This year, at the D23 Expo, a slew of stars were honored at the Disney Legends Awards, and were inducted as the class of 2024.
The honorees were some titans of the House of Mouse, and included Angela Bassett, James L. Brooks, James Cameron, Kelly Ripa, Jamie Lee Curtis, Miley Cyrus, Harrison Ford, Frank Oz and John Williams, among others.
ET’s Cassie DiLaura was at the Honda Center in Anaheim for the big event, and spoke with a few of the night’s honorees about the big celebration.
Speaking with Curtis, the actress reflected on her musical speech she gave while being honored at the expo gala.
“I was just in the moment and in the moment I was gonna recite the lyrics to the song of the Carousel of Progress, which was written by the Sherman Brothers — Disney legends themselves,” Curtis explained, referring to the Disney World attraction that has wowed parkgoers for nearly six decades.
“The Carousel of Progress blew my mind as a little kid,” Curtis added. “Today, we would look at that animatronic stuff, and it’s a little rough, but the song is like an [earworm], it gets in your head.”
ET also spoke with Ripa, who was beyond excited to be a part of such a big honor.
“I never thought of myself as somebody who had imposter syndrome until I stood up there and you’re looking at Harrison Ford and Angela Bassett and and just everyone,” Ripa shared. “It was beyond my wildest dreams.”
As Ripa explained, Disney has “given me everything.”
“My employment, of course, but my husband, my children, everything!” she added. “Everything stems from Disney.”
Bassett, meanwhile, explained how the event — and seeing the recognition for both yourself and your fellow recipients — can be very moving.
“You get caught up in your throat a little bit and your eyes a little bit, you know, seeing everyone else’s journey and how inspirational they are, and have been to you,” Bassett shared. “Yeah, you get overwhelmed a little bit.”
“You’re like, ‘Oh my god, how could I stand with them?’ And then you see your life projected on screen and you go, ‘OK, OK, I did that. OK,'” she added. “Now forget about that and go to work tomorrow.”
One of the most iconic stars honored as a Disney Legend was iconic puppeteer, actor and filmmaker Frank Oz — best known for his work with The Muppets and his puppet acting in the Star Wars franchise, most notably his work as Yoda.
“Well, you know, I’m just a regular guy,” Oz told ET on Sunday, “who, after this, is going to take off my tie and I’m just gonna, you know, put on my pajamas and have a bowl of cereal.”
“So I, you know, I don’t do it for legend or rewards and stuff, I do it because I love my work,” Oz added. “So when you get something like this, it’s hard to process.”
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