The Walt Disney Company has announced 14 inductees into the Disney Legends Awards program. Now in its 37th year, the Disney Legends Awards — honoring artists and visionariesthroughout thecompany’s history who have “pushed the envelope ofcreativity, challengedconventional wisdom, and broken the restraintsof the status quo insearch of new possibilities and excellence” — will be presented at this year’s D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event convention in Anaheim, California, on August 11.
Videos by ComicBook.com
2024 Disney Legends Award honorees include Steve Ditko, the artist whose collaborations with Stan Lee co-created the Marvel Comics superheroes Spider-Man and Doctor Strange; Harrison Ford, star of Lucasfilm’s Indiana Jones and Star Wars sagas; and James Cameron, the filmmaker behind two of the highest-grossing films in history: 2009’s Avatar and 2022’s Avatar: The Way of Water (which was distributed via Disney’s 20th Century Studios).
“To be named a Disney Legend is the highest honor our company canbestow on anyone, reserved for those whose talent and achievement haveearned them an enduring place in our history,” said Bob Iger, ChiefExecutive Officer, The Walt Disney Company. “The fourteen individuals tobe honored as Disney Legends this year have each made extraordinarycreative contributions across the worlds of Disney and we look forwardto celebrating them at D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event.”
COLLEEN ATWOOD
Four-time Oscar winner Colleen Atwood designed costumes for Tim Burton’s live-action Alice in Wonderland and the re-imagined Dumbo; her Disney credits include Into the Woods (2014), Alice Through the Looking Glass (2016), Lady and the Tramp (2019), and The Little Mermaid (2023).
ANGELA BASSETT
Oscar nominee and Honorary Academy Award recipient Angela Bassett, who plays Queen Ramonda of Wakanda in Marvel’s Black Panther films, received two Emmy nominations for outstanding narrator for National Geographic’s The Flood (2018) and the Disney+ docuseries The Imagineering Story (2019). Bassett previously voiced Dorothea Williams in Disney and Pixar’s Academy Award-winning animated feature Soul (2020).
MARTHA BLANDING
The first permanent full-time Black Tour Guide at the Happiest Place on Earth, Martha Blanding is also the first Black Cast Member to commemorate 50 years with the Disneyland Resort. Blanding served as a Tour Guide, VIP Hostess, and senior manager of Disneyland Resort Merchandise Special Events, before she retired in 2022. Blanding is considered one of the few pioneering producersof the Official Disneyana Convention, a forerunner of the modern D23: TheUltimate Disney Fan Event, and she co-founded PULSE, a business employeeresource group for Black Disneyland Cast Members.
JAMES L. BROOKS
Known for such films as 20th Century’s Broadcast News (1987) and the ABC series Room 222 and Taxi, Brooks is best known for another work: as a co-creator, writer, and producer on The Simpsons, the longest-running primetime scripted show in television history. Currently in its 35th season, The Simpsons has won 37 Emmy Awards.
JAMES CAMERON
An acclaimed filmmaker, ocean explorer, andenvironmental advocate, James Cameron is responsible for the films Aliens (1986), The Abyss (1989), Titanic (1997), and the blockbuster Avatar films. Cameron also helped to steer the creation of an Avatar-inspiredarea of Disney’s Animal Kingdom Theme Park at Walt Disney World Resortin Florida: Pandora – The World of Avatar. Cameron’s Earthship Productions has produced 12documentaries, including six about Titanic, as well as three other deepocean exploration films, most in partnership with National Geographic.He executive produces National Geographic’s Secrets series, including the Emmy Award-winning Secrets of the Whales and Emmy-nominated Secrets of the Elephants.
JAMIE LEE CURTIS
Along with starring in the Cameron-directed 20th Century film True Lies, Oscar winner Jamie Lee Curtis portrayed no-nonsense mom Tess Coleman opposite Lindsay Lohan Disney’s remake of the classic body-swap comedy Freaky Friday (2003). In 2023, the famed Halloween Scream Queen returned to both Disney and the macabre genre to portray the legendary Madame Leota in Haunted Mansion, inspired by the classic Disneyland theme park attraction.
MILEY CYRUS
Award-winning superstar singer, songwriter, andactress Miley Cyrus first rose to fame as a Disney Channel sensation, starring as Hannah Montana in the sitcom of the same name. Theseries premiered in March 2006 to the largest audience for a DisneyChannel Original Series, drawing an average of 4.4 million viewers perepisode, and a 2007 episode of the series still ranks as the highest-ratedbasic cable series telecast ever, with 10.7 million total viewers. Cyrus also voiced Penny in Walt Disney Animation Studios’ feature film Bolt, reprised her role in Hannah Montana: The Movie, and she voiced Mainframe in Marvel Studios’ Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2.
STEVE DITKO
Steve Ditko, a writer-artist for Atlas Comics (the precursor of Marvel Comics), led fellow Disney Legend Stan Lee to rechristen Amazing Adventures as Amazing Adult Fantasy (later Amazing Fantasy) — a book where Lee and Ditko’s most famous co-creation, the wall-crawling Spider-Man, first appeared in 1962. In addition to co-creating most of Spider-Man’s rogues’ gallery — including Doctor Octopus, the Green Goblin, and the Sinister Six — Ditko redesigned Iron Man’s armor into the iconic red and gold design, and conjured up the trippy visuals in Strange Tales, where Lee and Ditko would debut Doctor Strange. In the 1990s, Ditko helped to co-create all-new Marvel characters,including Speedball and Squirrel Girl.
HARRISON FORD
Legendary actor Harrison Ford is best known for playing two of the most iconic heroes in cinematic history: the rogue smuggler Han Solo in George Lucas’ Star Wars and the titular archaeologist adventurer in Lucas and Steven Spielberg’s blockbuster Indiana Jones films. Ford recently reprised both roles in Lucasfilm’s Star Wars sequel trilogy and last summer’s Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, and he next portrays Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross in Marvel Studios’ upcoming Captain America: Brave New World.
MARK HENN
Well-known to fans of Walt Disney animation, Mark Henn joined Walt Disney Animation Studios in 1980 as an assistant animator on The Fox and the Hound (1981). His first major assignment was animating Disney’s most beloved character, Mickey Mouse, in Mickey’s Christmas Carol(1983), marking Mickey’s first big-screen appearance in 30 years. Henn went on to serve as the supervising animator for young Simba as wellas five female leads, more than any artist in the history of thestudio: Ariel (supervised with fellow Disney Legend Glen Keane) in The Little Mermaid (1989), Belle(supervised with James Baxter) in Beauty and the Beast (1991), Jasmine in Aladdin (1992), Mulan in Mulan (1998), and Tiana in The Princess and the Frog (2009). He alsoanimated Simba from The Lion King (1994), the title character in Pocahontas (1995), and Giselle from Enchanted (2007).
FRANK OZ
Prolific puppeteer and filmmaker Frank Oz has helmed more than a dozen films, including co-directing The Dark Crystal (1982) with fellow Disney Legend Jim Henson, The Muppets Take Manhattan (1984), Touchstone Pictures’ What About Bob? (1991), and more. Oz originated and performed the Muppets characters of Miss Piggy, Fozzie, Sam Eagle, and Animal; he also originated and performed Yoda for George Lucas’ Star Wars saga, first in The Empire Strikes Back (1980) and followed by Return of the Jedi (1983), The Phantom Menace (1999), Attack of the Clones (2002), Revenge of the Sith (2005), The Last Jedi (2017), and The Rise of Skywalker (2019).
KELLY RIPA
With a career at ABCspanning over 30 years, Kelly Ripa serves as co-host and executive producer of the nationally syndicated show Live. As an actress, Ripa has appeared on such shows as the soap opera All My Children and the sitcom Hope & Faith. She’s also hosted installments of The Wonderful World of Disney, The Wonderful World of Disney: Magical Holiday Celebration, and appeared on the Mickey Mouse anniversary special Mickey’s 90th Spectacular.
JOE ROHDE
Retiring in 2021 as a portfolio creative executive with 40 years atWalt Disney Imagineering, Joe Rohde was the overall creative executiveand supervising designer for Disney’s Animal Kingdom Theme Park,including later expansions such as Expedition Everest – Legend of the Forbidden Mountain and Pandora – The World of Avatar. Joe’sother notable projects include Hawai’i’s Aulani, A Disney Resort & Spa, and the Marvel-inspired Guardians of the Galaxy – Mission: BREAKOUT! atDisney’s California Adventure Park. In 2022, hereceived the Disney Conservation Fund’s first Conservation Legacy Award,and has appeared on numerous documentaries about Imagineering.
JOHN WILLIAMS
Over a career spanning more than six decades, prolific composer John Williams has created the music for more than 100 films, including all nine Star Wars saga films and all five Indiana Jones films. Williams has received five Academy Awards and 54 Oscar nominations — most recently for Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny(2023) — making him the Academy’s most-nominated living person and thesecond-most-nominated person in the history of the Oscars, a numbersecond only to Walt Disney. He has also received seven British AcademyAwards (BAFTA), 26 Grammys, four Golden Globes, and five Emmys, as wellas the National Medal of Arts, the Kennedy Center Honors, and anhonorary knighthood from Queen Elizabeth II.
