Recap of Disney's 2016 Shareholders' Meeting; Preview "The Jungle Book" at Disney Parks

Recap of Disney's 2016 Shareholders' Meeting:

Today, the Walt Disney Company held its annual shareholders' meeting in Chicago, Illinois. The meeting kicked off with the announcement by Bob Iger how happy it was to be there in Walt's birthplace. He then announced that the company would be donating $250,000 to the Center for Early Childhood Creativity and Innovation at the Walt Disney Birthplace.

Photo Credit: D23

They then officially announced the digital and blu-ray release of "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" for April 1 on digital and April 5 on Blu-ray. The bonus material included in the release will include:

• Secrets of The Force Awakens: A Cinematic Journey—For the first time, discover the complete story behind the making of The Force Awakens, revealed through in-depth footage and exclusive interviews with the actors and filmmakers in this feature documentary.
• The Story Awakens: The Table Read—Cast members familiar and new reflect on the memorable day they all first came together to read the movie’s script.
• Building BB-8—See how the filmmakers brought the newest droid to the screen, creating an instant fan favorite in the Star Wars universe.
• Crafting Creatures—Watch movie magic as the filmmakers bring a cast of new creatures to life.
• Blueprint of a Battle: The Snow Fight—Go deeper into the epic, climactic lightsaber battle between Rey and Kylo Ren.
• John Williams: The Seventh Symphony—The legendary composer shares personal insights of his work on Star Wars and The Force Awakens.
• ILM: The Visual Magic of The Force—An insider’s look into the remarkable digital artistry of the movie’s visual effects.
• Force For Change—Heroes come in all shapes and sizes. See how the Star Wars: Force for Change initiative has united Star Wars fans all over the globe to help others.
• Plus Deleted Scenes

That wasn't all the Star Wars news is that Iger said the company would break land officially on Star Wars Land in both Disneyland and Walt Disney World next month in April. 

Photo Credit: The Walt Disney Company

The biggest news however came from Disney Cruise Line as they announced two new ships will be added to the fleet in 2021 and 2023. Disney Cruise Line said that they have reached a memorandum of agreement with Germany's Meyer's Werft shipyard. Each ship will gross approximately 135,000 tons, slightly larger than both the Disney Dream and Fantasy. Each ship is currently planned to have 1,250 staterooms. 

In the official announcement Bob Iger had this to say, "We pride ourselves on the unforgettable vacation experiences we deliver to our guests each and every day, and the expansion of our Disney fleet will allow us to create even more magical memories for families at sea and in incredible cruise destinations around the world."

Bob Chapek, Chairman of Walt Disney Parks & Resorts, added: "The expansion of Disney Cruise Line only adds to our excitement for the unprecedented growth taking place across our vacation destinations, from new Star Wars experiences coming to the Walt Disney World and Disneyland resorts to the 25th anniversary of Disneyland Paris and the grand opening of our newest park, Shanghai Disney Resort."

Still no word on when Star Wars Land will open in either of the parks or the new name for Hollywood Studios at Disney World. 

Preview "The Jungle Book" at Disney Parks Beginning March 18:

Soon you will be able to preview scenes from "The Jungle Book" at both Disney California Adventure and Disney World beginning March 18. At each of the parks guests will be treated to a special introduction by director John Favreau as he pays homage to Walt Disney, the original animated classic, and the legacy of Disney's innovative storytelling. 

The preview will be shown in The Bug's Life Theater at Disney California Adventure with special in-theater effects. At Disney's Hollywood Studios, the preview will be shown inside One Man's Dream where guests will see an advance look at clips. 

"The Jungle Book" is based on Rudyard Kipling's timeless stories and of course is inspired by Walt Disney's animated classic. The story takes us on a journey of Mowgli, a man-cub who's been raised by a family of wolves. The film will hit theaters in 3D on April 15, 2016. 

Recap of Disney's 2015 Annual Shareholders' Meeting

Well another Disney shareholders' meeting has come and gone and Disney has made waves after today's with some breaking news. Disney CEO Bob Iger started the meeting off with some Star Wars news. Meeting began with a re-watch of the teaser trailer for the upcoming "Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens" that will open in December. After that is when Iger broke the news that the first standalone Star War film will be called "Rogue One". In other Star Wars news Episode VIII will be released on May 26, 2017.

For other Disney movie news, the average Marvel movie (Disney has released) makes is about a billion dollars each. Shareholders were treated to a scene from Marvel's "Avengers: Age of Ultron." Shareholder's were also treated to the trailer for the upcoming "Tomorrowland" film. Pixar CCO and director John Lasseter joined Iger on stage next for Pixar. They will have two films coming out in 2015 "Inside Out" this summer and "The Good Dinosaur" later this year. 

After a viewing of Disney's animated short "Frozen Fever" that will be released tomorrow before Disney's live-action film "Cinderella" is when Disney dropped more big news. Josh Gad (Frozen's Olaf) joined Iger and Lasseter on stage to announce that Disney Animation is in the works for the production of "Frozen 2", no release date was announced. Frozen 2 will reunite directors Chris Buck and Jennifer Lee along with producer Peter Del Vocho. 

Iger then briefly discussed now COO Tom Staggs promotion and the business portion of the meeting got under way. Nothing really to report from the business side of the shareholder's meeting. Next, was the start of the open questioning portion of the meeting. First question to Iger is if Figment and Dreamfinder would reunite at Epcot's Imagination pavilion. Iger answered while the new comics are impressive at this time there is no plans to re-imagine the pavilion or attraction. The big question however came from a 6-year old shareholder about a name change to Hollywood Studios. Iger answered with the following reply: "No...... Well we are doing a lot of work there that may result in a name change, wait we haven't announced that yet have we? Can we announce that? Ok, how about this, we will confirm that we will be changing the name of the park, but not tell you the new name, we will announce that later." So Hollywood Studios will be no more just as MGM Studios is no more.

What's Next?

That is a wrap on the 2015 Disney Annual Shareholders' Meeting. What does everyone think of Frozen 2 finally being announced? Again I can't tell you how excited I am about Star Wars and what Disney will bring to the table for the franchise. Last but not least Hollywood Studios is getting a new name. What do you think it will be? Rumor has it will be: Disney's Hollywood Adventure.