James Cameron, Miley Cyrus, John Williams and more highlight the 2024 Disney Legends class!
Meet the new class of Disney Legends for 2024 and marvel at the huge names introduced!
Back in 1987, Disney introduced the Disney Legends, a special ceremony to mark longtime Disney movie star Fred McMurray. Since then, the Legends has become a “Hall of Fame” for Disney artists, usually backstage workers but also animators and expanding into actors.
Past major names have included the legendary “Nine Old Men” of animators in 1989 and usually actors associated with Disney projects such as Angela Lansbury, Hayley Mills, Kurt Russell and others. They’ve occasionally done special stuff, such as in 2005, when all the inductees had tied for the 50th anniversary of Disneyland.
Each recipient is awarded a gorgeous statue of Mickey holding a wand and a commemorative bronze plaque with their names and handprints (if alive) or an image (if deceased). The plaques are on display for visitors to the Disney Lot in Burbank at the obviously named Legends Plaza.
This year’s recipients are a great mix of huge names, and all of them should spark up the ceremony.
Who are the 2024 Disney Legends?
The class of 2024 may well be the best one yet for the Disney Legends enshrinements.
- Colleen Atwood, 12-time Oscar nominated (and four-time winner) costume designer (Alice in Wonderland, Into the Woods).
- Angela Bassett, Oscar-nominated actress (Black Panther)
- Martha Blanding, Disneyland’s first Black fulltime tour guide in 1971, a 50 year veteran who also pioneered early Disney-themed conventions.
- James L. Brooks, iconic TV writer/director/producer (The Simpsons).
- James Cameron, Oscar-winning writer/director (Titanic, Avatar)
- Jamie Lee Curtis, Oscar-winning actress (Freaky Friday, Haunted Mansion)
- Miley Cyrus, TV star turned recording superstar (Hannah Montana)
- Steve Ditko, late comic book artist who co-created Spider-Man and Doctor Strange
- Harrison Ford, aka Han Solo and Indiana Jones
- Mark Henn, animator for Ariel, Belle, Jasmine, Simba and more
- Frank Oz, iconic puppeteer for the Muppets, Star Wars and more
- Kelly Ripa, actress and TV hostess
- Joe Rhode, Imagineer
- John Williams, arguably the greatest film composer of all time (Star Wars, Indiana Jones and too many more to count)
The mix of stars is unique, as there are obvious ones, such as Cameron and Williams, while Cyrus's is a bit surprising. It’s also good to see the honors for Rhode (a key influence on the Animal Kingdom), and Blanding and Ditko’s induction should please Marvel fans (although the man himself famously feuded with Marvel in his later years).
The ceremony will be held Sunday, Aug. 11, at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California, as part of D23. It’s hosted by Ryan Seacrest and while not announced yet, it’s expected that several celebrities will be on hand to induct the honorees (it would be fitting for George Lucas and Steven Spielberg to both honor John Williams). It shows how much the Disney Legends means to those involved, and this year may be the best ceremony yet.