2013 D23 Expo: Disney Interactive Interacts With The Masses

On the last day of the 2013 D23 Expo, Disney Interactive took up the very large stage inside the D23 Arena where other previous and very popular presentations took place the days before from The Walt Disney Studios. After the celebrity-filled appearances and breaking film announcements, how could such a presentation follow that?

Disney Interactive certainly did their best when they filled their presentations with various new product announcements and updates, as well as some new things you never thought the underdog division of the Company could do or was working on. Just like the previous D23 Arena presentations, lots occurred with the Disney Interactive presentation, so here’s a rundown of what was said and what happened in bullet point form:

• Disney Interactive Co-President John Pleasants hosted the presentation and first unveiled new gameplay footage of the new XBOX Kinect-driven game Fantasia: Music Evolved where players get to conduct and manipulate Disney music just like in the classic Disney Fantasia films. Expect it out in 2014.

The Fantasia presentation concluded with a live orchestra playing some of the recorded music which was really recorded by a live orchestra at the Abbey Road Studios in London!

• Mr. Pleasants continued with the announcement of some new animated web series that Disney Interactive has been working including “Blank: A Vinylmation Love Story” which will tell the story of the very popular vinyl Mickey Mouse figurines who fall in love. The other web series “it’s a small world: the animated series” will bring new life of travel and adventure for the kids and cultures made famous from the classic Disney Parks attraction (with original game music by Richard Sherman himself).

• The newest app just released by the division called Disney Animated (for iPad) was demoed to audience acclaim. The app is pretty much a large interactive and database that takes a closer look at the history of animation at the Disney Company. It’s certainly worth a look at!

• Lastly, Disney’s most ambitious gaming development called Disney Infinity, which we told you all about earlier this year when it was announced for the first time, took the spotlight with new play sets, characters, and worlds. The game comes out on August 18.

UPDATE 8/14 – In addition to the main game, Disney Interactive also unveiled two new mobile apps that’ll accompany the game experience including Disney Infinity: Action! (an app where users can “play” with Disney Infinity characters…in real life!) and Disney Infinity: Toy Box (an extension of the Disney Infinity game system where users can build their worlds and play with characters anywhere!). Action! will be available in the Apple App Store on August 15. Toy Box will be available in a few weeks.

The whole Disney Interactive presentation ended with all attendees leaving with a limited edition Sorcerer Mickey figure that can be used with the upcoming Disney Interactive game.

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And with that, Disney Interactive concluded the D23 Expo’s last of the big presentations. With only just a few hours to spare after the presentation, the rest of the DE coverage team decided to just enjoy the rest of the Expo and catch up with friends…and shopping for souvenirs!

We really wanted to thank all of you who followed our coverage of the 2013 D23 Expo on our official coverage page and our social media networks. It really means a lot that you all like what we do. We love bringing you Disney experiences and news and plan on doing that with every Disney event we go to…especially at the 2015 D23 Expo!

But really…how did we all do? Did we serve you all well this weekend at the Expo? Tell us in the comments – we’d really love to hear your feedback. Thanks again!