Johnny Depp, George Lucas, Susan Lucci, Danny Elfman added to Disney Legends
Disney’s D23 Expo included the addition of eight new stars on today to their exclusive Disney Legends “club”: Johnny Depp, George Lucas, Susan Lucci, Danny Elfman as well as former ESPN executive chairman George Bodenheimer, veteran animator Andreas Deja, the late Disney artist Eyvind Earle, the first Disneyland ambassador Julie Reihm Casaletto and Disney Consumer Products veteran Carson Van Osten.
Bob Igor and George Lucas
“Today we add several new Legends to this elite group,” Disney chief Bob Iger said. “They are an indelible parts of our legacy.”
Depp stars in the popular Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, with a fifth film in development, Alice in Wonderland and a new film titled: Alice Through the Looking Glass.
“I don’t know why I’m here,” Depp joked. “I never really liked the word ‘fan.’ It implies that someone is over someone else. I would say that you are actually my employer.”
“Disney has been part of my life for 60 years,” Lucas said. “I was there the second day Disneyland was open. A lot of what I do came out of the films and the joy I’ve had at the park. In fact here’s something no one knows: Goofy was the inspiration for Jar Jar Binks.”
Lucci played the Erica Kane on ABC’s long-running soap opera All My Children for 41 years, earning 21 Daytime Emmy nominations. Elfman has a massive resume of scoring projects such as The Nightmare Before Christmas, the Alice films, Frankenweenie and Oz the Great and Powerful.
