storytelling, and innovative collaborations that meet fans wherever they are.

On March 13, Tasia Filippatos, President of Disney Consumer Products, took to the SXSW stage to detail how the business has grown into a commercial powerhouse, extending Disney’s iconic characters far beyond screens and theme parks into everyday categories such as sports, beauty, fashion, jewelry, and home décor.

Amplifying a Legacy of Magic

Filippatos opened her talk, “Shaping Brand Relevance for a New Generation,” with a simple statement: each person’s experience with Disney is deeply personal. Whether it’s a memory of a family trip to Disneyland, trick-or-treating dressed as a beloved Disney character, or singing a favorite song on repeat, Disney stories don’t just entertain; they stay with us. And while many fans know Disney for its films and theme parks, DCP is the engine that brings those stories to life in the hands of consumers around the world.

But, Filippatos cautioned, “legacy alone isn’t a strategy for the future.” Disney’s challenge, and opportunity, is to remain meaningful to each new generation. To sustain that emotional connection, DCP is evolving how fans experience Disney stories by meeting them where they are, embracing new platforms and touchpoints that make Disney part of daily life.

Inside the World of Disney Consumer Products

Disney’s consumer products business anchors a $62 billion global retail ecosystem, inclusive of the world’s largest licensing operation. Spanning more than 100 product categories across 180 countries, DCP brings storytelling to life from mass retailers like Walmart to luxury brands such as Gucci, and from games to publishing. At every level, the work is guided by a single purpose: to “create happiness every day.”

Evolving With a New Generation of Fans

With younger generations shaping global trends faster than ever, DCP is adapting to meet the expectations of digital‑native audiences. Filippatos invited Ron Faris, DCP’s Head of Global Marketing, to unpack how fandom drives cultural relevance. His insight: youth don’t just consume culture; they create it, remix it, and scale it.

From games like Roblox and Fortnite to video platforms like TikTok and YouTube Shorts, today’s fans interact with Disney stories on their own terms, and Disney’s approach is evolving accordingly.

As Faris explained, the Disney playbook is built on three core ingredients: story, product, and experience, with story as the foundation. “Story is the most important. That’s the lore,” he said, noting that Disney continually shapes and remixes its stories to drive energy and emotion across different segments of consumers. With trading cards and vintage thrifting emerging as two of the biggest youth trends today, DCP leans into high-heat drops and collectible formats like blind boxes, which deepen emotional engagement. Together, this approach allows DCP to create culturally relevant moments that resonate with new audiences.

Games as a Gateway into Disney Stories

With nine game franchises surpassing $1 billion, Disney games aren’t simple adaptations of box office hits. Instead, they’re full-fledged storytelling universes. Filippatos also welcomed Sean Shoptaw, EVP of Games & Digital Entertainment, to discuss how gaming has become one of the most powerful entry points into Disney storytelling.

“Today’s consumers expect to have a voice,” said Filippatos. “And they’re looking for community and shared experiences on these platforms.”

Shoptaw highlighted the company’s partnership with Epic Games, showcasing the enormous potential ahead as the boundaries between games, content, and interactive worlds continue to blur.

Emotion at the Heart of Creativity

Emotion drives everything at Disney and that includes consumer products. To explore this idea, Marcus Rosie, Head of Global Creative, joined Filippatos onstage to talk about how DCP designs products and experiences starting with the question: “What do we want people to feel?”

Pointing to examples ranging from Selfridges’ enchanting and immersive holiday takeover in London to a globally celebrated Disney’s The Lion King collaboration with Balmain, shot on location in Africa and the award-winning Bath & Body Works Disney Princess and Villains fragrance collections, Rosie stressed how emotion transforms products into cultural moments. “Once we define the emotional destination – whether it’s wonder, nostalgia, humor or joy – everything else becomes a design choice,” he said. “Emotion is what turns a moment into a memory.”

Unexpected Collaborations, Made Authentically Disney

The session also spotlighted collaborations that spark curiosity and cultural conversation.

Bobby Kim, DCP’s Global Creative Director, shared how Disney chooses collaborators whose stories align with the company’s DNA, leading to partnerships that feel surprising, yet unmistakably Disney.

“Collaborations are not just a way to share someone else’s story,” said Kim, “but to shine a light on the nuances and facets of your own brand that you might not have seen otherwise. What you say about the collaborator really says more about yourself.”

The Disney x Formula 1® “Fuel the Magic” collaboration was an unexpected pairing that unlocked engagement with a massive global fanbase of 860 million people and made Mickey Mouse an instant star in the F1 paddock. The kick-off spot last May sparked the highest engagement F1 has ever seen around any of its partnership announcements.

From the SXSW stage, Filippatos announced the next step in the “Fuel the Magic” campaign — a partnership with F1 Academy, supporting the next generation of female racers while celebrating Minnie Mouse and Daisy Duck.

A Blueprint for Staying Relevant

To close the session, Filippatos highlighted one more example that captures the spirit of Disney’s evolving cultural relevance: the 2024 Coperni runway show at Disneyland Paris, which closed out Paris Fashion Week in front of some of the world’s leading tastemakers.

Ultimately, each example discussed reinforced the central idea at the heart of Filippatos’ message, which is relevance is built through creativity, authenticity, and emotional connection. When brands build meaningful connections with their audiences, the magic naturally follows.

On March 29, Disneyland Paris enters an exciting new chapter with the inauguration of Disney Adventure World, its reimagined and expanded second park that features a thrilling array of innovative new experiences that leverage Disney’s globally beloved stories and franchises.

From the moment guests enter through the majestic Adventure Way to the impressive brand-new World of Frozen — which recreates the kingdom of Arendelle on a life-size scale — they’ll discover an attraction inspired by Walt Disney Animation Studios’ Tangled, 14 new dining locations, an immense lake called Adventure Bay, a breathtaking nighttime spectacular, and more. That’s not to mention the new Olaf robotic character, who will be featured as part of the daily Celebration in Arendelle show.

To learn more about the resort’s exciting transformation, which will include a new world and attraction themed to The Lion King still to come, we spoke with Natacha Rafalski, Présidente of Disneyland Paris.

On Mar. 29, the resort’s second park will officially become Disney Adventure World, with World of Frozen as its centerpiece. How did you determine which Disney stories and franchises would best resonate with guests across Europe?

Our strategy was driven by two key pillars: the proven emotional power of our franchises and our ambition to introduce new stories that complemented those already featured in Disneyland Park at Disneyland Paris. We chose franchises like Frozen, Marvel, and The Lion King because they offer something for everyone, from young children and families to adult fans. While Pixar already has a beloved presence in both our parks, we recognized that Frozen and Marvel have become absolute cultural phenomena that particularly resonate with our European guests. By pairing these with The Lion King, a story that holds a unique, almost sacred place in the hearts of Europeans, we’ve created a perfectly balanced ecosystem of stories.

While Disneyland Park, our first theme park in Paris, remains the home of classic, timeless storytelling, Disney Adventure World is designed as a place where guests literally step into the stories they know and love. We wanted to move beyond watching the story to living within the familiar environments seen on screen. Whether it’s wandering the streets of Arendelle or immersing yourself in the high-tech world of the Avengers, we are inviting our guests to fully dive into the cinematic worlds they have seen on screen, providing a fresh, distinct contrast to our first park.

These stories clearly travel well beyond their original markets. What does their global appeal say about the enduring strength of Disney’s franchises?

It proves that our stories speak a universal language. Disney’s strength lies in building on themes that are foundational to the human experience: the importance of family and self-discovery in Frozen, the values of heroism and leadership in Marvel, or the responsibility and circle of life in The Lion King.

When you combine those themes with relatable characters and unforgettable music, you create a shared cultural touchstone. These stories connect people across generations and borders, creating an emotional bond that remains vibrant decades after a film’s release.

How did you bring these franchises to life in ways that felt authentic to the region and resonated with local guests?

It is a delicate balance between preserving the DNA of these universal stories and grounding them in an experience that feels authentic to our diverse guests, and weaving it into the cultural fabric of Europe. Many of the stories we tell, from Frozen and Tangled to Peter Pan, are originally based on traditional European stories. Our goal is to honor that heritage while inviting guests into the Disney version of those worlds.

We achieve this by drawing heavily from European artistic traditions. On Adventure Way, for example, we embraced an eclectic architectural style with a strong Art Nouveau aesthetic — and influential school of design that originated here in France. We also know our European guests have a unique appreciation for nature and the traditional stroll. Our landscapes bring this to life through an English-inspired Gazebo Garden and formal French-style parks, offering a more contemplative, distinctly European way to experience a theme park.

That commitment to authenticity carries through to the smallest details of craftsmanship and artistry. In The Regal View Restaurant & Lounge, for example, the decor features striking display plates from the Royal Delft manufactory in the Netherlands — authentic elements that help ground the fantasy in real‑world history. We even localize the experience through sound, collaborating with renowned French composer Philippe Rombi, who created a score for Adventure Way that brings a distinct cinematic sensibility to the land.

Finally, we think carefully about how language plays an important role in making the experience accessible and relatable. In our attractions, guests will hear characters naturally shift between French and English, ensuring the story is clear for everyone while maintaining the grand scale our guests expect. It is truly about honoring the European spirit of these tales while inviting every guest to become a part of the story.

What are some of the most exciting innovations coming to Disneyland Paris as part of this transformation?

Innovation at Disneyland Paris is about elevating every touchpoint of the guest journey, ensuring the magic feels more seamless and alive than ever before. We are particularly thrilled to introduce a next generation robotic figure of Olaf. Developed by Walt Disney Imagineering, this is a true milestone in character technology. Unlike traditional animatronic figures, this Olaf is a free roaming, untethered robotic character that can walk and move with the same whimsical and slightly bumbling gait we know from the films. He can speak and engage with his surroundings in a way that creates a level of character fidelity previously only possible on screen. Guests will be able to see him soon at both Hong Kong Disneyland and right here in Paris as part of our entertainment offerings.

Looking beyond World of Frozen, we are bringing a world first to our nighttime entertainment with the introduction of autonomous aquatic drones. These surface vehicles allow us to use the water of Adventure Bay as a dynamic and choreographed stage. By blending this cutting-edge technology with our classic storytelling, we are creating a multisensory show unlike anything seen in a Disney park before.

We are also evolving the invisible parts of the guest experience. By introducing new digital ways to order food and modernizing our retail environments with intuitive technology, we are removing friction from the day to day. Our goal is to ensure guests spend less time in line and more time immersed in the stories they love.

This transformation is part of a broader €2 billion investment in Disneyland Paris. What does that level of investment signal about Disney’s long-term commitment to the resort and to its growing presence in Europe more broadly?

This investment is a powerful vote of confidence in Disneyland Paris as the leading tourist destination in Europe. It reflects our continued evolution as a world‑class resort, designed to meet the needs of future generations of guests. By significantly expanding our footprint and diversifying our stories, we are reinforcing our commitment to the European region, ensuring that we remain the gold standard for immersive family entertainment for decades to come.

The evolution of Disney Adventure World continues beyond March 29, with a new Up–inspired attraction and an immersive world based on The Lion King still to come. How do these future developments fit into your vision?

Our vision is one of continuous growth and layered storytelling. As we evolve, we are focused on creating a balanced park experience. For instance, the new Up-inspired attraction is a charming, family-style flying carousel that serves as a perfect celebration of the film’s spirit, beautifully complementing the lush greenery and atmosphere of Adventure Way.

Looking further ahead, the upcoming immersive world of The Lion King will be a massive cornerstone for the park’s future. These developments ensure that Disney Adventure World is a place of constant discovery. A destination that grows alongside our guests, offering everything from quiet moments of family fun to epic, large-scale adventures.

BURBANK, Calif., March 12, 2026 – Paul Roeder has been named Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Communications Officer of The Walt Disney Company, effective March 19, it was announced today by incoming Chief Executive Officer Josh D’Amaro. A 25-year veteran of Disney, Roeder most recently served as Executive Vice President, Communications – Disney Entertainment Studios, Direct-to-Consumer, and International.

As Chief Communications Officer, Roeder will report directly to D’Amaro and will be responsible for leading Disney’s worldwide communications and public relations strategy and operations and will serve as its lead spokesperson. With oversight of enterprise and business segment communications, as well as regional communications teams in EMEA, APAC, and Latin America, his responsibilities include media relations, executive communications, enterprise editorial strategy, internal communications and employee engagement, public affairs, and corporate social responsibility.

“Paul Roeder is an accomplished and highly respected executive with keen instincts and integrity, and he has built strong relationships in every area of the company and across the entertainment industry during his 25 years with Disney,” said D’Amaro. “He has a passion for Disney and a deep understanding of what it stands for, and I know he’ll do an outstanding job leading our exceptional Communications teams worldwide.”

“Disney is a place I love dearly, and it is a tremendous honor to take on this role at such an exciting and pivotal time for the company,” said Roeder. “I have huge respect for Josh D’Amaro, Dana Walden, and the entire executive team – as well as my talented Communications colleagues – and I’m incredibly optimistic about what we’ll be able to accomplish together. I’m deeply grateful to Josh for this wonderful opportunity, to Alan Bergman for his mentorship and support over the 15 years I’ve served him at The Walt Disney Studios, and to Bob Iger for the encouragement and insight he has so generously offered throughout my career at Disney.”

Named to lead communications for Disney Entertainment – Studios, Direct-to-Consumer, and International in 2023, Roeder oversaw the development and implementation of global communications strategies for The Walt Disney Studios and its collection of world-renowned production studios, including Disney, Walt Disney Animation Studios, Pixar Animation Studios, Marvel Studios, Lucasfilm, 20th Century Studios, and Searchlight Pictures; Disney Theatrical Group; and Disney Music Group. He also led the communications teams for Disney Entertainment’s Direct-to-Consumer group as well as Disney Entertainment and ESPN’s Product and Technology, Platform Distribution, and International divisions, and The Walt Disney Company’s Office of Technology Enablement. His deep company knowledge and expertise have also been pivotal in building strong reputation-management tactics at the corporate level.

Roeder has led communications for The Walt Disney Studios since 2010, serving as a key member of its executive team throughout the acquisitions and integrations of Lucasfilm and 21st Century Fox in 2012 and 2019, respectively; the 2019 launch of Disney+; and the release of some of the biggest films of all time, including “Avatar: The Way of Water,” “Avengers: Endgame,” “Black Panther,” “Star Wars: The Force Awakens,” “Frozen,” and “Inside Out 2,” among many others.

Previously, Roeder served in roles of increasing responsibility in Corporate Communications for The Walt Disney Company from 2002-2010, after joining Disney’s ABC communications team in 2001. He began his career in the entertainment industry serving in various roles at William Morris and later as an assistant to the executive producer on the comedy tentpole Meet the Parents. Roeder is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. He holds a bachelor’s degree in English from De Pauw University.

Paul Roeder has been named Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Communications Officer of The Walt Disney Company, effective March 19, it was announced today by incoming Chief Executive Officer Josh D’Amaro. A 25-year veteran of Disney, Roeder most recently served as Executive Vice President, Communications – Disney Entertainment Studios, Direct-to-Consumer, and International.

As Chief Communications Officer, Roeder will report directly to D’Amaro and will be responsible for leading Disney’s worldwide communications and public relations strategy and operations and will serve as its lead spokesperson. With oversight of enterprise and business segment communications, as well as regional communications teams in EMEA, APAC, and Latin America, his responsibilities include media relations, executive communications, enterprise editorial strategy, internal communications and employee engagement, public affairs, and corporate social responsibility.

“Paul Roeder is an accomplished and highly respected executive with keen instincts and integrity, and he has built strong relationships in every area of the company and across the entertainment industry during his 25 years with Disney,” said D’Amaro. “He has a passion for Disney and a deep understanding of what it stands for, and I know he’ll do an outstanding job leading our exceptional Communications teams worldwide.”

“Disney is a place I love dearly, and it is a tremendous honor to take on this role at such an exciting and pivotal time for the company,” said Roeder. “I have huge respect for Josh D’Amaro, Dana Walden, and the entire executive team – as well as my talented Communications colleagues – and I’m incredibly optimistic about what we’ll be able to accomplish together. I’m deeply grateful to Josh for this wonderful opportunity, to Alan Bergman for his mentorship and support over the 15 years I’ve served him at The Walt Disney Studios, and to Bob Iger for the encouragement and insight he has so generously offered throughout my career at Disney.”

Named to lead communications for Disney Entertainment – Studios, Direct-to-Consumer, and International in 2023, Roeder oversaw the development and implementation of global communications strategies for The Walt Disney Studios and its collection of world-renowned production studios, including Disney, Walt Disney Animation Studios, Pixar Animation Studios, Marvel Studios, Lucasfilm, 20th Century Studios, and Searchlight Pictures; Disney Theatrical Group; and Disney Music Group. He also led the communications teams for Disney Entertainment’s Direct-to-Consumer group as well as Disney Entertainment and ESPN’s Product and Technology, Platform Distribution, and International divisions, and The Walt Disney Company’s Office of Technology Enablement. His deep company knowledge and expertise have also been pivotal in building strong reputation-management tactics at the corporate level.

Roeder has led communications for The Walt Disney Studios since 2010, serving as a key member of its executive team throughout the acquisitions and integrations of Lucasfilm and 21st Century Fox in 2012 and 2019, respectively; the 2019 launch of Disney+; and the release of some of the biggest films of all time, including Avatar: The Way of Water, Avengers: Endgame, Black Panther, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Frozen, and Inside Out 2, among many others.

Previously, Roeder served in roles of increasing responsibility in Corporate Communications for The Walt Disney Company from 2002-2010, after joining Disney’s ABC communications team in 2001. He began his career in the entertainment industry serving in various roles at William Morris and later as an assistant to the executive producer on the comedy tentpole Meet the Parents. Roeder is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. He holds a bachelor’s degree in English from De Pauw University.

Disney+ continues to expand its Bluey offerings with new content arriving this month and later this summer. Announced today, Bluey’s Big Play – The Stage Show, a special televised version of the popular touring theatrical production, will premiere Monday, March 16. Additionally, a collection of Bluey Minisodes, previously only available online and in Australia, will also be available for the first time on Disney+ beginning Wednesday, May 20. Global phenomenon Bluey was 2025’s No. 1 most-streamed program in the U.S. for the second year in a row, with 45.2 billion minutes streamed.*

• Bluey’s Big Play – The Stage Show is a special televised version of the popular touring theatrical production, featuring live performances of fan-favorite Bluey characters brought to life by world-class puppeteers. Bluey’s Big Play – The Stage Show is an adaptation of the multiple Emmy^® Award-winning animated series, with an original story by Bluey creator Joe Brumm and music specially composed by Joff Bush. The special is produced by BBC Studios Kids & Family Productions in association with Ludo Studio, Andrew Kay, and Windmill Theatre Co, and is distributed internationally by BBC Studios, with executive producers Tom Cousins and Anna Perowne.
• It was also announced today that a previously released collection of 10 Bluey Minisodes will be available for the first time on Disney+. The bite-sized short-form series is a collection of one- to three-minute minisodes and is produced by Ludo Studio. The shorts highlight funny and sweet moments featuring Bluey and Bingo leaning into playful interactions and games that further explore the characters and world of Bluey. The collection includes: Humpty Dumpty, Green Bottles, Flying Saucer, Tea Party, Pea Pod Sausages, Old Macdonald, Honk, Lollipop Song, Cinderella, and Make Mum Laugh. All previously released Bluey Minisodes are currently available to stream on Disney+.

More Bluey Offerings:

• BBC Studios and Walt Disney Studios, in partnership with Ludo Studio, announced that the feature-length Bluey movie will be released in cinemas August 6, 2027.

• Bluey is joining Disney Experiences as part of Disney’s global relationship with BBC Studios, with the producers of Bluey, Ludo Studio, collaborating on special fan activations.

• Beginning March 22, 2026, and continuing through the year, “Bluey’s Best Day Ever!” will invite Disneyland Park guests to a fun-filled celebration of favorite episodes of the animated series at the reimagined Fantasyland Theatre. Now transformed into a beautiful Fun Fair at Bluey’s School, Bluey and her sister Bingo appear throughout the day alongside a lively group of comedic performers and musicians, plus some very familiar friends. Together, they bring to life the unmistakable, familiar feeling that the best day ever has officially begun.

• Bluey and Bingo are on their way to Disney’s Animal Kingdom at Walt Disney World Resort! Starting May 26, 202 —6 and staying beyond Cool KIDS’ SUMMER — guests can play games and dance with Bluey and Bingo at Conservation Station. Once guests hop off the Wildlife Express Train, it’s time for fun. Play special games directly from Bluey episodes, grab a photo with Bluey and Bingo themselves, and even discover animals native to Bluey’s home country, Australia, at “Jumping Junction.”
• Earlier this year, Bluey and Bingo set sail on Disney Cruise Line for greetings, dance parties, and more. Visit disneycruise.com for more details on where Bluey and Bingo are sailing in 2026.

Beginning this week, Disney+ subscribers in the U.S. can find a new place on their mobile app to discover stories with Verts, marking the first phase of bringing vertical video content to the platform. This new dynamic feed on Disney+ helps users quickly find their next favorite watch and is just the start of what will be an ongoing evolution of Verts.

Learn more about what fans can look forward to in the future as part of this new mobile-first experience:

What is Verts on Disney+?

First announced at Disney’s 2026 Global Tech & Data Showcase, vertical video on Disney+ opens up an entirely new way for fans to connect with the stories they love. With a tap of the new Verts icon in the navigation bar on mobile, users enter a vertical video feed and can swipe through a stream of scenes and moments from movies and shows on Disney+, and seamlessly add to their Watchlist or jump directly into playback.

With the latest streaming hits and an incredible catalog spanning more than 100 years of storytelling, we’re making it easier for fans to discover what to watch next. Verts offers a fun, fast way to explore that catalog right from the moment users open the app. It brings the magic of Disney’s storytelling into a format that feels modern, engaging, and tailor-made for how fans already enjoy discovering video on mobile devices.

What kind of user engagement are you seeing with Verts to date?

In both early experiments on Disney+ as well as since launch on ESPN in August, Verts has driven additional engagement.

Much of this can be attributed to our new advanced algorithm that powers the recommendation engine for the experience to ensure that Verts feels uniquely relevant and personalized to each individual user.

What’s next for Verts on Disney+?

This launch is just the beginning — the first scene of the first episode in a multi-season series. What fans see today on Verts was built with user utility and scale in mind. Already, though, the team is exploring and experimenting with ways to expand far beyond content discovery.

Over time, Verts will play a key role in fans’ everyday experience on Disney+. At launch, this includes driving discoverability across Disney’s entertainment catalog, with opportunities in the future to add content from creators that reflects our fandoms, plus other storytelling formats, content types, and personalized experiences.

Since 1929, the Academy Awards^® — also known as the Oscars^® — celebrates outstanding artistic and technical merit in the film industry. This year, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences^® (AMPAS) will recognize achievements across 24 competitive categories.

Here are answers to frequently asked questions about the 98th Oscars:

When are the 98th Oscars?

The Academy Awards will take place on Sunday, March 15, 2026.

What time do the Oscars start?

The Oscars will air at 7 p.m. ET / 4 p.m. PT.

Where can I watch the 98th Oscars?

The Oscars will air live on ABC and stream live on Hulu for all subscribers.

Where are the 98th Oscars being held?

The Oscars will be held at the Dolby^® Theatre at Ovation Hollywood.

How and when can I watch the Oscars pre-shows?

Good Morning America‘s coverage will kick off Thursday, March 12, when Lara Spencer interviews O’Brien. The following day, Chris Connelly will share his predictions on GMA.

ABC News Live’s coverage will begin on Wednesday, March 11, with Rocsi Diaz when O’Brien rolls out the red carpet. Leading up to the ceremony, ABC News Live Prime with Linsey Davis will continue its monthlong “Oscars for the First Time…” series before it streams live from the Dolby Theatre red carpet on Friday, March 13, at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT with a preview show featuring Kelley Carter. Coverage will continue with a roundtable airing Saturday, March 14, hosted by Will Ganss and featuring TikTok creators Tefi Pessoa, Caroline Vazzana, and Monse Gutierrez discussing film, fashion and this year’s nominations.

ABC News and ABC Owned Television Stations will present a star-studded preshow, On the Red Carpet at the Oscars, on Sunday, March 15, airing across ABC Owned Television Stations and affiliates and streaming on ABC News Live, beginning at 3:30 p.m. ET/12:30 p.m. PT. Spencer, along with Whit Johnson and Linsey Davis, will interview this year’s Oscar nominees and presenters alongside George Pennacchio, Joelle Garguilo, and Connelly. Meanwhile, Roshumba Williams and Joe Zee will break down all the red-carpet fashions.

Who is hosting the 98th Oscars?

Emmy^® Award-winning television host, writer, producer, and comedian Conan O’Brien returns as host for the second time. He previously hosted the Academy Awards in 2025.

Who is presenting at the 2026 Oscars?

Will Arnett, Adrien Brody, Javier Bardem, Rose Byrne, Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Kieran Culkin, Disney Legend Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Anne Hathaway, Chase Infiniti, Nicole Kidman, Jimmy Kimmel, Delroy Lindo, Mikey Madison, Ewan McGregor, Paul Mescal, Demi Moore, Wagner Moura, Kumail Nanjiani, Gwyneth Paltrow, Pedro Pascal, Bill Pullman, Lewis Pullman, Maya Rudolph, Channing Tatum, Sigourney Weaver, and Zoe Saldaña will present onstage at the 2026 Oscars.

Who are the 2026 Oscar nominees?

Actors Danielle Brooks and Lewis Pullman announced the Academy Award nominees on Thursday, January 22. There are 24 competitive award categories this year, including the brand-new Best Casting category. The Walt Disney Company received four Oscar nominations, including two for 20th Century Studios’ Avatar: Fire and Ash (Best Costume Design, Best Visual Effects). It also received nominations for Pixar Animation Studios’ Elio and Walt Disney Animation Studios’ Zootopia 2, which are up for Best Animated Feature.

Who is performing at the Oscars?

A KPop Demon Hunters moment will begin with a fusion of traditional Korean instrumentalists and dance, celebrating the folklore and cultural inspiration that anchors the story behind the film. As part of this experience, EJAE, Audrey Nuna, and Rei Ami, the singing voices behind HUNTR/X, will perform the Oscar-nominated original song “Golden.”

A Sinners moment will explore the role music plays in the film’s storytelling, translating it into a cinematic live moment onstage. Miles Caton and Raphael Saadiq will perform the Oscar-nominated original song “I Lied to You,” and they will be joined by Misty Copeland, Eric Gales, Buddy Guy, Brittany Howard, Christone “Kingfish” Ingram, Jayme Lawson, Li Jun Li, Bobby Rush, Shaboozey, and Alice Smith in an homage to the film’s singular visual style.

Additionally, Josh Groban and the Los Angeles Master Chorale will appear during the show.

How do I play Oscars Pick ‘Em?

Oscars Pick’em is a free to play game on ESPN.com/ABC.com, the ESPN App, and the ESPN Fantasy App that serves as a second screen experience on Oscars night. Players compete by predicting who they think will win in all 24 categories. During the live broadcast, selections will be scored in real time as each winner is announced. The grand prize is a trip for two to Los Angeles for the 2027 Oscars Watch Party and $5,000, and 10 first prize winners will receive an Oscar prize pack. (See complete rules for details.)

Where can I watch Disney’s Oscar-nominated films?

Avatar: Fire and Ash and Zootopia 2 are now in theaters. Elio and Zootopia 2 are streaming on Disney+. Hulu has an Oscars hub featuring current nominees, as well as past winners.

Who received this year’s Governors Awards?

In June 2025, AMPAS announced that its Board of Governors voted to present Academy Honorary Awards to Debbie Allen, Tom Cruise, and Wynn Thomas, and the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award to Dolly Parton. They received their Oscars on Sunday, November 16, 2025, during the 16th Governors Awards at the Ray Dolby Ballroom at Ovation Hollywood.

When do the Oscars post-shows air?

On Monday, March 16, the live GMA Oscars Monday After Party, co-anchored by Michael Strahan from Los Angeles, will feature Spencer sharing her backstage interviews with winners, along with a live performance from the Good Morning America studio in New York.

Then, Disney Legend Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos return to host Live’s After the Oscars Show on Monday, March 19, at 9 a.m. ET/PT (check local listings). The episode will include interviews with nominees and winners; performances by Wyclef Jean and Andra Day; commentary by Carson Kressley and Leanne Morgan; and impressions by Matt Friend.

Thomas Mazloum Named Chairman, Disney Experiences

Disney Experiences announced today a series of leadership appointments, underscoring the strength and versatility of its leadership team. “We’re in an unprecedented period of growth for Disney Experiences,” said Josh D’Amaro, Chairman of Disney Experiences and incoming Chief Executive Officer of the Walt Disney Company. “This team will propel the world-class experiences Disney is known for to more guests across the globe.”

Thomas Mazloum succeeds Josh D’Amaro as Chairman, Disney Experiences, leading a diverse portfolio of global businesses including Disney’s theme parks, cruise ships, resort hotels, expeditions and adventures, consumer products, and Walt Disney Imagineering, the creative engine behind Disney’s experiences portfolio.

Mazloum brings deep operational knowledge of Disney Experiences, a strong record of international leadership, and a long-standing commitment to Disney’s cast members and creative culture. With the guest experience at the center of everything, he will lead the business into its next chapter as it continues to grow and evolve globally.

Before joining Disney, Mazloum built a strong foundation in European luxury hospitality, gaining extensive experience across high‑end hotels in food & beverage, guest services, and hotel operations. He later served as Chief Operating Officer of Crystal Cruise Line, where he was known for driving service excellence, transforming organizational cultures, and successfully launching new travel ventures.

As part of his Disney career, Mazloum held senior leadership roles at Walt Disney World Resort before being named President, Disney Signature Experiences. In that role, he developed a long‑term strategic growth plan that included doubling the size of the Disney Cruise Line fleet. With the recent launch of Disney Adventure in Singapore — the cruise line’s eighth ship and its first homeported in Asia — the business expanded into new growth markets and reached the next generation of fans.

Most recently, as President, Disneyland Resort, Mazloum oversaw two theme parks, three hotels, and the Downtown Disney District during the Resort’s 70th anniversary celebration.

“Thomas Mazloum is an exceptional leader with a genuine appreciation for our cast members and a proven track record of delivering growth,” said D’Amaro. “His focus on service excellence, broad international leadership, and strong connection to the creativity that brings our stories to life make him the right leader to guide Disney Experiences into its next chapter.”

Disney Experiences also announced the following changes to its leadership team, with all roles reporting to Mazloum:

• Jill Estorino — President, Disneyland Resort
• Tasia Filippatos — President, Disney Parks International
• Lisa Baldzicki — President, Disney Consumer Products

Jill Estorino has been named President, Disneyland Resort, where she will continue to elevate the guest and cast experience at the company’s original, iconic destination.

Over her 35-year career, Estorino held numerous leadership roles, including Executive Vice President of Global Marketing and Sales for Disney Parks, Experiences and Products, where she played a key role in the grand opening of Shanghai Disney Resort. Most recently, as President of Disney Parks International, Estorino oversaw the operations, expansion and development of Disney’s international parks and resorts, including Disneyland Paris, Hong Kong Disneyland, Shanghai Disney Resort and Tokyo Disney Resort with the Oriental Land Company. Estorino successfully expanded Disney’s global footprint at sites around the world, reaching new consumers and fans from around the world. Since her appointment, Disney’s international parks have seen strong performance and growth.

In her new role as Disneyland Resort President, Estorino brings a global perspective shaped by decades of leadership across Disney’s diverse portfolio of experiences. As a strong business and marketing strategist, she focuses on brand stewardship, exceptional guest experiences, and a deeply connected cast culture. Estorino will guide the resort through its next phase of growth while continuing to foster the culture and community that has defined Disneyland.

Tasia Filippatos is appointed President, Disney Parks International, overseeing the growth and evolution of Disney’s parks outside the United States.

Most recently, Filippatos served as President of Disney Consumer Products, guiding the business through a period of transformation fueled by innovation-led growth. Her leadership included a global portfolio spanning products, Parks merchandise, retail, publishing and games while translating iconic storytelling into scaled consumer experiences through premier brand partnerships worldwide.

In her new role as President of Disney Parks International, Filippatos brings a proven track record of leading complex global businesses at scale across diverse international markets. A visionary leader at the forefront of creativity and innovation, she will oversee the operations, expansion, and development of Disney’s international parks — including Disneyland Paris, Hong Kong Disneyland, Shanghai Disneyland, Tokyo Disney Resort in partnership with Oriental Land Company, and our newest park coming to Abu Dhabi in partnership with Miral.

Lisa Baldzicki is promoted to President, Disney Consumer Products, where she will continue to build on the great momentum and evolution of our global consumer products business.

Baldzicki was most recently head of Parks Product Development & Retail for Disney Consumer Products, where she defined the vision and business strategy for retail product and integrated experiences across Disney’s domestic parks. She brought a consumer-led merchandising perspective to the role, shaping strategies that drive how guests engage with products and brands before, during, and after purchase.

In her new role as President, Disney Consumer Products, she will lead the continued evolution of the global retail division of The Walt Disney Company. The division includes the world’s largest licensing business with a presence across more than 100 product categories and a global reach spanning over 180 countries.

“As we look ahead, I have tremendous confidence in Thomas and in the leaders stepping into these roles — Jill, Tasia, and Lisa — along with the incredible leadership team across Disney Experiences,” said D’Amaro. “Together, they will continue to build on our momentum around the world, delivering the service, creativity and one-of-a-kind experiences that define Disney.”

Transitions will get under way in the next few weeks, with all roles effective March 18, 2026.

When Conan O’Brien hosted the 97th Oscars^® on ABC and Hulu in 2025, critics said the comedian was at his “acerbic best” (Variety). And, because he helped bring the telecast to a five-year ratings high, it should come as no surprise that he was asked to return for this year’s show.

“That experience was fun for me,” O’Brien said. “My old rule is that if it’s fun for me to do it, it might be fun for people to watch it. There’s a lot of chatter about how it’s a thankless task to host one of these shows, and I didn’t find that to be true. I found it to be a fun gig; I enjoyed it.”

Still, O’Brien admitted he’s learned from past mistakes.

“Last year, I ate a massive Italian meal just before going onstage. Huge! Multiple cutlets of veal parmesan, mountains of meatballs, spaghetti carbonara, and then I drank a huge glass of warm cream. Those things weighed me down a bit,” he joked. “This year, I’m not going to do that. I’m going to have a very simple Japanese bento box — a little bit of raw fish, maybe some edamame — and then I’ll hit the stage. It’s going to be a bit lighter this year.”

Meal prep aside, O’Brien and the team of writers are also prepping jokes for the ceremony, which will be held on Sunday, March 15, at the Dolby^® Theatre at Ovation Hollywood. “I don’t care how long someone has been in the business of making people laugh: getting a laugh is as exciting now at my age as it was when I was 12,” O’Brien said. “It’s the same endorphins, the same chemicals, the same sense of ‘Oh, my God! I’m so glad that worked!’”

Finding the humor in the unexpected can be “very humbling,” O’Brien continued. “You’re always looking for that moment when you can get everyone to agree that something’s funny, or something’s ironic, or something’s weird… If you can get that laugh, and you feel like everyone else in this room is agreeing with you in this very primal way, it’s delightful.”

Hosted by Conan O’Brien, The Oscars will air live on ABC and stream live on Hulu on Sunday, March 15, at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT from the Dolby Theatre at Ovation Hollywood.

On March 10, the Disney Adventure will set sail on its maiden voyage from Singapore, joining the growing Disney Cruise Line fleet as its eighth ship and first in Asia — bringing immersive Disney storytelling to more guests and Disney fans around the world than ever.

The Disney Adventure expands The Walt Disney Company’s presence in one of the fastest growing travel regions and in cruising, one of the fastest growing segments of global travel.

“We think about this ship as a brand ambassador as Disney Cruise Line continues to visit more people in more places around the world,” said Joe Schott, President, Disney Signature Experiences. “It brings together our storytelling, entertainment and legendary service in one immersive experience, creating memories for guests that stay with them long after the voyage ends.”

With five additional Disney ships launching between 2027 and 2031, the growth of Disney Cruise Line reflects continued expansion across Disney Experiences, which currently has more projects underway globally than at any point in the company’s history.

Introducing New Guests to Disney Experiences

Helping to meet the rising demand for Disney vacations at sea, Schott shared that the fleet is already more than 80% sold for fiscal year 2026, even as capacity continues to grow with the expansion into Asia and the recent debut of the Disney Destiny in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, in November.

Based on a survey of the initial guests who booked sailings on the Disney Adventure:

• More than 90% of guests are sailing with Disney Cruise Line for the first time, highlighting the long-term growth potential in the region.
• Most guests are first-time cruisers, demonstrating Disney’s unique ability to attract new audiences across Southeast Asia.
• Families make up most guests onboard, reinforcing Disney Cruise Line’s strength in multigenerational travel, which is popular in this market.
• Most guests plan to spend time in Singapore before or after their cruise, indicating the positive economic impact of the ship’s local presence.

While most guests sailing aboard the Disney Adventure are new to cruising and to Disney Cruise Line, their connection to Disney is well established. The overwhelming majority say they have previously experienced Disney through theme parks, films, television, or consumer products, making the cruise experience a natural extension of stories they already know and love.

With Hong Kong Disneyland more than 1,500 miles (about 2,600 kilometers) from Singapore, the Disney Adventure brings a Disney experience closer to guests in the region.

Building on that momentum, as previously announced, Disney is also working with Oriental Land Co., Ltd. (OLC) to bring Disney cruise vacations to Japan, expected to begin by early 2029, further extending the company’s foothold in Asia.

Bringing the Disney Adventure to Life

As the largest ship to join the Disney Cruise Line fleet, the Disney Adventure spans 1,122 feet, accommodates approximately 6,700 guests and is supported by a crew of about 2,500. The Disney Adventure sails three- and four-night itineraries at sea, making the ship both the journey and the destination.

Across seven immersive themed areas, the ship brings more than 100 years of Disney, Marvel, and Pixar storytelling to life through experiences thoughtfully inspired by the region. Highlights include a Marvel-themed adventure zone on the upper decks, San Fransokyo Street from Big Hero 6, and a Lion King-inspired fireworks spectacular. The ship also features Duffy and Friends, the beloved character franchise that originated in Disney’s Asia theme parks, with dedicated consumer products, meet-and-greets, and an original stage show.

“A cruise ship allows us to immerse guests in a brand in a deeper way,” said Bruce Vaughn, President and Chief Creative Officer, Walt Disney Imagineering. “It’s almost like stepping into a living storybook, where every space plays a role in the story being told.

“Immersion isn’t just about what you see,” he added. “It’s how sound, lighting, food and movement all work together so the story surrounds you, instead of sitting in front of you.”

For more on the Disney Adventure and how to book, guests can visit DisneyAdventure.com.

To learn more about how the Disney Adventure was made, watch the newest episode of We Call it Imagineering.

New brand campaign, products, publishing titles and content will spotlight Pooh and his legacy

Disney is commemorating 100 years of Winnie the Pooh by honoring the gentle humor, timeless wisdom, and boundless imagination that have made the ‘hunny’-loving bear beloved for generations. This centennial milestone marks the 1926 publication of A.A. Milne’s original Winnie‑the‑Pooh book and will be celebrated throughout 2026 with new product collaborations, storytelling moments, and publishing releases inspired by Pooh’s century-long legacy.

A Legacy Rooted in Storytelling and Animation

Pooh’s relationship with Disney began nearly 60 years ago, when Walt Disney introduced the Hundred Acre Wood to audiences through animation. Since those early featurettes, generations of Disney animators have shaped Pooh’s on‑screen personality with warmth, simplicity, and storybook-inspired artistry. Disney Legend Mark Henn served as supervising animator for Pooh in the 2011 Walt Disney Animation Studios feature Winnie the Pooh, helping further define the gentle charm that continues to resonate with fans.  

“Animating Winnie the Pooh has been one of the greatest joys of my career. His warmth, curiosity, and subtle expressions allow animators to explore some of the most heartfelt storytelling in the Disney tradition,” said Mark Henn, Disney Legend and animator.

This animation legacy remains central to Pooh’s identity, reinforcing his place as one of Disney’s most heartfelt and enduring characters. 

The Walt Disney Archives Celebrates Pooh’s Century of Stories

As part of the centennial, the Walt Disney Archives is highlighting its extensive Winnie the Pooh collection, which preserves artwork, documents, animation materials, consumer products, and one-of-a-kind artifacts chronicling Pooh’s evolution since the 1960s. 

Among the collection are early 1960s plush toys created by Gund, one of the longest‑running Pooh licensees. Gund’s plush characters, treasured by generations of fans, remain a significant part of the archival product story. Its legacy continues today, as Gund still brings new Pooh items to market, building on decades of craftsmanship and emotional connection for fans of all ages. Some of Gund’s latest Winnie the Pooh-inspired items include the Oh So Sunggly Winnie the Pooh plush, the Peek-a-Boo Winnie the Pooh Animated Plush, and their Disney Winnie the Pooh Collection.

From publication artwork to vintage merchandise and production ephemera, the Archives offers a unique window into the creativity that has defined Pooh’s journey.

“This collection gives fans a rare opportunity to see some materials that would shape Winnie the Pooh’s on‑screen and consumer‑products legacy, from early merchandise to early studio production documentation that reflects the craft behind his charm,” said Kevin M. Kern, Sr. Manager, Research, Walt Disney Archives.

The Archives’ ongoing work ensures future generations can continue to explore the artistry that has helped define Pooh’s journey.

A New Brand Campaign Brings Fans into the Hundred Acre Wood

To celebrate Pooh’s 100th anniversary, Disney is launching a new global brand campaign inviting fans to revisit Pooh’s gentle wisdom and lighthearted worldview. The campaign brings audiences into the Hundred Acre Wood through new content, experiential events, creator-led storytelling, and reimagined “Pooh‑isms” — inspired by the gentle, reflective sayings and simple truths Pooh is known for — that spotlight Pooh’s timeless wisdom through a modern lens.

At the heart of the campaign is a new brand spot — available now on Disney’s YouTube channel — offering a warm, heartfelt tribute to the ways Pooh encourages fans to slow down, imagine, and savor life’s simple joys. 

Celebrating Pooh Through New Global Product Collaborations

All year, Disney is working with global leading brands to introduce new collections inspired by Pooh and his friends. Early launches include apparel, accessories, collectibles, home goods, and lifestyle products available at major retailers worldwide, with additional items rolling out throughout the year.

“Winnie the Pooh’s 100th anniversary gives us an incredible opportunity to celebrate the products that have shaped his legacy,” said Amanda Dhalluin, VP Global Brand Commercialization, Disney Consumer Products. “From classic storybook‑inspired collections to modern lifestyle lines, every item we create is designed to connect fans with Pooh Bear in a way that feels personal and joyfully nostalgic.”

Early Launch Highlights  

• Carter’s debuted baby apparel inspired by Winnie the Pooh and friends, bringing the cozy Hundred Acre Wood charm to little fans. 

• Disney Store launched several collections inspired by Winnie the Pooh, including mini and large versions of the Winnie the Pooh and Pals Disney Store Est. 1987 Canvas Tote.

• Funko expanded their popular Pop Nooks line with new Winnie the Pooh collectibles celebrating some of his most iconic moments from across the Hundred Acre Wood, with charming figures like Pop! Nooks Winnie the Pooh in Honey Tree, Pop! Pooh with Balloon, and Pop! Sleeping Winnie the Pooh 

• GAP introduced new baby apparel featuring timeless Pooh designs for seamless outfit pairing. 

• Old Navy rolled out playful adult female, kids, toddler, and baby apparel inspired by Winnie the Pooh and friends. 

• Primark dropped a 100th anniversary collection that channels the wonder of the Hundred Acre Wood and leans into cozy nostalgia. 

• Vera Bradley launched iconic bags and accessories adorned with whimsical Hundred Acre Wood patterns, giving fans an early way to join the centennial celebration.

New Drops Spanning More Categories This Month 

• Newly available, two LEGO Disney Winnie the Pooh sets celebrate the centennial: a detailed brick‑built Pooh with a honey pot with movable features, and the Piglet’s Birthday Fun set featuring a posable Piglet and a birthday cake that opens to reveal Pooh’s house and the Hundred Acre Wood. 

• The new Happy Haul line from Just Play, which debuted at New York Toy Fair and launches this month, brings Winnie the Pooh to life with the blind‑box Hunny Crew figures and Hunny Hugs Capsule Plush, inviting fans to unbox surprises and build their own collections. 

• Additional highlights this month include a robust assortment of baby apparel from Kyte Baby, new adult apparel and accessories from Cakeworthy, tech accessories from PopSockets, and statement bags from Loungefly. Yogi Tea joins the celebration as well with a comforting honey chamomile tea inspired by Pooh’s love of slowing down and savoring simple pleasures. 

• Beauty essentials, including new Winnie the Pooh collections from Wet Brush, Wet n Wild, and Mad Beauty, will follow these top product drops, bringing Pooh‑inspired charm to personal‑care routines around the world.  

Products Still to Come  

The celebration will continue throughout the year with additional Winnie the Pooh–inspired launches across retail and lifestyle categories worldwide. Upcoming releases include a new kids’ footwear collection from adidas this June, infused with whimsical design touches and everyday comfort, a new addition to the popular Disney Darlings line from JAKKS Pacific, as well as special collections from Squishmallows, Steiff, Little Words Project, and Pandora. 

New Publishing Launches Explore Pooh’s Themes of Kindness and Wonder

This year’s publishing lineup invites readers to connect with Pooh through books celebrating friendship, creativity, keepsakes, and reflective moments.

Upcoming titles include: 

• Winnie the Pooh: Wonders of the Hundred-Acre Wood Treasury from Random House Children’s Books 

• Disney: Winnie the Pooh: The Hundred-Acre Wood Cookbook from Insight Editions 

• The Winnie the Pooh Book: A Centenary Celebration from DK

And this fall, Disney will honor the anniversary of A.A. Milne’s original publication with the release of Winnie the Pooh: 100 Mindful Moments from Penguin Random House, arriving September 22. This newest addition to the Pooh literary tradition invites readers to explore the art of living simply, joyfully, and thoughtfully through Pooh’s perspective while finding balance in the everyday.

Inviting Fans Everywhere to “Live the Hunny Life”

The campaign will continue to roll out with regional experiential activations from April to May across LA, Japan, Singapore, London, Paris, and Poland, supporting new product collections from LEGO, Just Play and Funko, alongside new publishing titles.

As Disney celebrates 100 years of Winnie the Pooh, fans everywhere are invited to rediscover the timeless charm, imagination, and gentle wisdom that have defined Pooh for a century. Through storytelling, animation, publishing, and new product offerings, the Hundred Acre Wood will continue to inspire meaningful moments around the world in 2026, and beyond

Discover additional product news and centennial collections on the Disney Parks Blog. 

What if you could talk to animals and understand what they’re saying?

That’s the premise behind Disney and Pixar’s all-new feature film Hoppers, in theaters March 6. In the animated comedy, directed by Daniel Chong, scientists at Beaverton University discover how to transfer human consciousness into lifelike robotic wildlife, allowing people to communicate with animals as animals. They call this process “hopping.”

But, as Dr. Sam explains in the film, “This is not like Avatar!”

For the filmmakers, it was important to establish ground rules — “pond rules,” rather — about the differences between animals and humans, as well as the mechanics of “hopping.”

“We wanted to dig into nature and be honest about how intense it can be,” screenwriter Jesse Andrews said. “Early on, we had conversations about, ‘If we’re going to do another animated movie about animals, how can we make it different? What territory feels relatively unexplored?’ Instead of conceiving animals that are simply furry people, we tried to keep them as animalistic as possible, while still making them funny, relatable, and identifiable.”

Enter Mabel Tanaka (voiced by Piper Curda), a passionate, 19-year-old animal lover who is outraged to discover that Mayor Jerry Generazzo (voiced by Jon Hamm) plans to build a new stretch of highway through the tranquil glade she frequented with her grandmother. If she can repopulate the glade with a keystone species, she can thwart Mayor Jerry’s plans — but that’s easier said than done. So, Mabel uses Dr. Sam’s top-secret technology to “hop” her mind into the body of a robotic beaver. Now part of the animal world, Mabel befriends the jovial beaver King George (voiced by Bobby Moynihan), leader of the pond and king of the mammals, who shares three simple rules that help keep nature in balance:

• Pond Rule No. 1: “Don’t be a stranger.”
• Pond Rule No. 2: “When you gotta eat, eat.”
• Pond Rule No. 3: “We’re all in this together.”

According to producer Nicole Paradis Grindle, “We didn’t want [the animal characters] to feel like humans in animal suits, and that’s often what storytelling with animals involves. That’s where Pond Rule No. 2 comes from: ‘When you gotta eat, eat.’ We had to address that issue; animals do eat other animals, which makes sense when you explain it as a way of coexisting. I also love that all the animals are really benevolent. Per Pond Rule No. 1, if you know someone’s name, it’s hard to be mad at them. It’s hard to be mad at Diane [a shark, voiced by Vanessa Bayer]. She’s just doing her job. Once you know her name, she’s nice. That’s true of human society. If you get to know individuals, there may be some things that they have to do in order to survive that you might not agree with — but give ’em a chance.”

Indeed, many of the animals — King George included — subvert Mabel’s expectations, forcing her to reconsider who they are and how they interact. “King George is in charge, but he’s not, like, a true king; he doesn’t believe he should rule over all,” Moynihan said. “He believes that everyone should be equal. He might be naïve, but he is a good beaver.”

Human Nature

Mabel cares for creatures big and small, but she occasionally loses patience with people. So, while it’s easy for her to empathize with the little guys… Mayor Jerry? That’s a tall order, especially for a beaver. “Mabel is a spitfire,” Curda said. “She wants to make the world a better place, and she’s frustrated with all the things that are stopping her from doing that.”

Conversely, Mayor Jerry “is a very happy guy,” Hamm said. “He’s very good at his job. He’s well-loved by his constituents. He loves his gig. He loves family. You think, ‘OK, this guy has probably got a lot of great ideas.’ Unfortunately, one of them is diametrically opposed to [Mabel’s].” And yet, in some ways, they’re two sides of the same coin. “The arc of their journey is very similar, just from opposite directions,” Hamm explained. “The good thing about that is that they both come to understand that they’re part of a bigger community.”

It takes a while for either of them to realize that, of course.

Early on, as a beaver, Mabel successfully rallies the leaders of various animal councils, which includes King George, Bird King (voiced by the late Isiah Whitlock Jr.), Amphibian King (voiced by Steve Purcell), Fish Queen (voiced by Ego Nwodim), Reptile Queens (voiced by Nichole Sakura), and Insect Queen (voiced by Meryl Streep). But getting them to see Mayor Jerry as a major, imminent human threat is more difficult than she predicted.

“I think her biggest surprise is their lack of outrage, because she is filled with so much rage at the injustices that have been put towards this community of animals,” Curda said. “She’s expecting them to also be filled with that rage, and they’re just… not. They’re just kind of happy to be there and making it work. I think that confuses her for a little bit, but she does end up learning from that — because rage can’t be the only thing fueling your fight, you know? There’s got to be something else in there. There’s got to be a little compassion, there’s got to be a little understanding. She definitely learns that from George, for sure.”

According to director Daniel Chong, “Thematically, the movie is about questioning power. Mabel has no power. Jerry has all the power… But when Mabel hops, she enters a world where she suddenly has some power. Once she goes to the council, she gets even more power. Then the question becomes: ‘Once you have that power, what do you do with it?’ We combat some of the heaviness of all that through comedy. We’re having fun with the absurdity of the situation, with all these wild characters who have interesting personalities.”

Another major theme in Hoppers is “the importance of connection,” Andrews noted.

“Because this is about nature now, in this present moment, I knew this story would also be about change,” Andrews said. “Mabel is finding her way through it. It makes the movie emotionally richer.”

Lush Landscapes

Just as rich as the storytelling are the settings, which required multiple departments to collaborate and develop an all-new technological pipeline. The natural world can create a lot of visual noise, so to find the right balance, the lighting and effects artists created a custom workflow that allowed them to put brushstrokes on their models. This, in turn, allowed them to simplify backgrounds without losing the rich texture of the environments.

“The natural world environment is so visually complex,” visual effects (VFX) supervisor Beth Albright said. “There’s so much detail — and it’s beautiful — but it’s a lot. If you put characters into that, and they’re moving, it’s hard to focus the eye. It’s too much to look at.”

Paradis Grindle elaborated, saying, “We had these very stylized characters, and they needed to fit into a natural world that can’t be busy. We wanted to give people the feeling of being in nature without the harsh reality of what a 3D environment can look like. Ultimately, it was about the emotion. We wanted people to feel relaxed, to feel connected, and we wanted the characters to pop in that. We wanted your eye always to follow the characters.”

Once the “cute, chubby, and fuzzy” character designs were done, Albright said, they were able to home in on getting the settings right. “We needed everything to speak the same visual language,” she said. “We also needed to maintain the scale of nature, because if you simplify things too much — or if you make things too cartoony — you can lose the stakes.”

To ensure each environment had “an artistically tactile, handcrafted look,” the compositing, lighting, modeling, shading, and VFX teams collaborated to create the new technological workflow. “I think the quickest way to figure out how to do something crazy is to tell someone smart that they can’t do it,” Albright said. “All of a sudden, things are happening!”

Once completed, they were able to take each individual leaf, turn it into a point, and then replace it with a painted brushstroke. “We’re preserving all that really saturated, really vibrant color detail, and all the shading and lighting work that went into it, and then putting an artistic texture on it,” Albright said. “Ultimately, that helps to ‘quiet’ the setting.”

All that effort was worth it, according to Hamm.

“I’m really impressed with the incredible amount of artistry that went into making this, from the animation and the sound effects to the writing and directing,” Hamm said. “It’s a tremendous team effort. It took a long time to create this, but the proof is in the pudding.”

On Monday, April 27, in celebration of National Deaf History Month, Disney+ will proudly debut Disney Animation’s Songs in Sign Language, three animated musical sequences from recent Walt Disney Animation Studios features, newly reimagined and animated in American Sign Language (ASL).

Directed by veteran Disney animator/director Hyrum Osmond, the featured songs are “The Next Right Thing” from Frozen 2, “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” from Encanto, and “Beyond” from Moana 2. Osmond, along with producers Heather Blodget and Christina Chen, worked in collaboration with artistic director DJ Kurs and the team at Los Angeles’ Tony^® Award-winning Deaf West Theatre to create the new versions of these beloved songs. A special behind-the-scenes featurette will accompany the songs, taking viewers into the collaboration that made these reimagined songs possible.

Osmond led a team of more than 20 animators who worked with sign language reference expressly created for Disney Animation’s Songs in Sign Language. Kurs, artistic director for Deaf West Theatre, working with sign language reference choreographer Catalene Sacchetti, and a group of eight performers from Deaf West Theatre, carefully reimagined and choreographed lyrics into ASL by focusing on concepts and emotion instead of a word-for-word transcription.

“In the majority of cases, we created entirely new animation,” Osmond said. “There were a lot of adjustments that we had to do within the animation to be true to the original intention.”

Osmond, whose father is Deaf, cited two important reasons for wanting to do this project.

“One, sign language is one of the most beautiful ways of communication on Earth. If ever there was a medium to showcase sign language, it was animation,” Osmond said. “The other big reason for doing this project is to connect with the Deaf community. Growing up, I never learned sign language, and that barrier prevented me from really connecting with my dad. This reimagining of Disney Animation musical numbers helps bring down barriers and allows us to connect in a special way with our audiences in the Deaf community. I’m grateful that the Studio got behind making something so impactful.”

Kurs said, “When Hyrum approached me with a potential collaboration involving the integration of ASL into the fabric of Disney storytelling, it was an immediate ‘yes’ for us. Disney stories are the universal language of childhood. The chance to bring our language into that world was a historic opportunity to reach a global audience. Working on this project was very emotional. For so long, we have known and loved the artistic medium of Disney Animation. Here, the art form was adapting to us. I hope this unlocks possibilities in the minds and hearts of Deaf children, and that this all leads to more down the road.”

Disney Cruise Line welcomed its newest ship, the Disney Adventure, to its rapidly expanding fleet in a dazzling entertainment showcase that celebrated the beloved Disney stories, characters, and music that come to life onboard. The elegant artistry of the christening ceremony punctuated the introduction of the cruise line’s first ever ship to sail in Southeast Asia.

In the Walt Disney Theatre aboard the ship, guests witnessed the magic of Disney storytelling come to life through regional vocalists and musicians, incredible video effects, and star-studded surprises, including special appearances from Captain Mickey Mouse and Captain Minnie Mouse. A 23-piece orchestra, Hollywood Performing Arts Hall of Fame inductee Jed Madela, and international recording artist of Eurovision fam Dami Im guided the show through classic Disney, Pixar, and Marvel melodies accompanied by stunning visuals that sprung to life on screens that surrounded the stage and seemed to engulf the audience.

Chairman of Disney Experiences and incoming Chief Executive Officer of The Walt Disney Company, Josh D’Amaro, and President of Disney Signature Experiences, Joe Schott, joined the artists on stage to mark the momentous occasion.

“The Walt Disney Company has always been built on the power of storytelling and innovation – and Disney Cruise Line brings those values to life in extraordinary ways. Our cruise ships are ambassadors of our brand that carry joy, wonder and enchantment to destinations around the world,” said D’Amaro. “As our first ship to homeport in Asia, the Disney Adventure represents a new chapter for Disney Cruise Line and will introduce Disney to audiences who may be experiencing our magic for the very first time. It offers fans across this region an opportunity to immerse themselves in unforgettable ways and create memories that are uniquely Disney.”

The Godparent of the Disney Adventure, Robert Downey Jr., lent his voice to the ceremonial blessing for good fortune for the ship and all its guests.

“I’ve had the privilege of getting to know the team at Walt Disney Imagineering, and I can tell you Adventure is the perfect name for what they’ve created,” he said. “Being the Godparent of this majestic vessel is an honor, and I have some serious duties to perform, so let’s make it official, shall we?”

Downey Jr. cued the orchestra, saying, “You bring the theme and I’ll bring the thunder,” followed by the official blessing, “I christen thee, Disney Adventure, may God bless this ship and all who sail upon her.”

The Christening Ceremony culminated with a confetti burst and a multitude of beloved Disney characters in a rousing rendition of “Let’s Set Sail,” a Disney Cruise Line tradition the builds excitement for the journeys that lie ahead onboard the Disney Adventure.

Drawing on more than 100 years of storytelling from Disney, Pixar, and Marvel, the Disney Adventure is filled with epic experiences and beloved characters waiting to be discovered. The ship features seven immersive themed areas, each transporting guests into iconic stories and worlds including San Fransokyo Street from Disney’s Big Hero 6. On board, guests can enjoy a brand-new Broadway-style musical, “Remember;” immersive dining experiences; signature fireworks at sea; imaginative clubs for kids of all ages; a dynamic collection of bars and lounges for adults; and thrilling attractions, including Disney Cruise Line’s first-ever roller coaster at sea, Ironcycle Test Run.

The Disney Adventure marks Disney Cruise Line’s eighth ship and its largest to date. The ship embarks on its maiden voyage on March 10, followed by an inaugural season of three- and four-night itineraries at sea. The Disney Adventure is part of a multi-year expansion of the award-winning Disney Cruise Line fleet, which currently includes eight ships, with five more planned to join the fleet by 2031.

To learn more about Disney Cruise Line or to book a vacation, guests can visit disneycruise.com, call Disney Cruise Line at 888-325-2500 or contact their travel agent.

The world can’t get enough of Zootopia.

Released theatrically in November 2025, Walt Disney Animation Studios’ Zootopia 2 — starring Ginnifer Goodwin, Jason Bateman, and Ke Huy Quan; written and directed by Jared Bush; directed by Byron Howard; and produced by Yvett Merino — broke multiple box office records in its opening weekend. It went on to become the No. 1 domestic and international release of the year and the highest-grossing animated MPA film of all time. Beloved by audiences and critics alike, it is now nominated for Best Animated Feature at the 98th Academy Awards^®.

“It’s a great honor to be nominated,” said Howard. “It sounds cliché to say, but to be a part of the conversation is really great. It’s also been nice to get a chance to meet the other filmmakers from around the world and celebrate really great storytelling from a bunch of different, diverse sources.”

Getting to talk shop with living legends — as Merino did when she was sandwiched in between Steven Spielberg and Chloé Zhao during the 98th Oscars “Class Photo” last month — has been the cherry on top of a fruitful and promising awards season run. “I wanted to go out and buy a lottery ticket, because it was my lucky day!” Merino said. “It was such an honor to talk with them about their films, and for them to talk about our film.”

Outside of industry events, Merino said, “One of my favorite things is to get a text from a friend that says, ‘I just saw the movie! I loved it. It was so funny. It meant so much to me.’ Hearing from so many different people who’ve connected with the film has been amazing.”

In the Q&A below, Howard and Merino open up about their Zootopia 2 experience.

Before Zootopia 2 was released last year, you spoke about how you hoped audiences would receive the movie. Zootopia 2 just won a BAFTA Award and became the top-grossing movie of 2025 — and the Oscars are weeks away. How are you feeling now?

Byron Howard: The Oscars will be a big, glittery wrap-up for us on this wild Zootopia 2 journey. It’s been a joy doing this with Yvett and Jared; I absolutely love working with them.

What made seeing Zootopia 2 in theaters such an important communal experience?

Yvett Merino: The magic of the world of Zootopia is that it reflects our human world, but it’s not our human word; it’s the animal world. That allows people to come in with a sense of openness. Knowing that some people have seen this movie over and over again has been amazing, because they’ve built a community. People are seeing it in full theaters, and maybe they haven’t had that experience before. For some kids, this movie was the first time they’ve ever been inside a movie theater. Being able to laugh together with strangers — having that shared experience — is something truly magical that you only get in theaters.

Byron Howard: Yvett mentioned standing next to Steven Spielberg, and I’m so jealous of her, because growing up, Jared and I were really influenced by Amblin films — those great Spielberg films from way back when. Whether it was E.T., or one of the Indiana Jones films, or Close Encounters, you would go to the theater and experience those movies together. They gave you something to share and to talk about. Once home video became available, you had a way to experience it again and again. Movies are a way to bring people together.

Yvett and I were in Santa Barbara a couple of weeks ago, and they had 2,000 kids in a packed theater watching Zootopia 2, and their reactions made me cry. It was so amazing to see an audience so deeply invested in the movie and enjoying it so much. Those kids, who are probably 10 or 11, will have that for the rest of their lives to talk about. They will remember when they went and experienced that together. That’s amazing to be a part of.

With Zootopia 2 now available on digital and streaming March 11 on Disney+, fans can really take the time to appreciate some of the movie’s finer details. Which elements do you believe deserve a closer look?

Yvett Merino: We have no real-life reference for a place like the Marsh Market; that all comes from our artists and their imaginations. If you pause and look at the bite marks, for example, you’ll see how much work and thought went into creating that environment to make it look and feel like it’s been lived in for years. It’s just incredible to see all that detail.

Byron Howard: I just learned about Merino’s Café — yes, Yvett’s got a café in Marsh Market! The film is the most detail-packed movie that we’ve ever made, and the fact that people can now watch it in their homes, pause it, and walk up to the screen to look at the tiny details of this world is really, really remarkable. It is an incredibly immersive world, with thousands of characters and amazing environments. No matter where you put a camera, there’s a new story. I’m excited to hear from the public and see what else they might notice.

Zootopia is a world within a city. It’s an amazingly tempting challenge to show more of it, because the potential is endless. I think that’s why audiences love going back to it. To Yvett’s point, the detail and thought that our designers, technicians, filmmakers, and animators put into this movie is really unprecedented. They’re all giving 150%, all the time.

Hosted by Conan O’Brien, The Oscars will air live on ABC and stream live on Hulu on Sunday, March 15, at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT from the Dolby^® Theatre at Ovation Hollywood.

This spring, The Walt Disney Company builds on powerful momentum from a record-breaking 2025, with an exciting slate that fans across Lucasfilm, Pixar Animation Studios, 20th Century Studios, and Searchlight Pictures won’t want to miss.

Walt Disney Animation Studios’ Zootopia 2 is now the No. 1 domestic release of 2025, also ranking as the No. 1 MPA animated film of all time worldwide. This milestone marks the second consecutive year that The Walt Disney Studios has delivered the top domestic release — and in 2025, Disney claimed three of the top four domestic films overall with Zootopia 2, Lilo & Stitch, and Avatar: Fire and Ash.

That strength extends to streaming. 20th Century Studios’ Predator: Badlands debuted as the No. 1 film premiere on Hulu since Prey, drawing nearly 9 million global views in its first five days across Disney+ and Hulu. In total, audiences have streamed more than 300 million hours of the Predator franchise globally on Disney’s streaming platforms.

Disney enters 2026 on a remarkable run, backed by a daring slate poised to captivate audiences around the world.

Here’s what’s coming to theaters this Spring 2026:

• Disney and Pixar’s Hoppers — March 6
• Searchlight Pictures’ Ready or Not 2: Here I Come — March 20
• 20th Century Studios’ The Devil Wears Prada 2 — May 1
• Lucasfilm’s The Mandalorian and Grogu — May 22

Disney and Pixar’s Hoppers

Release Date: March 6

Disney and Pixar’s next original animated comedy follows a young animal lover who “hops” her consciousness into a robotic beaver to communicate with animals and protect their habitat. The all-star ensemble features the voices of Piper Curda (Mabel), Bobby Moynihan (King George), Jon Hamm (Mayor Jerry), Meryl Streep (Insect Queen), Dave Franco (Titus), Kathy Najimy (Dr. Sam), and more. Hoppers delivers heart, humor, and a wholly original world to fans of all ages.

Searchlight Pictures’ Ready or Not 2: Here I Come

Release Date: March 20

Let the game begin! Moments after surviving an all-out attack from the Le Domas family, Grace (Samara Weaving) discovers she’s reached the next level of the nightmarish game — and this time with her estranged sister Faith (Kathryn Newton) at her side. Grace has one chance to survive, keep her sister alive, and claim the High Seat of the Council that controls the world. Four rival families are hunting her for the throne, and whoever wins rules it all. The unpredictable sequel raises the stakes on the deadly game that made the first film a breakout hit. Radio Silence’s Ready or Not 2 also stars Sarah Michelle Gellar, Shawn Hatosy, Néstor Carbonell, with David Cronenberg, and Elijah Wood.

20th Century Studios’ The Devil Wears Prada 2

Release Date: May 1

The Devil Wears Prada 2? This spring? Groundbreaking. After two decades, Meryl Streep, Anne Hathaway, Emily Blunt, and Stanley Tucci return to the fashionable streets of New York City and the sleek offices of Runway Magazine in the eagerly awaited sequel to the 2006 phenomenon that defined a generation.

Lucasfilm’s The Mandalorian and Grogu

Release Date: May 22

After more than 6 years since Star Wars was in theaters, the galaxy’s favorite duo is about to make their debut on the big screen. When dangerous warlords threaten a peaceful galaxy, the New Republic calls upon legendary Mandalorian bounty hunter Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal) and his young apprentice Grogu to protect everything the Rebellion fought for. Directed by Jon Favreau, The Mandalorian and Grogu also stars Sigourney Weaver and Jeremy Allen White and is produced by Jon Favreau, Kathleen Kennedy, Dave Filoni, and Ian Bryce, with music composed by Ludwig Göransson.

Following a record-setting year in theaters, Disney’s 2026 lineup raises the bar with fresh storytelling, fan-favorite worlds, and big-screen experiences designed to bring audiences together.

This summer, Disney and Pixar return with Toy Story 5 on June 19, followed by Disney Live Action’s highly anticipated reimagining of Moana on July 10. Searchlight Pictures keeps the energy high with the comedy Super Troopers 3 on August 7, before 20th Century Studios closes out the blockbuster season with Ridley Scott’s The Dog Stars on August 28.

The Walt Disney Company has won 22 Children’s & Family Emmy^® Awards across its content brands and studios: Disney Branded Television and The Walt Disney Studios (including Lucasfilm, Marvel Animation, National Geographic, and Pixar Animation Studios). Disney+ is the ultimate streaming destination for kids and families, home to 21 awards.

Descendants: Rise of Red and Win or Lose tied for the most wins, with five each, while Star Wars: Skeleton Crew — this year’s most-nominated program — won Outstanding Young Teen Series.

A complete list of all The Walt Disney Company wins follows:

Descendants: The Rise of Red (Disney+/Disney Channel/Disney Branded Television)
Streaming on Disney+
5 Wins

• Outstanding Fiction Special
• Outstanding Art Direction / Set Decoration / Scenic Design
• Outstanding Hairstyling and Makeup
• Outstanding Original Song for a Children’s or Young Teen Program – “Red Christmas”
• Outstanding Choreography

Win or Lose (Disney+/Pixar Animation Studios)
Streaming on Disney+
5 Wins

• Outstanding Children’s or Young Teen Animated Series
• Outstanding Writing for a Children’s or Young Teen Animated Series – “Pickle”
• Outstanding Directing for an Animated Series – “Home”
• Outstanding Editing for an Animated Program – “Mixed Signals”
• Outstanding Individual Achievement in Animation – Storyboard – Esteban Bravo, Storyboard Artist

Star Wars: Skeleton Crew (Disney+/Lucasfilm)
Streaming on Disney+
4 Wins

• Outstanding Young Teen Series
• Outstanding Editing for a Young Teen Live Action Program – “The Real Good Guys”
• Outstanding Sound Mixing and Sound Editing for a Live Action Program – “You Have a Lot to Learn About Pirates”
• Outstanding Visual Effects for a Live Action Program

A Real Bug’s Life (National Geographic)
Streaming on Disney+
2 Wins

• Outstanding Informational Program
• Outstanding Editing for a Preschool or Children’s Live Action Program – “Love in the Forest”

BUNK’D: Learning the Ropes (Disney Channel/Disney Branded Television)
Streaming on Hulu
1 Win

• Outstanding Cinematography and Technical Arts for a Multiple Camera Live Action Program – “Happy Trails”

Dream Productions (Disney+/Pixar Animation Studios)
Streaming on Disney+
1 Win

• Outstanding Casting for an Animated Program

Rise Up, Sing Out (Disney Jr./Disney Branded Television)
Streaming on Disney+
1 Win

• Outstanding Original Song for a Preschool Program – “Grow Your World”

RoboGobo (Disney Jr./Disney Branded Television)
Streaming on Disney+
1 Win

• Outstanding Voice Performer in a Preschool Program – Ana Gasteyer

Star Wars: Young Jedi Adventures (Disney+/Lucasfilm/Disney Jr.)
Streaming on Disney+
1 Win

• Outstanding Sound Mixing and Sound Editing for a Preschool Animated Program – “The Battle of Tenoo”

Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man (Disney+/Marvel Animation)
Streaming on Disney+
1 Win

• Outstanding Voice Directing for an Animated Series – “If This Be My Destiny…”

A fifth installment of the hit Disney Channel Original Movie ZOMBIES franchise has been greenlit for Disney+ and Disney Channel, with Malachi Barton and Freya Skye set to return to their breakout roles as Victor and Nova. Franchise stars Milo Manheim and Meg Donnelly return to executive produce, while Trevor Tordjman returns as Bucky, the beloved cheer captain and cousin of Addison from the original trilogy. The film begins production this spring in New Zealand. An official title will be announced at a later date.

Following the events of ZOMBIES 4: Dawn of the Vampires, the newfound peace between the Daywalkers and Vampires is put to the test when a band of fierce mermaids arrives in Rayburn, making waves and casting a persuasive siren song to lure in new allies. Nova and Victor must unite their groups once more to discover what the mermaids are really after in order to protect the fragile harmony they worked so hard to build.

The returning cast includes Malachi Barton as Victor, Freya Skye as Nova, Swayam Bhatia as Vera, Julian Lerner as Ray, and Mekonnen Knife as Vargas from ZOMBIES 4: Dawn of the Vampires. New to the franchise are a trio of mysterious mermaids: Diaana Babnicova as cool-girl Pearl, Taylor Oliver as bad-boy Fin, and Olive Mortimer as tech-wiz Sandy. Emily Costtrici joins the cast as zombie Izzy, Zed’s zombie cousin and new transfer student.

DGA Award-winner Paul Hoen, director and executive producer of the entire ZOMBIES franchise, will return for this latest installment. Also returning are executive producers Jane Fleming, Mark Ordesky, Joseph Raso and David Light and producer Skot Bright, alongside Manheim and Donnelly. The movie features next-level dance sequences, choreographed by Dondraico Johnson, and an original score composed by Tom Howe. Joining the creative team are writers Chris Hazzard, Michael Fontana and Eydie Faye.

“ZOMBIES has become a defining franchise for the current generation,” said Ayo Davis, president, Disney Branded Television. “With each movie, we intentionally push the story somewhere new. Introducing mermaids in ZOMBIES 5 opens up a completely different dynamic, while staying true to the music, characters and themes of unity and acceptance that are at the heart of these films.”

The ZOMBIES franchise has become one of the most popular Disney Channel Original Movie franchises, with cable telecasts for the first three films ranking No. 1 among Kids 6-11 and Tweens 9-14 in their premiere years,* and garnering 385 million-hours watched across linear and streaming in the U.S. (including series and shorts).** The summer 2024 premiere of ZOMBIES 4: Dawn of the Vampires garnered 9.3 million views globally in its first nine days streaming, amassing 43 million views in less than 6 months.***

The ZOMBIES 5 greenlight news comes during a landmark year for Disney Channel fans, as 2026 celebrates the milestone anniversaries of High School Musical and Hannah Montana, leading into the premieres of new franchise installments Descendants: Wicked Wonderland and Camp Rock 3 this summer. Last summer’s smash hit Descendants/ZOMBIES Worlds Collide Tour now includes a concert special streaming on Disney+, and it was just announced that the Worlds Collide Tour will return this year with talent from Descendants, ZOMBIES and Camp Rock franchises.

ZOMBIES, ZOMBIES 2, ZOMBIES 3, ZOMBIES 4: Dawn of the Vampires, and ZOMBIES: The Re-Animated Series are now streaming on Disney+ and can be found in the ZOMBIES Collection on the service. The all-new short-form series Locker Diaries: ZOMBIES is now available on Disney+, YouTube, Instagram and TikTok with additional episodes rolling out every Saturday until mid-April.

Every pixel of Avatar: Fire and Ash is a visual spectacle — right down to the bespoke costumes and accessories created by Oscar^® winner Deborah L. Scott, whose work in the groundbreaking film is nominated for Best Costume Design at the 98th Academy Awards^®.

“I was very surprised by this nomination,” Scott said. “My work on this film was outside the box. I’m really proud of the costume design branch of the Academy, because this nomination is proof that we can design costumes in all sorts of ways, in all sorts of places. That’s the most exciting thing — cracking the door open a bit. That’s what I’m proudest of.”

Scott is one of Disney Legend James Cameron‘s stalwart collaborators, having designed the costumes for Titanic (1997) before reuniting with him to work on Avatar (2009), Avatar: The Way of Water (2022), and Avatar: Fire and Ash (2025) — four of the most successful films of all time. Scott’s designs are singular, as her work in the Avatar franchise imaginatively and sinuously blends artistry with technology — a modus operandi that mirrors Cameron’s.

“Things have changed a lot,” Scott said. “With the first film, we were still figuring out a lot of the technology in real-time. That’s when it became clear that we needed to make physical samples. The VFX houses had a hard time with it; they would sort of shudder if you gave them a feather, or anything else that was soft. But they rose to the challenge. With the second film, the technology was better, so it was almost like, ‘Forget what we did before. Maybe there’s a cleaner, better way to do things — without sacrificing the design.’ We created a smoother pipeline to avoid troubleshooting with the VFX team down the line. That was important, because there were more costumes, and they were far more detailed.”

Impressive Improvement

Avatar: Fire and Ash is once again set on the moon Pandora, home to the Na’vi people. For this film, Scott and her team spent years developing intricate textiles, beading, and embroidery for nearly 1,000 costumes. While Scott’s designs were rendered digitally by Wētā FX, everything was fabricated as real, tangible items. In fact, midway through production, Scott improved efficiency by creating a “lending library” — a digital and physical archive of accessories, costumes, and props for the Wētā FX artists to reference.

“It can be hard for people to understand the design from just a drawing, which is why the initial concept was to make the costumes, and then we would put them into the digital pipeline. I would never dumb a design down; that’s not an option,” Scott said. “The only option is to create each piece to the best of my ability and then turn it over to the VFX artists and recreate it with them. I get to guide them in their process. With a real, actual sample, nothing is left to guesswork. Previously they’d receive an item, scan it, and photograph it — but the wonderful artists didn’t ever have the real thing in front of them.”

“So, I would go over to Wētā Workshop, and I would put the items on mannequins,” Scott continued. “I wanted the artists to see them, to feel them, to look at them — to really get the details down. If you’ve ever been in a workshop, or if you’ve ever made a garment, you know it’s a very particular process. We can have long discussions about the width of the seam or what kind of bead to use. I do the same thing with the digital artists, just in a different way. We discuss things like, ‘How does it move in the wind? How heavy is it? Does it press to the body or is there space?’ It’s a very detailed, very long, but rewarding journey.”

Ceaseless Creativity

Whereas Avatar introduced audiences to the rainforest-dwelling Omatikaya Clan and Avatar: The Way of Water introduced the shoreline-inhabiting Metkayina Clan, Avatar: Fire and Ash doubled the number of clan introductions. Part of Scott’s responsibility was to create clothing, accessories, and props that would distinguish the Tlalim Clan, aka the Wind Traders, and the Mangkwan Clan, aka the Ash People, from the two established Na’vi clans.

“I knew the two clans had to be remarkably different while still following the same rules of all the clans: they weave, they make their own garments, etc.,” Scott said. “You stay within the framework, so the real fun was getting to customize things based off of their stories.”

The Tlalim Clan “mostly flies around in a gondola,” she continued. “It’s a higher elevation, so it’s colder and windier. How did they cover up their bodies? In talking to Jim, I thought, ‘They’re happy-go-lucky. They travel around and spread gossip and bring wares, so they should be much more colorful.’ Then I thought, ‘What colors haven’t we done?’ I settled on some very saturated jewel tones. For their weaving, we loomed cloth; it has a lot of variations. My idea was, ‘When they’re up in the sky, what are they looking at? The sky, the clouds, the earth. What does it look like when they look down?’ I put that into the design.”

Meanwhile, the Mangkwan Clan — whose culture and lifestyle were dramatically altered after a volcanic eruption destroyed their home — have striking look inspired by their wrath.

“These are people who are really masochistic and sadistic,” Scott said. “We knew that the environments always play an important role in the costuming, and their environment is a burnt-out volcanic landscape. They have less materials. They’re not traveling around in a gondola collecting things; they’re living in a pretty yucky situation. Jim gave me the idea for the first headdress that Varang [Oona Chaplin] wears, as well as the idea of minimal clothing; that’s how many first peoples started. You’ll notice that in the supporting players — not with Varang so much, because she’s pretty high ranking and gets whatever she wants. These people don’t have a lot of time to make a lot of stuff, so they decorate their bodies, which is another incredibly common thing indigenous peoples do. The red color scheme, Jim was pretty set on. We talked a lot about, ‘Is it matte? Is it shiny? Is it granular? Is it ink? Is it paint?’ I started doing designs on paper of different ways to put stripes on the body. What does it mean? Does the lowest guy have one stripe? The masochism and the sadistic part comes in through the piercings and the scarification. It’s a way to show that their bodies — and their body ornamentation — are almost more important than clothing.”

For Scott, being able to play in the Avatar sandbox has been a dream come true.

“That’s the gift, right? You get to continually go to new places with Jim; he’s not doing a repeat,” Scott said. “We follow the characters through the script and think, ‘What’s the most exciting way to present this?’ The world’s our oyster. We can come up with anything.”

Hosted by Conan O’Brien, The Oscars will air live on ABC and stream live on Hulu on Sunday, March 15, at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT from the Dolby^® Theatre at Ovation Hollywood.

WEBTOON launches Mickey & Friends x Formula 1® comic series ahead of Australian Grand Prix 2026

Disney Store, Gentle Monster, a Trackside Range and More Global Licensees Deliver New Drops for 2026 Race Season

Ahead of the 2026 Formula 1® race season, Disney and Formula 1® are announcing the continuation of their multi-year “Fuel the Magic” collaboration, blending storytelling, racing culture and immersive fan experiences at Grand Prix weekends worldwide. Building on the momentum from the Las Vegas Grand Prix in November 2025, including Disney’s Mickey Mouse’s takeover of the Fountains of Bellagio, Disney and Formula 1® will kick-off this race seasons’ “Fuel the Magic” campaign with a racing-inspired content series at the Australian Grand Prix and then shift into high-gear at the Chinese Grand Prix, with more races planned throughout the 2026 race season. The campaign aims to bring fans original WEBTOON content, new branded products, and industry-leading entertainment designed to reflect the energy of each host city and the personalities of Disney’s Mickey & Friends.

“Formula 1 and Disney sparked a cultural moment felt worldwide—and it was only the beginning. This year is about turning that moment into a season‑long story,” said Tasia Filippatos, President of Disney Consumer Products. “A new digital chapter with WEBTOON gives fans a reason to stay connected between race weekends, brought to life through product and standout moments that feel authentic to each stop on the calendar.”

“The continuation of our ‘Fuel the Magic’ campaign with Disney is far greater than just a sports partnership, but one that leverages both Formula 1 and Disney’s power of immersive cultural storytelling and engaging entertainment,” said Emily Prazer, Chief Commercial Officer of Formula 1. From unique product launches to fan experiences, digital content and WEBTOON integration, we’re offering even more unique ways that new and existing audiences can engage with our sport and experience race events like no other.”

WEBTOON Debuts Original Racing-Inspired Series, Starting at the Australian Grand Prix

Disney and WEBTOON have teamed up to create ‘Mickey X Formula 1® Racing to the Top!’ an original vertical comics series which will run exclusively on WEBTOON’s global platforms throughout the 2026 Formula 1® race season. The series will launch on March 6 during the Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix, with new episodes dropping tied to each race weekend throughout the season. Designed for a new

generation of fans, the series will introduce new characters, themes, and scenarios that blend the creativity and imagination of Mickey & Friends with the excitement and drama of Formula 1.

In this original series inspired by the high-octane thrills and teamwork of elite racing, Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck and Goofy come together to help support a racing team in crisis, demonstrating the power of friendship and collaboration to overcome adversity.

“Fuel the Magic” Products Expand to Select Formula 1 Races, Starting at the Chinese Grand Prix Races

Starting at the Chinese Grand Prix from 13-15 March, select Formula 1® races throughout the season will feature “Fuel the Magic” fanzone retail pop-ups with new branded merchandise inspired by the host city. Race-specific pieces and a core collection from Disney and Formula 1® will be available at the F1® Hub and Grand Prix Plaza, as well as online at F1.com and the Amazon F1 store (U.S. only).

Select race weekends will also include special Disney entertainment, creating memorable experiences, including seeing Disney’s Mickey & Friends sporting their Formula 1® fandom in a stylish new way.

First Look at Gentle Monster Assortment

Gentle Monster will introduce the 2026 Circuit Collection, a global eyewear collaboration with Disney and Formula 1® that reimagines the structural language of Formula 1 cars through a bold, fashion-forward lens. Featuring eight styles made with lightweight, durable materials, the collection includes three exclusive designs inspired by Disney’s Mickey & Friends and Formula 1®, blending racing performance with everyday wearability. The launch will also include pop-up experiences in Seoul and Shanghai, where a monumental Disney’s Mickey Mouse sculpture stands alongside an Formula 1® car, bringing the energy of “Fuel the Magic” to life.

More Product Collaborations to Launch Across Fashion, Accessories, and Collectibles

Following the debut of the first Disney x Formula 1® collection in Las Vegas last year, Disney Store will launch additional releases, starting with a Mickey Mouse plush in a Formula 1 uniform, available exclusively in Australia just in time for the Australian Grand Prix, with a global roll-out planned later this year. New collaborations will also launch with Gentle Monster and Uniqlo, alongside an expanded Disney x Formula 1 core collection available online. The assortment will span apparel, accessories, collectibles, and plush, each reflecting the intersection of racing culture and Mickey & Friends. Stay tuned for product reveals on Disney Style.

Stay Tuned for More on Social

The “Fuel the Magic” campaign reflects the shared vision of Disney and Formula 1® to unite racing, entertainment, and fashion through a fan-first approach that celebrates the sport’s cultural energy. This industry-leading collaboration delivers original content and digital experiences to connect fans around

the world to the excitement of Grand Prix weekends. For the latest updates, follow @mickeymouse and @f1 on social media and join the conversation using #FuelTheMagic.

Beginning today, Disney+ subscribers in the U.S. will have access to ABC Owned Television Station’s eight local market 24/7 livestreams from New York (WABC-TV), Los Angeles (KABC-TV), Chicago (WLS-TV), Philadelphia (WPVI-TV), Houston (KTRK-TV), San Francisco (KGO-TV), Raleigh-Durham, NC (WTVD-TV), and Fresno, CA (KFSN-TV).

The 24/7 local news streams feature live, market-specific newscasts, breaking news, important weather updates and special community events and celebrations. The streams are available in the ABC News Hub and the Live Hub. Over time, subscribers located in one of the eight markets will also see their local-market station featured in other locations on Disney+.

The new ABC local news programming joins national news coverage on Disney+ including World News Tonight with David Muir, ABC News Live Prime with Linsey Davis, 20/20, Good Morning America, Nightline, This Week with George Stephanopoulos, and What You Need to Know. The programming adds value for millions of subscribers and bolsters the ever-growing Disney+ content offering including movies and shows from Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars and National Geographic, all in one place.

BURBANK, Calif., February 25, 2026 – Hugh Johnston, Senior Executive Vice President & Chief Financial Officer, The Walt Disney Company (NYSE: DIS) will participate in a question-and-answer session at the Morgan Stanley Technology, Media & Telecom Conference on Monday, March 2, 2026 at approximately 4:05 p.m. ET/ 1:05 p.m. PT.
 
To stream live, please visit www.disney.com/investors. A recording of the question-and-answer session will be archived on our website.

Six months into ESPN’s direct-to-consumer journey, the focus is firmly on meeting fans where they are — and redefining how they experience sports along the way.

In this Q&A, John Lasker, SVP, ESPN Direct-to-Consumer, shares how delivering broader access, launching an enhanced ESPN App, and unifying ESPN’s DTC strategy are setting the foundation for long-term growth, deeper engagement, and greater value across The Walt Disney Company’s streaming ecosystem.

Six months in, what are the milestones you’re most proud of, and why do those matter for ESPN’s long-term growth?

The biggest milestone is that we delivered on something fans have been asking for — access to ESPN in more ways than ever before — while launching an enhanced app experience that truly elevates how fans engage with sports. The launch itself went incredibly smoothly thanks to the work of thousands of people across ESPN and The Walt Disney Company, and we’ve seen strong validation in how fans are showing up and engaging.

Just as important, we’ve proven that one unified direct-to-consumer strategy with two plan options (Unlimited and Select) gives fans optionality without losing the core ESPN experience. That foundation is critical for our long-term growth because it allows us to keep evolving the product while staying focused on serving sports fans anytime, anywhere.

How are you defining “success” at this stage: reach, engagement, retention, customer satisfaction, or something else — and which leading indicators are you watching most closely right now?

Success isn’t one single metric — it’s a combination of many including reach, engagement, and how often fans come back to the product. We’re looking closely at how fans are activating their access, how frequently they’re using the app across devices, and how they move from one sport or season to the next.

What’s encouraging is that we’re seeing strong engagement across live events, features, and adoption of the Bundle with the ESPN Unlimited Bundle plan, Disney+ and Hulu. The strategy is resonating, and the goal right now is to continue building habits so that fans see ESPN as a year-round destination, not just something tied to one specific season or event.

The enhanced ESPN App introduced more personalization and new viewing experiences. Which features have fans responded to most strongly so far, and what feedback has surprised you?

Live events are still at the heart of everything, but the way fans experience those events has really evolved. Multiview has been incredibly popular, and fans are leaning into features like stats, key plays, fantasy and betting integrations, and personalized content experiences like SC For You and Verts that make using the app more interactive.

It’s exciting to see fans adopt the broader feature set as part of their routine. It’s not just one feature; it’s the ecosystem working together. That’s also opened the door for us to keep innovating around the game itself — things like deeper personalization and new experiences that only make sense inside the ESPN App environment.

What unique role does ESPN play alongside Disney+ and Hulu in driving value for the whole company?

Sports bring a different kind of energy and urgency — they’re live, they’re communal, and they drive consistent engagement throughout the year. With ESPN alongside Disney+ and Hulu, you’re creating a bundle that delivers sports, entertainment, and family programming in one place, which is incredibly compelling for fans and for the company. In fact, roughly 80% of subscribers to the ESPN Unlimited plan access the service through a bundle, which reinforces how important that ecosystem approach has been from the start.

We’ve seen that combination resonate because it gives consumers flexibility and expanded value while strengthening the overall Disney ecosystem. ESPN helps bring fans in more frequently, and together the three services create a more complete offering than any single product could deliver on its own.

Looking ahead, what most excites you for the next chapter for ESPN DTC?

What excites me most is how much runway we still have. We’re continuing to bring new programming, new features, and new distribution opportunities into the product — from innovations in the app experience to upcoming additions like NFL Network and deeper personalization.

We’re also focused on making sure more fans can access ESPN the way they want, whether that’s through direct subscriptions, bundles, or authentication with partners. Every step forward gives us another opportunity to learn, evolve, and continue building something that serves sports fans even better.

At the one-year mark, what do you hope we will be talking about in relation to ESPN DTC?

I hope we’re talking about how the product has continued to mature with more fans activated in the ESPN app, that personalization feels even more seamless, and that the value of the ESPN Unlimited plan is clearer than ever.

We’ll also continue to listen to fan feedback and expand what they can do inside the app — whether that’s new features, new content opportunities, or deeper integrations that make ESPN the best place to watch and engage with sports.

BURBANK, Calif., February 24, 2026—The Walt Disney Company (NYSE: DIS) today announced that Kristina Schake, Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Communications Officer, will depart the company after March 18, 2026, coinciding with the end of Bob Iger’s tenure as Chief Executive Officer. Schake, who joined Disney in 2022, has served as a member of the company’s senior management team and advisor to the CEO and Board of Directors, helping to advance Disney’s business and strategic objectives, strengthen its long-term positioning, and navigate a period of significant change for the company and the broader industry.
 
“Kristina is an accomplished and respected communications leader, and Disney has been fortunate to have her expertise and insight during a dynamic period that has demanded strategic clarity and judgment,” said Robert A. Iger, Chief Executive Officer, The Walt Disney Company. “Kristina is a skilled strategist, a trusted advisor, and an admired leader whose positive impact on Disney will be lasting. She strengthened how the company aligns communications with business and strategic priorities, ensuring critical stakeholder audiences are engaged with discipline and purpose. I am grateful for her partnership and friendship, her counsel, and her innumerable contributions.”
 
“I am so thankful to have had the opportunity to serve The Walt Disney Company during such a pivotal chapter in its history,” said Kristina Schake. “The company I joined in 2022 was in a vastly different place from where it is today, both reputationally and from a business perspective, and I am proud of the work our worldwide communications team has done to support Bob as he has put Disney on a steady course for growth for the next generation of leaders. With that mission now successfully completed, I’m looking forward to my next challenge. Working alongside Bob, his management team, and so many exceptional communications professionals has been a privilege I will carry with me forever, and I leave with tremendous respect for this institution and great confidence in Disney’s future under Josh D’Amaro and Dana Walden.”
 
Schake’s counsel and communications leadership have been integral to maintaining clarity, consistency, and confidence among employees, partners, investors, consumers, and other key stakeholders during a period of sustained complexity for the business and the industry. During her four years at the company she has shaped the communications strategies for the company’s most consequential moments, including Iger’s return as CEO in November 2022; Disney’s decisive defeat of two proxy challenges; the achievement of profitability in streaming and the integration of Hulu into Disney+; the announcement of a new theme park resort in Abu Dhabi; the launch of ESPN’s direct-to-consumer offering; and the selection of Josh D’Amaro as Disney’s next Chief Executive Officer and Dana Walden as President and Chief Creative Officer.
 
Prior to joining Disney in 2022, Schake was appointed by President Joe Biden to lead the nationwide COVID-19 vaccine campaign, managing the federal government’s national public education initiative. Previously, she was Global Communications Director for Instagram. Schake has held key senior roles in government and politics, including Communications Director for First Lady Michelle Obama and Deputy Communications Director for Secretary Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign. Additionally, Schake co-founded the American Foundation for Equal Rights, which led the successful bipartisan public awareness campaign and legal challenge to restore marriage equality in California.
 
The company will announce Schake’s successor at a later date.

A version of this article was originally posted on ESPN’s Press Room.

ESPN is set to host its 5th annual ESPN Edge Innovation Conference on Thursday, Nov. 13. The one-night event features some of the brightest minds across sports, business and technology, coming together to discuss how they’re pushing the boundaries of advanced technology and creative sports storytelling.

The conference has evolved from virtual to in-person, and now it’s officially taking place inside The Walt Disney Company’s headquarters in New York City at 7 Hudson Square.

Leaders from ESPN Edge Innovation Partners – including Accenture, Microsoft, Meta, WSC Sports and a soon-to-be-announced fifth partner – along with other industry experts, will speak at the conference.

Kevin Lopes, VP of Business Development & Innovation, talked about how this conference has scaled so quickly in only four years and what to expect at this year’s event.

Can you talk about how this has evolved from year 1 to now?

What started as a virtual experiment on Zoom has now grown into an in-person event, complete with live demos, networking opportunities and panels featuring industry leaders sharing what’s next in sports and technology.

What should fans watching expect during this year’s conference?

We’re proud that our event has become a place to see what’s next – from exciting demos to first looks at the innovative work happening across ESPN, The Walt Disney Company and our amazing innovation partners.

Is there anything you can share from this year’s agenda?

I’m excited about our entire agenda this year, but I have to say, a couple segments really stick out. One is ESPN’s XR (extended reality) panel featuring visionaries from Lucasfilm, Meta, Disney and ESPN. I’m also incredibly proud of the work our creative studio and production teams have done to turn animated telecasts into must-see family entertainment using Disney’s iconic IP – it’s amazing to see.

Anything else to share?
ESPN has always championed innovation; it’s part of our storied legacy as a company. ESPN Edge has the privilege of contributing to that legacy. We’re constantly thinking 5-10+ years down the road on how we can continue delivering best-in-class experiences for fans, and the ESPN Edge Innovation Conference offers a great look at how we’re doing that alongside our partners.

View the full agenda and watch the live stream for free at espnedge.com/conference.

A version of this article was originally posted on ESPN’s Press Room.

Sports fans know the struggle: too many games, not enough screens. This is especially true ahead of a huge Thanksgiving weekend full of live sports. The solution: the Multiview feature on the ESPN App, which lets you watch up to four live events simultaneously.

But Multiview isn’t just for the big screen anymore. Starting today, Multiview is rolling out to mobile and tablet devices, so you can take this simultaneous sports-watching experience wherever you go.

Since its launch, Multiview has quickly become a fan favorite feature on the ESPN App. More than 2 million ESPN App users have experienced the feature, enjoying more than 3,000 uniquely curated Multiview combinations in just the first two months alone! Here’s how to get in on the action:

What is Multiview?

Multiview on the ESPN App allows you to watch up to four games at once on your screen. Combinations are curated by ESPN and available to both ESPN Select and ESPN Unlimited subscribers.

Where can I use it?

In addition to the current launch on mobile and tablet devices, Multiview is already available on most major connected TVs, including Android TV, Samsung, and Roku. See this list for supported devices. Getting started is easy:

• Open the ESPN app or visit ESPN.com.
• Head to the “Watch” section and look for the Top Live rows.
• Spot the quad-screen/Multiview tile, tap or click, and you’re in.

What can I watch this weekend with Multiview?

ESPN has an incredible lineup of sports over Thanksgiving weekend, and Multiview is there to serve fans so that they don’t miss a single moment. Mark your calendars!

• Thursday, November 27: Men’s college basketball, including the Marriott Bonvoy Battle 4 Atlantis tournament, as a part of Feast Week
• Friday, November 28: College football featuring No. 13 Utah vs Kansas and No. 7 Ole Miss vs Mississippi State as they battle to secure a spot in the College Football Playoff
• Saturday, November 29: Two of the biggest sporting events of the day at once with WWE’s Survivor Series: WarGames and the Iron Bowl featuring Alabama vs Auburn
• Sunday, November 30: All of the F1 action, all in one screen as the season nears its end with the Qatar Airways Qatar Grand Prix
• Monday, December 1: Monday Night Football featuring the Giants vs Patriots and the ManningCast with Peyton and Eli

Download the ESPN App today and never miss a moment of the action with Multiview, now coming to mobile and tablet devices.

Today, Disney announced Academy Award-winning actor Robert Downey Jr. will be the godparent for the Disney Adventure, the newest and largest ship in the Disney Cruise Line fleet. Disney shared the news ahead of the vessel’s maiden voyage next month out of its home port in Singapore.

“Our new ship continues Disney Cruise Line’s tradition of bringing great stories to life at sea, and we are honored that Robert Downey Jr., who has guided audiences through unforgettable Marvel stories, is the official godparent for the Disney Adventure,” said Josh D’Amaro, Chairman, Disney Experiences and incoming Chief Executive Officer of The Walt Disney Company.

Downey’s portrayal of Tony Stark/Iron Man was the cornerstone of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the highest-grossing film franchise of all time. His unparalleled decade-plus cinematic journey as the iconic character culminated in Avengers: Endgame, which amassed more than $2.79 billion at the global box office. Downey was named an official Disney Legend in 2019 and will now star as Doctor Doom in Marvel Studios’ Avengers: Doomsday, in theaters Dec. 18.

“It’s impossible to describe the majesty of the Adventure, and to be its godparent is an honor. As the largest ship in the Disney fleet, a gargantuan blessing must be bestowed … I’ll do my darndest,” Downey said.

The Disney Adventure brings more than 100 years of Disney storytelling to life across seven themed areas, including several Marvel experiences. At Marvel Landing on the top decks, guests can have the ultimate Super Hero adventure on Tony Stark’s Ironcycle Test Run, the first roller coaster on a Disney Cruise Line ship and the longest of its kind at sea. In the open-air Disney Imagination Garden area, the “Avengers Assemble!” live stage production will feature jaw-dropping stunts and special effects during an action-packed battle of Marvel Super Heroes and Villains. And inside Disney’s Oceaneer Club, the Marvel WEB Workshop invites young recruits to try out new Super Hero suit prototypes and conduct training simulations using top-secret Avengers technology.

The new ship offers signature Disney entertainment and hospitality: character encounters; Broadway-style shows; themed stateroom and concierge accommodations; and more than 20 dining and lounge venues featuring world-class international and Asian-inspired cuisines and beverages.

The maritime tradition of appointing a godparent to bless a new ship is a centuries-old custom believed to bring good fortune before a maiden voyage.

On an early morning in late January, the filmmakers behind Disney and Pixar’s Elio were over the moon to learn that the cosmic misadventure — about an 11-year-old boy who desperately wants to be abducted by aliens — had been nominated for Best Animated Feature Film at the 98th Academy Awards^®. It marks the second nomination for director Madeline Sharafian; the third for director Domee Shi, who previously won an Oscar^® for Bao (2018); and the first for director Adrian Molina and producer Mary Alice Drumm.

“It’s great that the Academy has recognized Elio,” Shi said. “Being nominated has almost given this movie a second life — a chance for even more people to discover it and enjoy it.”

And there’s plenty for people to discover, whether it’s their first or fiftieth time watching the movie. But, for Sharafian and Shi, its horror and sci-fi references rank high on their list.

“It was fun to start Elio off with the warm familiarity you get from a classic [Steven] Spielberg film and then twist it to surprise the audience,” Shi said. “I remember how much fun I had watching E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial [1982], but I also remember being scared by it, too. At Pixar, our films tend to make people cry or laugh, so we thought this could be a great opportunity to get some thrills, some tension, and some gasps out of the audience.”

“This movie is a love letter to the sci-fi movies we grew up with, and we put our own spin on the genre,” Shi continued. “We hope it can fit into the library of classic sci-fi films like Contact [1997] and E.T., or that it could even be like a kid’s introduction to John Carpenter.”

“Elio is step one,” Sharafian said. “A few more steps later, you can watch The Thing [1982].”

Because they “had never worked on anything sci-fi” prior to Elio, Sharafian said she and Shi rewatched “all the classic Spielberg movies” for inspiration. “There’s a nostalgic romance to them,” she said. “They’re about aliens and space, where things are unsettling but also beautiful, and I wanted to capture that feeling. All the settings on Earth were drawn from movies like E.T. and Close Encounters of the Third Kind [1977]. There’s something about watching those classics with a new eye that I enjoyed and tried to weave into our own film.”

Because Elio is an original story, it was important to “lay the track” for the audience by including familiar references, Shi said. “We wanted to get them settled in so that they expect one thing and then give them the exact opposite. In that sense, it was really helpful for us to draw on those sci-fi tropes and homages.”

However, Sharafian noted, they were mindful not to overstuff the movie with so many references that it might risk taking people out of the story. “Elio has a sort of pushed design, and the world is crazy. The audience needs something to rest their feet on. If it’s all psychedelic and wacky, if nothing makes sense and you don’t have anything to ground yourself, you can easily fall out of the movie.”

“The base of the story, which originally came from Adrian, is about a little boy who makes his first best friend in an alien. That E.T. core has always been there and has never changed,” Sharafian said. “As we began to flesh the story out, we weren’t itching to be like, ‘Let’s put The Thing in this scene.’ You’re just sort of searching for what the movie wants. You realize, ‘Oh, we need another clone scene. We’re a sci-fi movie. What do we both like? The Thing. Let’s draw upon what we love from that and make our own scene.’ It’s all about execution.”

Intergalactic Inspiration

When Elio calls out to the universe, the universe calls back.

But what should that call sound like?

“There’s something about Close Encounters‘ tone that makes you lean in; you want to know more, even if it’s a little unnerving and eerie,” Sharafian explained. “We wanted the first act of the movie to almost feel like a thriller, so that you’re wondering, ‘What is calling [to Elio]? Is it good or is it bad?’ When the spaceship finally arrives, you’re still sort of unsure.”

The directors worked with sound designer Jeremy Bowker to craft the perfect melody, which was influenced by the work Disney Legend John Williams did for Close Encounters of the Third Kind. “The first time Elio hears it, he only hears half of it, so it is a little ambiguous if it’s a friendly or not-so-friendly tone,” Shi said. “Jeremy played us many versions, and some sounded way too scary: ‘Don’t go to the light, Elio!’ We needed a melody that was simple, that you remember, that was mysterious, that was inviting. Once Elio finally arrives at the Communiverse, Rob Simonsen, our composer, takes Jeremy’s melody and finishes it.”

The Communiverse itself was inspired by The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy and The Muppets, Sharafian said: “There’s this absurdity, this silliness, but also this pompousness.”

Another trio of ’80s films — Richard Donner’s The Goonies (1985), Walter Murch’s Return to Oz (1985), Disney Legend Jim Henson’s Labyrinth (1986) — inspired some of the other story elements. “As kids, those films helped teach us how to power through scary moments, because there’s a reward at the end — like a cute little worm, who’s going to be your best friend,” Shi said, referencing Elio‘s Glordon. “You just have to power though all those teeth!”

Ultimately, Sharafian said, what makes the sci-fi and scary scenes “so amazing” is knowing “how many departments have to work in concert to make them happen, and how every single one of them has to take it farther than they usually go. We’re really lucky to work in a place where everybody can be together in the same room and hear the same notes and talk to each other in person. I think those scenes came together so well because of that.”

Cosmic Cast

Zoe Saldaña, who voices Elio’s Aunt Olga, has played aliens across the Avatar, Guardians of the Galaxy, and Star Trek franchises — and casting her in Elio was anything but coincidental.

“It’s all intentional,” Sharafian said with a laugh.

Star Trek’s Kate Mulgrew, who voices the museum exhibit narrator, is another such casting example. “My mom and I grew up watching Star Trek: Voyager,” Shi shared. “Being an immigrant, my mom really attached herself to Janeway, and I think she picked up on a lot of English from watching Voyager as well. That was a fun nod to the sci-fi I grew up with. Plus, Kate’s voice is so soothing but also so commanding. Of course, we have her talking about the Voyager 1 space probe. It’s a fun Easter egg for people who recognize her voice.”

From Disney Legend James Cameron‘s The Terminator (1984) to ALF (1986-1990), Elio contains plenty more references and Easter eggs — more than Sharafian or Shi can count. “Our graphics team heads most of that up. Domee and I were so focused on the story that a lot of Easter eggs were snuck into the movie without us even knowing about it,” Sharafian said. “We said to them, ‘We like Easter eggs. Go ahead!’ There is a PDF that has every single Easter egg listed, and I remember looking at it once and being like, ‘What? No way!’”

Hosted by Conan O’Brien, The Oscars will air live on ABC and stream live on Hulu on Sunday, March 15, at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT from the Dolby^® Theatre at Ovation Hollywood.

20^th Century Studios’ Predator: Badlands — the latest chapter in the iconic sci‑fi franchise — debuted last week as the #1 film premiere on Hulu since Prey, drawing nearly 9 million global views in its first five days on Disney+ and Hulu.

That momentum extends well beyond Predator: Badlands. Viewers have now streamed more than 300 million hours of the Predator franchise globally across Disney+ and Hulu. Fans can explore the Predator Creators Collection, now available on both platforms in the US, which includes 15 new videos that deepen the experience with creator‑led insights and perspectives.

The streaming success of Predator: Badlands follows an equally impressive theatrical run. The film became the highest‑opening and highest‑grossing Predator movie in the franchise’s 37‑year history and earned a 95% “Verified Hot” audience rating on Rotten Tomatoes, signaling strong fan enthusiasm from theaters to living rooms.

With the Predator franchise having generated more than $925 million in total box office worldwide to date, Predator: Badlands represents the latest evolution of a legacy that continues to grow — reaching new audiences, deepening fan engagement, and showing how this legendary hunter remains as formidable as ever.

Today, it was announced that the Hannah Montana 20th Anniversary Special is coming to Disney+ on Tuesday, March 24. The special will celebrate the iconic series that defined a generation — exactly two decades after its Disney Channel debut.

The special will be filmed in front of a live studio audience and will feature an exclusive, in-depth interview with Disney Legend Miley Cyrus, hosted by Alex Cooper. The conversation will offer an intimate look at the creation of one of pop culture’s most iconic characters and the lasting impact the show and character have had on fans around the world. With heartfelt nostalgia and fresh perspective, Cyrus will revisit the moments, music, and memories that defined an era. Viewers will be treated to never-before-seen archival footage, while some of the most memorable sets from Hannah Montana are brought back to life — including the Stewart family living room and the legendary Hannah Montana closet. There will also be some familiar *notes* that find their way back into the spotlight…

With one of Disney’s most passionate fandoms, Hannah Montana became a global phenomenon, reshaping kids’ television, influencing music and fashion, and launching a generation-defining pop star. The Emmy^Ⓡ-nominated series spawned 14 platinum and 18 gold albums worldwide, as well as two feature films.

“Hannah Montana will always be a part of who I am. What started as a TV show became a shared experience that shaped my life and the lives of so many fans, and I’ll always be thankful for that connection,” Cyrus said. “The fact that it still means so much to people all these years later is something I’m very proud of. This ‘Hannahversary’ is my way of celebrating and thanking the fans who’ve stood by me for 20 years.”

“Hannah Montana opened the door for so many fans to dream big, sing loud, and embrace every side of themselves, which is why its legacy continues to shine across generations,” said Ayo Davis, President, Disney Branded Television. “Partnering with Miley on this special is a dream, and we want it to be a love letter to the fans, who remain as passionate today as they were when the series debuted almost 20 years ago.”

The special is produced by HopeTown Entertainment and Unwell Productions. Ashley Edens serves as showrunner, with Cyrus, Tish Cyrus-Purcell, Cooper, and Matt Kaplan as executive producers. Cooper will also host the special, guiding Hannah Montana fans through the nostalgic and highly-anticipated anniversary celebration.

Fans can relive their favorite Miley moments ahead of the anniversary special with the Hannah Montana Collection on Disney+. And, starting Thursday, February 19, they can dive even deeper with a dedicated non-stop Stream featuring all four seasons of Hannah Montana, Hannah Montana: The Movie, and Hannah Montana and Miley Cyrus: The Best of Both Worlds Concert. Demonstrating the franchise’s enduring popularity, the Hannah Montana catalog has amassed more than half a billion hours streamed globally on Disney+ to date.

The recent special event, The Muppet Show, delivered nearly 8 million total viewers (7.58 million) across ABC and Disney+ through eight days of multiplatform viewing, underscoring the enduring popularity of the beloved franchise.

And the momentum didn’t stop there — fans have now spent more than 125 million hours watching The Muppets franchise on Disney+, demonstrating deep engagement with Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy, and the entire ensemble.

The Muppet Show has also earned critical acclaim. The special is Certified Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes, boasting a near‑perfect 98% Tomatometer Score.

Watch this message from Kermit the Frog, which is also available on Instagram, about the smash-hit special event.

The Muppet Show premiered February 4, and features the iconic Muppets alongside executive producer Seth Rogen and special guest stars Sabrina Carpenter and Maya Rudolph.

Following Sunday’s Super Bowl LX, ESPN and Disney unveiled “We’re Going,” a high-energy, fast-paced, cameo-filled marketing campaign for ESPN’s inaugural Super Bowl, set for February 2027. The spot, which debuted on Good Morning America Monday, reimagines the “I’m Going to Disney World” Super Bowl tradition through a modern lens, bringing together more than 60 iconic characters from across the worlds of Disney, all in their familiar worlds and settings, united by a single destination: Super Bowl LXI.

Buzz Lightyear and Woody kick off the cascade of Disney appearances, setting the tone for a rapid-fire series of cameos that includes Darth Vader; Iron Man; Frozen’s Anna, Elsa, Sven, Olaf and Kristoff; Moana; Deadpool & Wolverine; Grogu; Stitch; The Muppets; Zootopia’s Judy Hopps & Nick Wilde; Bart Simpson; and R2 D2 and C-3PO, among many others. Maui from Moana appears in the final scene, transforming into an eagle as he joins Lightning McQueen and a host of Disney characters together on the road to Los Angeles.

Joe Buck and Troy Aikman — who will call their seventh Super Bowl together in 2027 — are featured in their broadcast booth. ESPN’s Jason Kelce, and Peyton and Eli Manning also all make appearances.

The creative concept is more than 40 years in the making, drawing inspiration from the legendary “I’m going to Disney World” phrase famously declared by Super Bowl champions moments after winning America’s biggest game. The tradition began in 1987 when former New York Giants quarterback Phil Simms first delivered the now iconic line after being named Super Bowl XXI Most Valuable Player. Over the ensuing decades, the phrase became a defining element of Super Bowl celebrations — and now serves as the creative foundation for ESPN’s first Super Bowl marketing campaign.

“Few phrases are as instantly recognizable in sports as ‘I’m going to Disney World,’” said Asad Ayaz, Chief Marketing and Brand Officer, The Walt Disney Company. “This campaign brings together the scale of ESPN, the global power of Disney’s brands and characters, and the excitement of the Super Bowl to create a shared moment that signals just how big this milestone is for our company and fans.”

Added Tina Thornton, Executive Vice President, Creative Studio and Marketing at ESPN: “‘We’re Going’ is just the beginning of a year-long adventure to our first Super Bowl. It sets the tone for how we’re approaching Super Bowl LXI — by bringing together the storytelling power of Disney with the scale, voice, and passion of ESPN. Together, it allows us to build momentum, create emotional connection, and bring fans with us every step of the way.”

In addition to the creative campaign, ESPN is currently airing a 24-hour, multi-platform event dubbed “The Handoff,” which began at SoFi Stadium — host of Super Bowl LXI — and continues today at Disneyland Park.

Together, “We’re Going” and “The Handoff” represent the opening chapter of ESPN’s broader Super Bowl initiative, with additional details to be announced in the coming days.

Chase and Disney today announced the launch of the Disney® Inspire Visa® Card ($149 Annual Fee), expanding the current lineup of Disney® Visa® and Disney® Premier Visa® Cards. Together, Chase and Disney provide Cardmembers with exclusive benefits and rewards that elevate their Disney experiences.

The Disney Inspire Visa Card unlocks value and rewards for Cardmembers with:

• Exclusive annual benefits:
  • 200 Disney Rewards Dollars after spending $2,000 per anniversary year on U.S. Disney Resort stays and Disney Cruise Line bookings
  • $100 statement credit after spending $200 per anniversary year on U.S. Disney Theme Park Tickets
  • Up to $120 annual credit on Disney+, Hulu, and Plus.ESPN.com purchases
• Ways to earn Disney Rewards Dollars:
  • 10% at DisneyPlus.com, Hulu.com, and Plus.ESPN.com
  • 3% at most other U.S. Disney locations and gas stations
  • 2% at grocery stores and restaurants
  • 1% on all other card purchases

Cardmembers can turn everyday purchases into lasting memories by earning Disney Rewards Dollars to redeem toward Disney vacations and more:

• Disney Theme Park Tickets, resort stays, shopping, and dining in the U.S.
• Disney Cruise Line packages, onboard activities, and souvenirs
• Purchases at DisneyStore.com
• The latest Disney movies at AMC Theatres
• Airline purchases using Pay Yourself Back® for statement credits

The launch offer includes a $300 Disney Gift Card eGift for new Cardmembers upon approval and a $300 statement credit after spending $1,000 on purchases in the first three months from account opening.

Disney Inspire Visa Cardmembers can choose from five exclusive card designs, featuring beloved characters such as Mickey Mouse and Stitch. Cardmembers will also have the option to choose from 11 additional designs that are available to Disney Visa and Disney Premier Visa Cardmembers.

“We’re proud to provide Disney fans with valuable rewards and benefits that enhance their experiences, whether they’re streaming Disney content, visiting the parks, or planning future vacations,” said Chris Cracchiolo, President of Co-Brand Credit Cards at Chase. “Our collaboration with Disney enables us to deliver meaningful solutions and added value to our Cardmembers, and we appreciate the opportunity to work alongside such an iconic company.”

“We’re thrilled to debut the Disney Inspire Visa Card so Cardmembers can create even more magical Disney memories,” said Cathy Cline, Senior Vice President of Corporate Alliances and Consumer Financial Services at The Walt Disney Company. “From exclusive card designs, to more ways to earn Disney Rewards Dollars, this card is sure to be a Disney fan’s go-to card in their wallet.”

Additional Disney Inspire Visa Cardmember benefits include:

• 0% promotional APR for 6 months on select Disney vacation packages
• 10% off select purchases at DisneyStore.com
• Cardmember-exclusive character photo opportunities at the Walt Disney World® Resort and the Disneyland® Resort
• 10% off select merchandise purchases at select locations at Walt Disney World® Resort and the Disneyland® Resort
• 10% off select dining locations most days at Walt Disney World® Resort and the Disneyland® Resort
• 15% off the non-discounted price of select guided tours at Walt Disney World® Resort and the Disneyland® Resort
• 10% off the non-discounted price of select recreation experiences at Walt Disney World® Resort
• Savings aboard Disney Cruise Line for select onboard purchases
• Pay Yourself Back® to redeem Disney Rewards Dollars for a statement credit on qualifying Disney and airline purchases
• No foreign transaction fees

For more information about the new Disney Inspire Visa Card and to apply, please visit Disneyrewards.com/Inspire. Cards issued by JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. Member FDIC. Subject to credit approval. Offer subject to change. Terms apply.

Dana Walden To Become President and Chief Creative Officer of The Walt Disney Company

 
BURBANK, Calif., February 3, 2026—The Walt Disney Company (NYSE: DIS) Board of Directors announced today that, in a unanimous vote held on Monday, it elected Disney Experiences Chairman Josh D’Amaro to become Chief Executive Officer of The Walt Disney Company, effective at the upcoming Annual Meeting on March 18, 2026, when he will succeed longtime Disney CEO Robert A. Iger. The Board also intends to appoint D’Amaro as a director immediately following that meeting. As head of the company’s largest business segment with $36 billion in annual revenue in FY2025 and 185,000 Cast Members and employees worldwide, D’Amaro, a 28-year Disney veteran, is the architect of the largest global expansion in Disney Experiences history, and has led the segment to new heights financially, creatively, and in guest satisfaction.
 
“Josh D’Amaro possesses that rare combination of inspiring leadership and innovation, a keen eye for strategic growth opportunities, and a deep passion for the Disney brand and its people – all of which make him the right person to take the helm as Disney’s next CEO,” said James Gorman, Chairman of The Walt Disney Company Board of Directors. “Throughout this search process, Josh has demonstrated a strong vision for the company’s future and a deep understanding of the creative spirit that makes Disney unique in an ever-changing marketplace. He has an outstanding record of business achievement, collaborating with some of the biggest names in entertainment to bring their stories to life in our parks, showcasing the power of combining Disney storytelling with cutting-edge technology. The Board believes he is exceptionally well prepared to guide this global company forward to serve our consumers around the world and create long-term value for shareholders.”
 
“Josh D’Amaro is an exceptional leader and the right person to become our next CEO,” said Robert A. Iger, CEO, The Walt Disney Company. “He has an instinctive appreciation of the Disney brand, and a deep understanding of what resonates with our audiences, paired with the rigor and attention to detail required to deliver some of our most ambitious projects. His ability to combine creativity with operational excellence is exemplary and I am thrilled for Josh and the company.”
 
Concurrent with D’Amaro’s appointment, Dana Walden, Co-Chairman of Disney Entertainment, has been named President and Chief Creative Officer of The Walt Disney Company, also effective March 18. As Co-Chairman of Disney Entertainment, Walden has led Disney’s world-renowned, award-winning entertainment media, news, and content businesses globally, including Disney’s streaming businesses. In this new role – a historic first for the enterprise – Walden will report directly to D’Amaro and will ensure that storytelling and creative expression across every audience touchpoint consistently reflect the brand, engage audiences at scale, and advance core business objectives, while driving enterprise-wide initiatives and translating vision into action.
 
“Dana Walden is an excellent leader who commands tremendous respect from the creative community,” continued Iger. “Given that creativity is at the heart of everything Disney does, she is a wonderful choice to serve in this new leadership role. In the years since Dana joined Disney, she has accumulated great knowledge about the many facets of our businesses and brands, and is very well prepared to be President and Chief Creative Officer.”
 
Bob Iger has provided extensive mentorship to the internal candidates throughout the succession planning process, and upon transition will continue to serve as Senior Advisor and a member of the Disney Board until his retirement from the company on December 31, 2026.
 
Iger has led Disney to unprecedented creative and business success during his nearly two decades leading the company. Since his return in 2022, he has spearheaded a strategic transformation of the company, guiding Disney through a period of significant industry disruption and positioning it for long-term growth in this new era of entertainment. As part of this transformation, Iger moved quickly to restructure the organization, empower creative leaders, and restore financial discipline, establishing four strategic priorities: strengthening the quality and economic output of the film studios, delivering sustained profitability in streaming, positioning ESPN as the premier digital destination for sports fans, and turbocharging growth across Disney Experiences. Today, Disney is more agile and more resilient, and D’Amaro will take the helm of a company that is in a vastly stronger position than it was three years ago.
 
“I am immensely grateful to the Board for entrusting me with leading a company that means so much to me and millions around the world,” said Josh D’Amaro, incoming CEO of The Walt Disney Company. “Disney’s strength has always come from our people and the creative excellence that defines our stories and experiences. There is no limit to what Disney can achieve, and I am excited to work with our teams across the company and brilliant creative partners to honor Disney’s remarkable legacy while continuing to innovate, grow, and deliver exceptional value for our consumers and shareholders. I also want to express my gratitude to Bob Iger for his generous mentorship, his friendship, and the profound impact of his leadership.”
 
“On behalf of the entire Board, we extend our deepest gratitude to Bob Iger for his extraordinary leadership and dedication to The Walt Disney Company,” continued Gorman. “The Board asked Bob to return as CEO in 2022 for two critical reasons. First, to lead the company through a challenging transition and ensure Disney was fit for purpose for the future. Second, to strengthen the leadership bench and to help develop candidates for the CEO transition. Bob has delivered on both priorities, while also guiding Disney through a transformative period with an ambitious strategy that has further strengthened its position as the world’s premier entertainment company. After nearly two decades leading Disney, the Iger era has been defined by enormous growth, an unyielding commitment to excellence in creativity and innovation, and exemplary stewardship of this iconic institution.”
 
About Josh D’Amaro

D’Amaro, 54, has served as Chairman of the Disney Experiences segment since 2020, and prior to that was President of Walt Disney World Resort. He joined the company in 1998 at Disneyland Resort.

As Chairman of Disney Experiences, D’Amaro oversees 12 theme parks and 57 resort hotels worldwide, with plans for a new park in Abu Dhabi. His responsibilities include Disney Signature Experiences—including Disney Cruise Line, Disney Vacation Club, Adventures by Disney, Disney Institute, and Storyliving by Disney—as well as overseeing Walt Disney Imagineering and Disney Consumer Products. He also manages digital ventures, including the collaboration with Epic Games to create a Disney universe within Fortnite.
 
D’Amaro has been instrumental in expanding Disney’s iconic franchises through the creation of immersive, story-driven experiences at Disney’s theme parks, such as Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, the Marvel-themed Avengers Campus, Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway, and World of Frozen. Building on this momentum, upcoming projects include the development of a Monsters, Inc.-themed land at Disney Hollywood Studios at Walt Disney World Resort, a new Avatar destination at the Disneyland Resort, and expansive new areas inspired by Cars and Disney Villains as part of the largest-ever expansion of the Magic Kingdom.
 
Over his nearly three-decade career at Disney, he has held leadership roles across the company both in the U.S. and internationally, including in finance, business strategy, marketing, creative development and operations. His past positions include President of Disneyland Resort and President of Walt Disney World Resort.

D’Amaro earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Georgetown University.
 
“I am incredibly proud to step away at a moment when Disney’s future has never been brighter,” continued Iger. “I’m confident Disney will continue to innovate and put the spirit of Walt at the heart of everything it does – from its new park in Abu Dhabi to the groundbreaking partnerships just announced with OpenAI and the NFL, to the countless upcoming creative projects that will enthrall audiences around the world. Disney has shaped who I am as a leader, and I will always be grateful to this extraordinary company and for the opportunity to lead it over all these years.”
 
Succession Planning Committee

D’Amaro’s election as CEO caps a thorough and extensive succession planning process. In January 2023, the Board of Directors formed a special Succession Planning Committee to support the Board in planning for a transition of leadership that aligns with the company’s long-term strategic goals. At the direction of the Board, the Committee and the full Board undertook a deliberate, multi-year succession planning process, meeting regularly to evaluate internal and external candidates, transition structures, organizational frameworks, and planning for potential impacts of succession decisions across the company. The Committee is led by Gorman as Chair since 2024, with directors Mary T. Barra, Jeremy Darroch, and Calvin R. McDonald also currently serving as members – all of whom have direct experience in CEO and senior leadership succession planning for Fortune 500 companies.  D’Amaro and Walden underwent a rigorous preparation process, including extensive mentorship from Iger, external coaching, and direct engagement with all directors.
 
Experienced Senior Management

D’Amaro will be supported by a team of senior executives who have worked seamlessly together for several years at Disney to expertly advance Iger and the Board’s creative, financial, and reputational goals. The company’s senior leadership team brings decades of experience with a proven ability to navigate periods of change while delivering strong business outcomes. The company is fortunate to have Disney Entertainment Co-Chairman Alan Bergman and ESPN Chairman James Pitaro continuing in their critical leadership roles working with D’Amaro and Walden. Additionally, supporting the new CEO is an exceptional team of executive officers. These leaders have overseen major strategic transformations, expanded key franchises, and driven performance across multiple business cycles. Their deep institutional knowledge, operational discipline, and collaborative culture provide a strong foundation for continued momentum, promoting continuity, stability, and clear execution as the company enters its next chapter under D’Amaro’s leadership.
 
About The Walt Disney Company

The Walt Disney Company, together with its subsidiaries and affiliates, is a leading diversified international entertainment and media enterprise that includes three business segments: Entertainment, Sports, and Experiences. Disney is a Dow 30 company and had annual revenue of $94.4 billion in its Fiscal Year 2025.
 
Photo and video assets are available for media use here: https://slingshot.twdc.com/pickup.php?c=wvB4CQbwSJKhnxNczz8nPqzLhQg3sBL2vGq5D89dB2bLhmzH
 
FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
 
Certain statements in this press release may constitute “forward‐looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including statements regarding our expectations, beliefs, corporate plans, future prospects, and other statements that are not historical in nature. Any information that is not historical in nature is subject to change. These statements are made on the basis of our views and assumptions regarding future events as of the time the statements are made. We do not undertake any obligation to update these statements. Actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied. Such differences may result from actions taken by the Company or developments beyond the Company’s control. Additional factors are set forth in the Company’s most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K, subsequent quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and subsequent filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Dana Walden To Become President and Chief Creative Officer of The Walt Disney Company

The Walt Disney Company Board of Directors announced today that, in a unanimous vote held on Monday, it elected Disney Experiences Chairman Josh D’Amaro to become Chief Executive Officer of The Walt Disney Company, effective at the upcoming Annual Meeting on March 18, 2026, when he will succeed longtime Disney CEO Robert A. Iger. The Board also intends to appoint D’Amaro as a director immediately following that meeting. As head of the company’s largest business segment with $36 billion in annual revenue in FY2025 and 185,000 Cast Members and employees worldwide, D’Amaro, a 28-year Disney veteran, is the architect of the largest global expansion in Disney Experiences history, and has led the segment to new heights financially, creatively, and in guest satisfaction.

“Josh D’Amaro possesses that rare combination of inspiring leadership and innovation, a keen eye for strategic growth opportunities, and a deep passion for the Disney brand and its people – all of which make him the right person to take the helm as Disney’s next CEO,” said James Gorman, Chairman of The Walt Disney Company Board of Directors. “Throughout this search process, Josh has demonstrated a strong vision for the company’s future and a deep understanding of the creative spirit that makes Disney unique in an ever-changing marketplace. He has an outstanding record of business achievement, collaborating with some of the biggest names in entertainment to bring their stories to life in our parks, showcasing the power of combining Disney storytelling with cutting-edge technology. The Board believes he is exceptionally well prepared to guide this global company forward to serve our consumers around the world and create long-term value for shareholders.”

“Josh D’Amaro is an exceptional leader and the right person to become our next CEO,” said Robert A. Iger, CEO, The Walt Disney Company. “He has an instinctive appreciation of the Disney brand, and a deep understanding of what resonates with our audiences, paired with the rigor and attention to detail required to deliver some of our most ambitious projects. His ability to combine creativity with operational excellence is exemplary and I am thrilled for Josh and the company.”

Concurrent with D’Amaro’s appointment, Dana Walden, Co-Chairman of Disney Entertainment, has been named President and Chief Creative Officer of The Walt Disney Company, also effective March 18. As Co-Chairman of Disney Entertainment, Walden has led Disney’s world-renowned, award-winning entertainment media, news, and content businesses globally, including Disney’s streaming businesses. In this new role – a historic first for the enterprise – Walden will report directly to D’Amaro and will ensure that storytelling and creative expression across every audience touchpoint consistently reflect the brand, engage audiences at scale, and advance core business objectives, while driving enterprise-wide initiatives and translating vision into action.

“Dana Walden is an excellent leader who commands tremendous respect from the creative community,” continued Iger. “Given that creativity is at the heart of everything Disney does, she is a wonderful choice to serve in this new leadership role. In the years since Dana joined Disney, she has accumulated great knowledge about the many facets of our businesses and brands, and is very well prepared to be President and Chief Creative Officer.”

Bob Iger has provided extensive mentorship to the internal candidates throughout the succession planning process, and upon transition will continue to serve as Senior Advisor and a member of the Disney Board until his retirement from the company on December 31, 2026.

Iger has led Disney to unprecedented creative and business success during his nearly two decades leading the company. Since his return in 2022, he has spearheaded a strategic transformation of the company, guiding Disney through a period of significant industry disruption and positioning it for long-term growth in this new era of entertainment. As part of this transformation, Iger moved quickly to restructure the organization, empower creative leaders, and restore financial discipline, establishing four strategic priorities: strengthening the quality and economic output of the film studios, delivering sustained profitability in streaming, positioning ESPN as the premier digital destination for sports fans, and turbocharging growth across Disney Experiences. Today, Disney is more agile and more resilient, and D’Amaro will take the helm of a company that is in a vastly stronger position than it was three years ago.

“I am immensely grateful to the Board for entrusting me with leading a company that means so much to me and millions around the world,” said Josh D’Amaro, incoming CEO of The Walt Disney Company. “Disney’s strength has always come from our people and the creative excellence that defines our stories and experiences. There is no limit to what Disney can achieve, and I am excited to work with our teams across the company and brilliant creative partners to honor Disney’s remarkable legacy while continuing to innovate, grow, and deliver exceptional value for our consumers and shareholders. I also want to express my gratitude to Bob Iger for his generous mentorship, his friendship, and the profound impact of his leadership.”

“On behalf of the entire Board, we extend our deepest gratitude to Bob Iger for his extraordinary leadership and dedication to The Walt Disney Company,” continued Gorman. “The Board asked Bob to return as CEO in 2022 for two critical reasons. First, to lead the company through a challenging transition and ensure Disney was fit for purpose for the future. Second, to strengthen the leadership bench and to help develop candidates for the CEO transition. Bob has delivered on both priorities, while also guiding Disney through a transformative period with an ambitious strategy that has further strengthened its position as the world’s premier entertainment company. After nearly two decades leading Disney, the Iger era has been defined by enormous growth, an unyielding commitment to excellence in creativity and innovation, and exemplary stewardship of this iconic institution.”

About Josh D’Amaro

D’Amaro, 54, has served as Chairman of the Disney Experiences segment since 2020, and prior to that was President of Walt Disney World Resort. He joined the company in 1998 at Disneyland Resort.

As Chairman of Disney Experiences, D’Amaro oversees 12 theme parks and 57 resort hotels worldwide, with plans for a new park in Abu Dhabi. His responsibilities include Disney Signature Experiences—including Disney Cruise Line, Disney Vacation Club, Adventures by Disney, Disney Institute, and Storyliving by Disney—as well as overseeing Walt Disney Imagineering and Disney Consumer Products. He also manages digital ventures, including the collaboration with Epic Games to create a Disney universe within Fortnite.

D’Amaro has been instrumental in expanding Disney’s iconic franchises through the creation of immersive, story-driven experiences at Disney’s theme parks, such as Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, the Marvel-themed Avengers Campus, Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway, and World of Frozen. Building on this momentum, upcoming projects include the development of a Monsters, Inc.-themed land at Disney Hollywood Studios at Walt Disney World Resort, a new Avatar destination at the Disneyland Resort, and expansive new areas inspired by Cars and Disney Villains as part of the largest-ever expansion of the Magic Kingdom.

Over his nearly three-decade career at Disney, he has held leadership roles across the company both in the U.S. and internationally, including in finance, business strategy, marketing, creative development and operations. His past positions include President of Disneyland Resort and President of Walt Disney World Resort.

D’Amaro earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Georgetown University.

“I am incredibly proud to step away at a moment when Disney’s future has never been brighter,” continued Iger. “I’m confident Disney will continue to innovate and put the spirit of Walt at the heart of everything it does – from its new park in Abu Dhabi to the groundbreaking partnerships just announced with OpenAI and the NFL, to the countless upcoming creative projects that will enthrall audiences around the world. Disney has shaped who I am as a leader, and I will always be grateful to this extraordinary company and for the opportunity to lead it over all these years.”

Succession Planning Committee

D’Amaro’s election as CEO caps a thorough and extensive succession planning process. In January 2023, the Board of Directors formed a special Succession Planning Committee to support the Board in planning for a transition of leadership that aligns with the company’s long-term strategic goals. At the direction of the Board, the Committee and the full Board undertook a deliberate, multi-year succession planning process, meeting regularly to evaluate internal and external candidates, transition structures, organizational frameworks, and planning for potential impacts of succession decisions across the company. The Committee is led by Gorman as Chair since 2024, with directors Mary T. Barra, Jeremy Darroch, and Calvin R. McDonald also currently serving as members – all of whom have direct experience in CEO and senior leadership succession planning for Fortune 500 companies. D’Amaro and Walden underwent a rigorous preparation process, including extensive mentorship from Iger, external coaching, and direct engagement with all directors.

Experienced Senior Management

D’Amaro will be supported by a team of senior executives who have worked seamlessly together for several years at Disney to expertly advance Iger and the Board’s creative, financial, and reputational goals. The company’s senior leadership team brings decades of experience with a proven ability to navigate periods of change while delivering strong business outcomes. The company is fortunate to have Disney Entertainment Co-Chairman Alan Bergman and ESPN Chairman James Pitaro continuing in their critical leadership roles working with D’Amaro and Walden. Additionally, supporting the new CEO is an exceptional team of executive officers. These leaders have overseen major strategic transformations, expanded key franchises, and driven performance across multiple business cycles. Their deep institutional knowledge, operational discipline, and collaborative culture provide a strong foundation for continued momentum, promoting continuity, stability, and clear execution as the company enters its next chapter under D’Amaro’s leadership.

The Walt Disney Company reported its FY26 first quarter results on Monday with CEO Bob Iger and CFO Hugh Johnston focusing on the company’s recent accomplishments.

“We are pleased with our start to fiscal 2026, and our achievements reflect the tremendous progress we have made,” Iger and Johnston said in an executive commentary on Monday.

There were several key achievements, according to Iger and Johnston, including Disney’s studios releasing two films (Zootopia 2 in November and Avatar: Fire and Ash in December) that each surpassed $1 billion at the global box office. The company’s streaming services were also a highlight, underscoring the strength of Disney’s content and continued improvements to the user experience. In addition, ESPN demonstrated its leadership as the preeminent destination for sports with strong ratings in the quarter, and Disney’s Experiences segment has expansion projects underway at every one of the company’s theme parks.

“These achievements reflect the progress we’ve made over the past three years to fortify the company, position our businesses for future growth over the long-term, and set Disney on a path for continued success,” the two said.

Film & Television

Disney’s film studios generated more than $6.5 billion at the global box office in calendar year 2025, making this its third biggest year ever and its ninth year as No. 1 at the global box office in the last 10 years, Iger and Johnston noted.

“To date, 37 billion-dollar films have come from our studios out of the 60 films that have hit this mark industrywide, and we have four times as many as any other studio,” Iger and Johnston said.

Iger and Johnston pointed out that the “box office success of our branded IP also generates value across our interconnected businesses, with hits like Zootopia 2 lifting viewership of related titles on Disney+ and fueling global interest in our parks and consumer products.”

“Zootopia 2 is the highest grossing Hollywood film of all time in China, earning more than $630 million at the box office so far,” they said. “This franchise is also an important driver of attendance at Shanghai Disneyland with our Zootopia-themed land – one of the most popular areas of the park.”

Disney’s creative successes extend beyond the big screen, however. Seven of the top ten most-watched shows of 2025 streamed on Disney+ or Hulu, as reported by Nielsen[1], and Bluey was the most-streamed show in the U.S. for the second year in a row, with 45 billion minutes watched[2]. ABC also had the top six shows for Adults 18-49 in calendar year 2025, including High Potential, Abbott Elementary, and Dancing with the Stars.

Streaming

“With audience and critical favorites across film and television, combined with our leading portfolio of sports offerings and award-winning news programming, we offer consumers a powerful streaming proposition,” Iger and Johnston said.

The two went on to say that the company is focused on “the international growth opportunity for our streaming services and are seeing encouraging results from our investment in local content.”

Iger and Johnston also noted that Disney is rolling out numerous product enhancements to elevate the user experience on Disney+.

“Ongoing experimentation remains central to how we innovate, and we expect new ad tech capabilities such as our AI-powered planning tool and video generator to improve advertiser engagement,” they said. “We’re also layering in additional ways to engage audiences by developing new vertical and shortform experiences, and we plan to introduce a curated slate of Sora-generated content on Disney+ following our recently announced licensing agreement with OpenAI.”

They continued, “together, these efforts are shaping a more personalized streaming experience and positioning us to deliver greater value to consumers.”

Sports

As for Sports, ESPN remains the industry leader, offering fans a compelling portfolio of live sports, studio shows, and original content, and multiple ways for them to watch. ESPN led the industry by capturing more than 30% of all sports viewership across networks, including ESPN on ABC, and marquee events delivered strong ratings throughout the first quarter.

Highlights from the quarter include ESPN Networks delivered their most-watched college football regular season since 2011 and ABC achieved its best college football season since 2006, with the College Football National Championship reaching 30.1 million viewers and becoming the second most-viewed cable event ever. In addition, Monday Night Football delivered its second-highest viewership in 20 years, with the Disney’s NFL Divisional game drawing 38 million viewers – the most-watched event in company history.

“We continue to strengthen our rights portfolio while maintaining a disciplined approach,” Iger and Johnston said. “Our recently announced three-year MLB agreement exemplifies this strategy, expanding our rights footprint and making ESPN the exclusive distributor of MLB.TV. And on January 31, we closed our transaction with the NFL to acquire NFL Network and other media assets, including the linear rights to the popular NFL RedZone channel, further bolstering ESPN’s offering with a rich content experience for football fans.”

The two added, “the launch of ESPN Unlimited marked an important step in our direct-to-consumer evolution, and while still early days, we are pleased with the adoption and engagement with new app features. We are encouraged by ESPN app authentication from pay-TV subscribers, the pace of new signups, and the engagement patterns that have followed.”

Experiences

Discussing Disney’s Experiences segment, Iger and Johnson noted “our efforts to turbocharge this segment are well underway, and we are excited about continued progress on a robust pipeline of projects to support long-term growth.”

The two said next month Disney will welcome guests to the new World of Frozen at the completely reimagined Disney Adventure World at Disneyland Paris.

“This milestone marks the beginning of a bold new era for Disneyland Paris, nearly doubling the size of the second park and showcasing Disney’s unique ability to bring our stories to life in the physical world,” they said. “Additionally, we are continuously expanding storytelling in our parks, with new experiences featuring Bluey, activations planned around the release of Toy Story 5, and a new mission featuring the Mandalorian and Grogu inside Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run coming soon.”

As for Disney Cruise Line, Disney recently launched the Disney Destiny, which has received rave reviews from guests since its maiden voyage on November 20.

In addition, the Disney Adventure, the company’s first ship homeported in Asia, is on its way to Singapore for its maiden voyage on March 10, bringing immersive Disney storytelling to more people globally than ever before.

This will bring Disney’s fleet to a total of eight cruise ships, with another five scheduled for launch beyond fiscal 2026, according to Iger and Johnston.

Wrap Up

Iger and Johnston concluded their executive commentary by saying that this quarter underscores Disney’s disciplined execution and strong strategic investments.

“Overall, this quarter reflects our focused execution and investment across each of our strategic priorities and stands on the solid foundation we’ve built over the past three years, providing us with a path for long-term growth,” the two said.

[1] https://www.nielsen.com/data-center/top-streaming-shows-artey-awards/

[2] https://www.nielsen.com/news-center/2026/nielsen-announces-2025-artey-award-winners-following-record-breaking-year-of-streaming/

The information above should be read together with Disney’s Q1 FY 26 Earnings Report, Form 10-Q, prepared earnings remarks (executive commentary), and earnings call (all available here), which discuss additional information, including additional challenges and risks the company’s businesses face and additional information about Q1 performance.

Today, Disney revealed the first teaser for the highly anticipated Camp Rock 3, coming to Disney+ and Disney Channel in Summer 2026. The teaser includes a first look at the Jonas Brothers’ return as Connect 3 and the new generation of campers joining the iconic franchise.

The story picks up when Connect 3 loses their opening act for a major reunion tour, returning to their beloved Camp Rock to discover the next big thing. As campers vie for the chance to open for their favorite band, tensions rise and friendships are tested, leading to unexpected alliances, revelations, and romances.

Camp Rock’s all-new campers include bold and determined Sage (Liamani Segura) and her easygoing brother Desi (Hudson Stone); camp bad boy Fletch (Malachi Barton); cello prodigy Rosie (Lumi Pollack); drummer with his own beat Cliff (Casey Trotter); choreo queen Callie (Brooklynn Pitts); and intimidating influencer Madison (Ava Jean). Sherry Cola also joins the franchise as Lark. Returning cast members include Joe Jonas as Shane Gray, Nick Jonas as Nate Gray, Kevin Jonas as Jason Gray, and Maria Canals-Barrera as Connie.

Directed by Veronica Rodriguez and written by Eydie Faye, the Camp Rock 3 is produced by Disney Branded Television and features choreography by Jamal Sims. Tim Federle executive produces, along with Joe, Nick, Kevin, Demi Lovato, Betsy Sullenger, Spencer Berman, and Gary Marsh. A special thanks to Alan Sacks for his contribution to the Camp Rock franchise.

Camp Rock (2008) and Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam (2010) are among the Top 10 Disney Channel Original Movies of all time and were the No. 1 Cable Movie Premiere in their years of premiere.* With chart-topping music and standout musical numbers, the Camp Rock franchise launched superstar talent and continues to permeate pop culture over 15 years after its debut, inspiring viral moments on social media.

*With persons 2+ and teens 12-17. Source: NMR Ranked on Live+7 delivery 000s among all movies on cable for the years of 2008 and 2010.

Benjamin Swinburne has been named Executive Vice President of Investor Relations and Corporate Strategy for The Walt Disney Company, it was announced today by Hugh F. Johnston, Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. Swinburne will join Disney in the near future and report directly to Johnston. He has most recently served as Managing Director and Head of US Media Research at Morgan Stanley.

“Ben has been one of the industry’s most respected media analysts and brings deep insight into the evolving global entertainment landscape,” said Johnston. “His analytical rigor, strategic perspective, and long-standing knowledge of our business and broader industry make him an exceptional addition to our team as we continue to execute against our long‑term vision and deliver sustained value for our shareholders.”

In this new role, Swinburne will lead Disney’s investor relations function, communicating the company’s financial performance and long‑term strategic vision to institutional investors and retail shareholders, sell-side analysts and other key stakeholders. He will also oversee the company’s long-term strategic planning and market analysis in his corporate strategy role, identifying growth opportunities based on industry trends and evolving entertainment consumption.

“Having spent much of my career analyzing Disney’s performance and long‑term opportunities, I have a deep appreciation for the company’s creative strengths, operational discipline, and consistent focus on delivering value for shareholders,” said Swinburne. “It is an incredibly exciting time to be joining the company, and I look forward to working with the team to continue the incredible progress they have made to position Disney for future growth.”

As Managing Director, Head of US Media and Telecom & Cable Services Research at Morgan Stanley, Swinburne led the equity research coverage of the media and entertainment, advertising, and telecom and cable services industries, areas he has followed for over two decades. He has been consistently ranked among the leading analysts in multiple sectors in a variety of investor polls, including a 2021 induction into the Institutional Investor All-America Research Team Hall of Fame. He joined Morgan Stanley as a research analyst in 1999. Swinburne earned a bachelor’s degree in public policy with a concentration in finance from Washington and Lee University and a master’s degree in accounting from Babson College.

BURBANK, Calif., January 30, 2026 – Benjamin Swinburne has been named Executive Vice President of Investor Relations and Corporate Strategy for The Walt Disney Company (NYSE: DIS), it was announced today by Hugh F. Johnston, Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. Swinburne will join Disney in the near future and report directly to Johnston. He has most recently served as Managing Director and Head of US Media Research at Morgan Stanley.

“Ben has been one of the industry’s most respected media analysts and brings deep insight into the evolving global entertainment landscape,” said Johnston. “His analytical rigor, strategic perspective, and long-standing knowledge of our business and broader industry make him an exceptional addition to our team as we continue to execute against our long‑term vision and deliver sustained value for our shareholders.”

In this new role, Swinburne will lead Disney’s investor relations function, communicating the company’s financial performance and long‑term strategic vision to institutional investors and retail shareholders, sell-side analysts and other key stakeholders. He will also oversee the company’s long-term strategic planning and market analysis in his corporate strategy role, identifying growth opportunities based on industry trends and evolving entertainment consumption.

“Having spent much of my career analyzing Disney’s performance and long‑term opportunities, I have a deep appreciation for the company’s creative strengths, operational discipline, and consistent focus on delivering value for shareholders,” said Swinburne. “It is an incredibly exciting time to be joining the company, and I look forward to working with the team to continue the incredible progress they have made to position Disney for future growth.”

As Managing Director, Head of US Media and Telecom & Cable Services Research at Morgan Stanley, Swinburne led the equity research coverage of the media and entertainment, advertising, and telecom and cable services industries, areas he has followed for over two decades. He has been consistently ranked among the leading analysts in multiple sectors in a variety of investor polls, including a 2021 induction into the Institutional Investor All-America Research Team Hall of Fame. He joined Morgan Stanley as a research analyst in 1999. Swinburne earned a bachelor’s degree in public policy with a concentration in finance from Washington and Lee University and a master’s degree in accounting from Babson College.

About The Walt Disney Company

The Walt Disney Company, together with its subsidiaries and affiliates, is a leading diversified international entertainment and media enterprise that includes three business segments: Entertainment, Sports, and Experiences. Disney is a Dow 30 company and had annual revenue of $94.4 billion in its Fiscal Year 2025.

Coming April 29, 2026, Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge at Disneyland Resort will welcome an expanded timeline that introduces classic, iconic characters — such as Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker — alongside new narrative layers in the award-winning land. These updates will enable guests to experience the classic-era storytelling spanning Return of the Jedi, The Mandalorian, and Ahsoka.

Developed through close collaboration among Walt Disney Imagineering, Disney Live Entertainment, Disneyland, and Lucasfilm, this evolution marks a bold new chapter in how guests step into the Star Wars galaxy.

Extra care was taken in crafting an expanded story for the land as engaging and authentic as the films and streaming series, because, as Asa Kalama, Executive, Creative & Interactive Experiences at Walt Disney Imagineering, explained, “Your first experience with Star Wars might be a film, but it honestly might also be a theme park experience.”

“A Platform for Storytelling”

“Since the very inception of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, we envisioned it as a platform for storytelling,” Kalama noted.

Upon opening in 2019, Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge immediately transported guests to Black Spire Outpost on Batuu — a trading port alive with adventure, resistance activity, and the unmistakable hum of starships overhead.

But, the stories within Black Spire Outpost didn’t need to remain static.

“One of the great things about the Star Wars universe and the Star Wars canon is that it is expansive and it continues to grow.”

So, as new Star Wars stories are released across film and television — such as with Lucasfilm’s The Mandalorian and Grogu on May 22 — the concept of expanding the story of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge has developed into an abundance of creative opportunities.

As Kalama states, Disney’s unique ability to bring stories on screen to life in physical environments, “allows us to continue to expand the storytelling and the world building.”

And not only are there new stories to incorporate, but the franchise will also be celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2027, which will include a rerelease of the film that started it all, Star Wars: A New Hope.

Given these upcoming moments celebrating the entire breadth of the Star Wars saga, “There was this sort of critical mass of more classic leaning characters, and it felt like the right time to celebrate those in the land as well,” Kalama stated.

Disneyland is celebrating these moments with more than just an expanded timeline at Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge. Starting the same day The Mandalorian and Grogu arrives in theaters, guests will also be able to team up with Din Djarin and Grogu on Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run at both Disneyland Resort and Walt Disney World Resort, showcasing Disney’s unrivaled ability to simultaneously bring stories to fans across linear and experiential storytelling.

A Deep Collaboration with Lucasfilm

Every detail — visual, written, structural, and sonic — has been developed in close partnership with Lucasfilm.

“Since the very beginning, we’ve had the most incredible integrated and blended team with Lucasfilm,” Kalama said.

Rather than Imagineering ideating and then sending proposals to Lucasfilm for approval, the collaboration functioned as true co-creation between the units. “It was the same writing team, the same production design team — everybody was working together,” he explained.

That partnership was especially essential when expanding the land’s timeline.

“We spent a lot of time on every last possible detail,” Kalama noted, ensuring the meticulously crafted original story remained cohesive as it expanded.

The timeline evolution goes far beyond the introduction of beloved characters such as Princess Leia and Han Solo. From architecture and props to background dialogue, Imagineering revisited myriad story cues to ensure alignment with the expanded eras.

As a result, guests will step into a land that “feels refreshed and full of new elements for guests to discover,” according to Kalama.

Key Updates Coming to the Land

• Revitalized Locations and Expanded Backstories
  Several in-land locations will be reimagined to better reflect the broader Star Wars canon. First Order Cargo, will be rethemed as Black Spire Surplus, and will feature artifacts from both the Empire and the Rebel Alliance.
• New Artifacts and Screen-Used Props
  Speaking of artifacts, at Dok-Ondar’s Den of Antiquities, the expanded timeline will unlock new treasures. Working closely with Lucasfilm, Imagineering is curating authentic, screen-used props from recent streaming series, further grounding the land in the on-screen saga. As Kalama puts it, the props “literally came directly off the screen.”
• An All-New Sonic Landscape
  Music — long central to Star Wars storytelling — will also evolve. Guests will hear a new celebratory soundscape that includes themes from John Williams’ iconic scores from the first six films, adding emotional depth throughout the land. “I think it will take on a different emotional resonance for fans,” Kalama said.

A Park Experience Only Disney Can Deliver

The timeline expansion underscores something uniquely Disney: the ability to bring evolving stories on screen into fully immersive physical environments.

Kalama described Disney as one of the few entertainment companies capable of delivering both linear media and experiential storytelling at this scale.

Through Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, guests don’t just witness the saga — they step inside it.

“The theme park is about embodying a character and truly living the story through your own eyes,” Kalama said.

While the updated timeline will debut only at Disneyland Resort, Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge at Walt Disney World Resort will continue to celebrate the sequel era throughout the land — giving fans distinct ways to experience the saga on each coast.

“Our guests now have two different experiences on either coast where they can explore the full breadth of the canon,” Kalama said.

East Coast guests can engage with stories inspired by The Force Awakens (which takes place during the Rise of the First Order) and beyond, while West Coast fans can immerse themselves in eras of the Galactic Civil War and the New Republic, as well as the Age of the Resistance and the First Order.

Ultimately, the evolution of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge reflects a broader Imagineering philosophy: attractions don’t just bring stories to life — they extend them.

Disney parks exist, Kalama notes, “in the business of creating emotion and memories.” And beginning in late April, guests will discover a reimagined Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge that feels both timeless — and new.

20th Century Studios’ Send Help — opening in theaters on Friday, January 30 — is a psychological survival thriller from director and producer Sam Raimi that tracks the escalating twists and turns that unfold after Linda Liddle (Rachel McAdams), an awkward and overlooked employee at a consulting firm, and her arrogant boss, Bradley Preston (Dylan O’Brien), survive a plane crash and wind up stranded together on a deserted island.

The “rivetingly bonkers” (The Hollywood Reporter) screenplay is by screenwriting duo Damian Shannon and Mark Swift, who pitched it to producer Zainab Azizi, President, Raimi Productions. “When it comes to developing projects with Sam, it’s all about the character,” Azizi said. “When Damian and Mark pitched the idea of Linda Liddle, I knew Sam had to hear it right away.”

Raimi — renowned for his masterful blend of comedy and horror, which includes his signature gonzo visual style — was immediately taken by the story and all its moral ambiguities. “By setting the story on a deserted island with only two people, it allowed Damian and Mark to really get deep with these characters,” Raimi said. “With no one else to interrupt them, it’s easier to lie to each other or try to pull something over on the other.”

In that way, Send Help is “a devilish treat” (Deadline). Indeed, it’s a true-two-hander, with McAdams and O’Brien each showcasing their limitless range as Raimi continually subverts the viewers’ expectations. “When we were developing the script, we always wanted to make sure that we were ahead of the audience,” Azizi said. “Audiences today are so smart, but what Mark and Damian wrote is full of twists and turns and surprises. It’s totally original.”

Raimi added, “We thought it would be really interesting for the audience to go through this transformation of identification. That was one of the unique things about the script, and the actors and I really ran with that. We didn’t know if it had been done before in movies; there’s probably a reason why they don’t do it, because you risk never getting the audience back. So, there were a lot of fears in my head, but the excitement of the possibility of creating something original in that way, if we were successful, far outweighed all my fears.”

Raimi needn’t have worried, as he “knows precisely which buttons to push” (Variety).

“I tried to keep ‘Sam Raimi’ in the box he belongs in, as I was trying to service the script and the characters,” Raimi said. “Yes, when there’s an outrageous moment, that’s where I let ‘Sam’ do his thing and make it a little more outrageous than maybe it should be. But I also wanted to make an entertaining movie. That’s why we’re in this — to give the audience a thrill. I hope the movie stirs people’s imaginations and causes them to talk about ‘what if.’”

Marvel Television’s Wonder Man — premiering Tuesday, January 27, with all eight episodes on Disney+ — introduces Simon Williams (Emmy^® Award winner Yahya Abdul-Mateen II), an aspiring actor looking for his big break. Though he’s ambitious, resourceful, and talented, Simon can’t get out of his own head. During a chance meeting with Trevor Slattery (Oscar^®, GRAMMY^® Award, and two-time Golden Globe^® Award winner Sir Ben Kingsley) — an out-of-work actor haunted by his infamous role as the terrorist known as the Mandarin — Simon learns that legendary director Von Kovak (Zlatko Burić) is remaking the superhero film Wonder Man. It would be the role of a lifetime for Simon, and he works hard to get cast as the titular hero — all while keeping his own superpowers hidden.

In the Q&A below, Wonder Man series co-creator and head writer Andrew Guest opens up about what inspired his take on Simon Williams; fleshing out Trevor’s backstory following appearances in Iron Man 3 (2013) and Shang-Chi and The Legend of The Ten Rings (2021); and giving fans a peek behind the curtain of the entertainment industry while showcasing the different facets of Hollywood.

What sets Wonder Man apart from other films and series in the MCU?

We really tried to make a show that felt different, that is still in the umbrella of the MCU, that still has a lot of the same DNA at its heart in terms of storytelling, comedy, and character, but is accessible to a different kind of audience. Hopefully people who love the MCU will still love this show, but people who think maybe the MCU is not for them might find Simon Williams as somebody they can root for and fall in love with. That’s the hope.

What inspired you to introduce Simon to the MCU in this way?

We’re trying to tell stories about the entertainment industry, really. And, to me, that’s about people who have stories to tell, who are facing the odds of a very difficult industry and still pursuing their dream — no matter what. I like the idea of Simon being an outsider, because Trevor’s an outsider, and seeing how they find each other and find a friendship in spite of everything.

Speaking of Trevor, what made you want to revisit and elevate that character?

One of the great resources we had was Sir Ben Kingsley, both in terms of him committing to being in the show, and in his understanding of this character that he’s lived with for 13 years. [Wonder Man co-creator and director Destin Daniel Cretton] and I had conversations with Sir Ben about who Trevor was, about what Trevor’s mother was like, about where his love of acting came from. The more I talked to him about it, the more I wanted to put all that into the show. I felt a real sense of responsibility writing for someone like Sir Ben; I wanted to give him material that was up to snuff and wouldn’t disappoint. Any page of dialogue you give him, he’s going to knock it out of park. We all raised each other’s game.

Trevor also finds himself mixed up with the Department of Damage Control…

Trevor often seems like the victim of circumstance. In Iron Man 3, he got caught up in this big cabal of bad guys who were using him. In Shang-Chi, he got caught up with the good guys — but he was still caught up. I liked the idea that we could take this character who — the moment he gets off the plane in LA — once again gets caught up in something big. But, for the first time, we see him decide to take ownership and action and realize that he can’t just blame circumstance anymore. He needs to step up and figure out what’s important to him and make some sacrifices. Even though he’s not putting on a cape and flying around, Trevor’s doing something selfless and sacrificing. And, to me, that’s heroism.

Why was it so important for you to set Wonder Man in real and recognizable Hollywood locations, whether it’s in restaurants like Clark Street Diner and Mother Wolf or at locations like the TCL Chinese Theatre?

Our incredible production designers, Cindy Chao and Michele Yu, are LA natives. When they presented to us, they showed us not only the kind of Hollywood that many people are familiar with, but they showed pictures of Thai Elvis and the House of Davids — all these quirky, eccentric sides of LA that aren’t often explored. That was really fun for us in the writer’s room. So, getting to shoot in LA, for LA, with an LA-based crew was really a gift. It really made the show feel different, and I don’t think you could replicate it in any other way.

You have Josh Gad and Joe Pantoliano playing versions of themselves, and there are also references to Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Glenn Howerton. Between casting and locations, how else did you ensure that the series would feel authentically Hollywood?

Part of making things feel real is being specific and using touchpoints that we all understand. I don’t want Simon acting on a random TV show in the pilot; I want it to be American Horror Story. I want to mention actors we all know. That’s hard to do in the MCU, because there’s so many people who are already in it… We tried hard. The tentacles of the MCU are all over this town.