Gauchos, Anniversaries, and D23

I’m trying out something new this week. I had the opportunity to visit a fan-exclusive event at the Orpheum Theatre in downtown Phoenix, Arizona. This was a special event held by D23: The Official Disney Fan Club. It started out with these colorful flags outside the theatre.

All pictures were taken by me on my cell phone, and thanks to my friend Jacob for coming with me!

Can you name the characters?

Earlier that morning, the Orpheum played host to the Walt Disney Company Annual Meeting of Shareholders for 2013. I guess they decided to have both events at the same theatre to save money. I’m glad they did! The Orpheum is a beautiful, historical theatre.

Orpheum Marquee

But I’m not here to talk about a shareholder’s meeting. I went to the D23 Fanniversary event!

D23 Fanniversary Program

This, if you don’t know, is a touring presentation featuring staff from both D23 and the Disney Archives. The hour and a half program is a celebration of Disney properties celebrating significant milestones in 2013, all of this in honor of The Walt Disney Company itself, which celebrates its 90th anniversary this year. Some of the highlighted anniversaries include: 85 years of Mickey and Minnie Mouse, 60 years of Peter Pan (#14), 50 years of the Enchanted Tiki Room attraction at Disneyland, and 30 years of the Disney Channel, among many others.

Main Auditorium

Unfortunately, I don’t have any pictures of the presentation, due to D23’s standard policy of not allowing photography during their events. Regardless, it was a really fun event! The duo presenting the show, whose names unfortunately escape me, were fun to watch and kept the content interesting. There was a variety of rare images, video, and sound recordings shown to celebrate each anniversary. Some of these had never been made public before. There were also two pre-taped interviews with Disney celebrities. The first was an appearance by Kathryn Beaumont in which she spoke about returning to provide the voice for Alice in Disneyland’s Alice in Wonderland attraction in 1983. The second was an interview with Imagineer Tony Baxter (recently responsible for the Disneyland addition: Princess Fantasy Faire) regarding the overhaul Fantasyland at Disneyland received, also in 1983.

Although the Orpheum is pretty roomy, this event was quite intimate, with only about 100 or so people in the audience. It was a delight to share some time with fellow Disney fans as we covered the vast, rich history of the Disney company.

There was also a special treat for those in attendance. The Disney Archives brought along a special artifact that we were able to see up front and personal. It was a gift given to Walt after his South American tour from the Argentinian Press Corps. The gift was a gaucho doll, caricatured to look like Walt!

Walt Gaucho Caricature

Fitting, since this year marks the 70th anniversary of Saludos Amigos! We were able to look at it up close and enjoy the little details that made this doll such a unique gift.

Jacob, Myself and the Disney Archivist holding the Gaucho doll in the lobby of the Orpheum Theatre.

All in all, it was a very fun event. If you’re a D23 member, the D23 Fanniversary event still has stops in Washington, D.C., Newark, Boston, Seattle, and San Francisco. Although tickets are only currently available to the Boston and Seattle shows, everything else is sold out! They will also have different artifacts at the other shows, which you can look at online at this link.

Plus, there’s some pretty cool swag to be had!

D23 Fanniversary Swag

The button acted as our admission ticket, the Brave and Wreck-It Ralph (#52) items are “For Your Consideration” booklets given out to members of the Academy for consideration for the Academy Awards. They are filled with beautiful stills of each film. The Frankenweenie book is particularly unique, in that it’s a flip book! Two scenes from the film are rendered as a flip book, depending on which cover you start from. It is also a “For Your Consideration” book.

Me, in front of the Orpheum.

Being a member of D23 does have its perks!

What did you think of my first event write-up? I hope you enjoyed it! Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!