Curtis has appeared in her share of projects under The Walt Disney Studios banner, from Beverly Hills Chihuahua to You Again. She is set to reprise her role in the upcoming sequel of the fan-favourite movie Freaky Friday, opposite Lohan. Curtis and Lohan surprised fans at Friday’s D23 presentation and shared a first look at Freakier Friday.
Ford stepped back out on stage to honour Williams, who created the iconic scores of Ford’s Indiana Jones and Star Wars movies, as well as Jurassic Park and Jaws, among several others. Williams has created the “soundtrack of our lives”, Ford said.
The Pacific Symphony performed a medley of music Williams, who was not in attendance, composed specially for the occasion.
Kate Winslet and Zoe Saldaña, the stars of Titanic and Avatar, respectively, teamed up to celebrate James Cameron.
“It’s a dream come true,” Cameron said of being in a group with his fellow honourees. “There’s just such an incredible display of creativity and imagination here tonight and I’m just happy to be in this crowd, to be part of this club and part of the Disney family tonight.”
ABC talk show host and mainstay Ripa reunited with her former co-host Seacrest as he introduced her to accept her honour. Her career at the television network spans over 30 years and she now hosts Live With Kelly And Mark with her husband, Mark Consuelos.
“It is a very rare thing, anybody can tell you in this industry, to be employed consistently in this industry, but to be employed by the same company for 34 years is my great good fortune,” Ripa said. “I owe everything to Disney.”
Danny DeVito, one of director James L Brooks’ long-running collaborators and friends, presented the Simpsons and Mary Tyler Moore Show creator with the award, calling him a “genius”.
“There will never be another writer, director, producer, like my dear friend,” DeVito said.
Disney also honoured six behind-the-scenes creatives who have contributed to groundbreaking films, art and Disney experiences.
Those honourees include Colleen Atwood, an Oscar-winning costume designer; Mark Henn, a prominent animator known for his work animating several Disney princesses; Steve Ditko, the late comics artist known for characters such as Spider-Man and Doctor Strange; Frank Oz, a noted puppeteer of Muppets characters and a filmmaker; Martha Blanding, a longtime manager at The Walt Disney Company and Disneyland, and Joe Rohde, a former Disney Imagineer.
Previous Disney Legends include Elton John, Steve Jobs, Betty White, Dick Van Dyke, Robert Downey Jr and Whoopi Goldberg. They are among more than 300 honourees since the programme’s inception in 1987.
