The Walt Disney Company has announced the distinguished group of visionaries, performers, and creative forces who will receive the 2026 Disney Legends Award, the company’s highest honor. The ceremony will take place on Sunday, August 16, 2026, at 1:30 p.m. PT at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California, marking the final day of D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event presented by Visa. Emmy-winning television host Ryan Seacrest will return to host the event, which will also be available to stream on Disney+ for fans around the world.
“D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event is where we come together to give our incredible fans an early look at what’s coming next across our company, while celebrating the legacy of the extraordinary people whose creativity has shaped Disney into what it is today,” said Josh D’Amaro, Chief Executive Officer of The Walt Disney Company. “It’s an honor to celebrate our Disney Legends — their impact is felt in everything we do and recognizing them alongside the fans who love their work is what makes this event so meaningful.”
Now in its 39th year, the Disney Legends Awards program dates back to 1987 when Fred MacMurray became the first honoree. With the addition of this year’s class, a total of 329 individuals will have earned the distinguished title of Disney Legend. This year’s honorees span an extraordinary range of disciplines, from animation and performance to sports broadcasting, music, producing, and Imagineering, reflecting the remarkable breadth of talent that has shaped Disney across generations.
A Career That Defined ESPN
Few people are more synonymous with the rise of sports television than Chris Berman. When ESPN launched in 1979, Berman was just 24 years old and among the first wave of broadcasters to help invent what a sports network could look and sound like. Over the decades that followed, he became one of the most recognizable voices in American sports, covering events from the Super Bowl to the World Series and earning the title of National Sportscaster of the Year six times. In 2010, he received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and in 2017 ESPN honored his legacy by renaming its NFL broadcast studio in Bristol, Connecticut, in his name. Berman will be part of ESPN’s first-ever Super Bowl coverage in 2027.
Hollywood’s Most Prolific Producer
Jerry Bruckheimer has spent more than five decades producing some of the most commercially successful films and television series in entertainment history. His filmography includes the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, the Top Gun films, National Treasure, Bad Boys, and Beverly Hills Cop, among many others. His most recent blockbuster, F1, grossed over $631 million globally, becoming the highest-grossing sports film of all time, and earned four Academy Award nominations including Best Picture, winning for Best Sound. In total, Bruckheimer’s films have collectively earned nearly $15 billion at the global box office, and his television slate remains equally dominant, with CBS’s popular Bruckheimer Fridays programming block and The Amazing Race returning for its 39th season later this year.
A Disney First on Broadway and Beyond
Susan Egan holds a unique distinction in Disney history as the first actress ever to portray a Disney heroine on Broadway, originating the role of Belle in Beauty and the Beast and earning Tony Award and Drama Desk nominations for Best Actress in the process. She went on to voice the beloved Megara in the animated feature Hercules (1997) and has since built an impressive second career as a producer of live global concert events in partnership with multiple divisions of Disney. Her touring production Disney Princess: The Concert has visited 20 countries across five continents since 2021. In November 2025, Egan was named the Official Godmother of the Disney Destiny cruise ship, a vessel featuring spaces inspired by her most iconic roles.
The Animator Behind the Magic
Eric Goldberg has spent the better part of five decades bringing some of Walt Disney Animation Studios’ most beloved characters to life. His career at Disney began with the iconic Genie in Aladdin (1992), a performance widely regarded as one of the great achievements in the history of character animation. He went on to co-direct Pocahontas (1995), create the celebrated “Rhapsody in Blue” segment for Fantasia/2000, and supervise the hand-drawn animation in Once Upon a Studio, the Emmy-winning short that celebrated Disney’s 100th anniversary in 2023. Goldberg remains an active steward of Disney’s artistic legacy, currently serving on the team overseeing restorations of classic films including Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and Cinderella.
From Genovia to the Golden Globes
Anne Hathaway first captured Disney fans’ hearts as the endearing Mia Thermopolis in The Princess Diaries (2001) and its 2004 sequel, roles that launched one of Hollywood’s most celebrated careers. She later appeared as the White Queen in Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland (2010) and Alice Through the Looking Glass (2016) and voiced the lead character in the English dub of Studio Ghibli’s The Cat Returns. The recipient of Oscar, Golden Globe, Emmy, BAFTA, and Screen Actors Guild Awards, Hathaway will return to the big screen in one of 2026’s most anticipated films, reprising her role as Andy Sachs in The Devil Wears Prada 2, arriving in theaters in May.
The Architect of Modern Disney
Perhaps no individual has shaped the modern Walt Disney Company more profoundly than Bob Iger, who led the company for two decades across two separate tenures as Chief Executive Officer. Under his stewardship, Disney made four landmark acquisitions, bringing Pixar, Marvel, Lucasfilm, and 21st Century Fox into the Disney family. He oversaw the opening of Shanghai Disney Resort, the launch of Disney+, and the theatrical release of more than 30 films that each crossed $1 billion at the global box office. Iger first joined Disney’s senior leadership team in 1996 and returned as CEO in November 2022 before concluding his tenure in March 2026. He is also the author of the New York Times bestselling book The Ride of a Lifetime.
Five Decades of Imagination
Kim Irvine spent 55 years at Walt Disney Imagineering, retiring in 2024 as Executive Creative Director of the Anaheim office, where she oversaw the concept design, color styling, and interior design for most Disneyland Resort projects across her tenure. Her contributions to the park are woven into its very fabric, touching everything from the refurbishment of “it’s a small world” to the design of the Jolly Holiday Bakery Café to the ongoing care of Sleeping Beauty Castle. Her Disney roots run remarkably deep. Her father was a studio animator and her mother, Leota Toombs, was herself a Disney Legend, famous for lending her face to the iconic Madame Leota in the Haunted Mansion. In 2001, Imagineers asked Kim to carry on that tradition, and her likeness became the new face of Madame Leota in the attraction’s Nightmare Before Christmas seasonal overlay. In 2011, she became the first woman to receive the Buzz Price Thea Award for a Lifetime of Outstanding Achievements from the Themed Entertainment Association.
Maui, Muscles, and Movie Magic
Dwayne Johnson’s connection to Disney runs through one of the studio’s most beloved animated films. He voiced the demigod Maui in the Academy Award-nominated Moana (2016) and returned for Moana 2, which earned over $1 billion at the worldwide box office. This summer, he will bring Maui to life once more in the highly anticipated live-action Moana, set to arrive in theaters in 2026. One of the top five box-office stars of all time with more than $15 billion in career global earnings, Johnson has continued to expand his range as a performer, earning a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actor in a Motion Picture, Drama for his transformative turn in The Smashing Machine. Projects alongside Martin Scorsese, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Darren Aronofsky are already on the horizon.
Disney’s Band of Brothers
Nick, Joe, and Kevin Jonas became cultural touchstones for an entire generation of Disney Channel viewers through their roles in Camp Rock (2008), Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam (2010), and their own series JONAS. As the Jonas Brothers, the New Jersey natives have earned two Grammy nominations, achieved multi-platinum status across multiple albums, and built one of the most devoted fan communities in pop music. After years of solo projects, they reunited in 2019 with the platinum-certified album Happiness Begins and marked their 20th anniversary as a band in 2025 with a new album, a monumental fan celebration called JONASCON that drew over 75,000 attendees, and a major tour. Looking ahead, fans have even more reason to celebrate with Camp Rock 3 currently in development.
The Songwriter of a Generation
Lin-Manuel Miranda’s partnership with Walt Disney Animation Studios has produced some of the most culturally resonant music of the past decade. He began writing songs for Moana (2016) in early 2014, ultimately earning his first Academy Award nomination for Best Original Song for “How Far I’ll Go.” His work reached new heights with Encanto (2022), for which all eight of his songs charted simultaneously on the Billboard Hot 100. The breakout hit “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” spent five weeks at No. 1 and has been streamed more than 100 million times. The Pulitzer Prize, Grammy, Emmy, and Tony-winning artist has also starred in Mary Poppins Returns, contributed new songs to The Little Mermaid live-action film, and collaborated with Disney Legend Alan Menken on Mufasa: The Lion King, cementing a creative relationship with the studio that continues to grow.
The Voice Behind Every Disney Animated Film
Alan Tudyk has achieved something no other performer in Disney history can claim: he has appeared in every Walt Disney Animation Studios feature since Wreck-It Ralph in 2012. His characters have ranged from the scene-stealing King Candy in Wreck-It Ralph and the imperious Duke of Weselton in Frozen to the hilariously simple-minded rooster Heihei in both Moana films and the lovable goat Valentino in Wish. He also voiced Duke Weaselton in the Zootopia films and appeared in Frozen 2, Ralph Breaks the Internet, Raya and the Last Dragon, Encanto, and Strange World. Beyond animation, Tudyk brought the fan-favorite droid K-2SO to life in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, further solidifying his place as one of the most beloved and versatile performers in the Disney universe.
The 2026 Disney Legends Award ceremony will be held on August 16 at the Honda Center in Anaheim as part of D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event, running August 14 through 16. The ceremony will stream on Disney+ for fans unable to attend in person.
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