Frozen & Grey’s Anatomy Stars, Chadwick Boseman, Disney Imagineers Among Disney Legends Recipients

D23 Expo, the largest Disney fan event in the world, is back this year and will take place September 9-11 at the Anaheim Convention Center. The Disney Legends Awards ceremony will help kick off the event.

The Disney Legends Awards ceremony is a tradition that dates back 35 years. Since the beginning of the D23 Expo, the event has been held there. The award is given to an individual “who has made an extraordinary contribution to the Disney legacy,” according to a recent D23 Expo press release.

Honorees are celebrated during the ceremony and then immortalized with their hand prints in Disney Legends Plaza at the Walt Disney Studios.

Here are the 2022 Disney Legends Nominees:

Disney Legends Award Recipients 2022

Anthony Anderson

Anderson is an executive producer and actor and has appeared in 20 films and multiple television series. He has earned several nominations and awards, including winning seven NAACP Image Awards and earning seven Emmy and three Golden Globe® nominations for his role as Andre “Dre” Johnson in the ABC sitcom black-ish.

Kristen Bell

Bell is an award-winning actor, author, and producer, who is best known in the Disney realm for playing Anna in Frozen (2013), Frozen 2 (2019), Frozen Fever (2015), Olaf's Frozen Adventure (2017), Ralph Breaks the Internet (2018), and Once Upon a Snowman (2020), along with numerous video games, theme park experiences, and consumer products.

Chadwick Boseman

Boseman will receive this award posthumously. He was known for writing, directing, acting, and activism, but especially for his role as Black Panther in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. He played the character in Captain America: Civil War (2016) and Black Panther (2018), which received seven Academy Award® nominations. 

Rob’t Coltrin

Coltrin is a retired Walt Disney Imagineer who helped created several park attractions, including Mickey’s PhilharMagic, Muppet*Vision 3D, and Roger Rabbit’s Car Toon Spin. He has also helped with Radiator Springs Racers, Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway, and recent expansions at Tokyo Disney Resort.

Patrick Dempsey

Dempsey is a two-time Golden Globe® nominee and SAG Award® nominee for Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series. When it comes to Disney, he is known for his work in Enchanted (2007) and the upcoming Disney+ film Disenchanted (2022). He also voiced Kenai in Brother Bear 2 (2006).

Robert Price “Bob” Foster

Foster has played many roles in Disney throughout the years. He began his career in 1956 when he joined the Walt Disney Productions legal department. He also was a member of the Park Operations Committee for Disneyland and helped acquire land for Walt Disney World. Foster retired from Walt Disney Productions as Vice President, Real Estate in 1974.

Josh Gad

Gad is a Tony Award®-winning actor and singer who is best known for his role as Olaf in the Frozen franchise, as well as LeFou in the live-action Beauty and the Beast (2017). Other Disney credits include Artemis Fowl (2020), Mickey’s 90th Spectacular (2018), The Disney Family Singalong (2020), Modern Family (2011), and Magic of Disney’s Animal Kingdom (2020).

Jonathan Groff

Groff is known for his performances in theater, film, and television. When it comes to Disney, he is best recognized as the voice of Kristoff in the Frozen franchise. Groff also originated the role of King George III in the Pulitzer Prize-winning production of Hamilton on Broadway (receiving a Tony Award nomination for it) and was part of the cast that can be seen on Disney+.

Don Hahn

Hahn is an author and film producer who began his Walt Disney Studios career in the Art Props Morgue. He helped produce Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988), Beauty and the Beast (1991), and The Lion King (1994) and executive produced the Disneynature films Earth (2009), Oceans (2010), African Cats (2011), and Chimpanzee (2012).

Doris Hardoon

Hardoon began her Walt Disney Imagineer career in 1979 as a junior designer. She went on to work as a lead designer, art director, and producer for various park attractions at EPCOT Center, Tokyo Disneyland, Disneyland Paris, Disney’s Animal Kingdom theme park, and Shanghai Disney Resort.

Idina Menzel

Menzel is an accomplished actor, singer, songwriter, and philanthropist. She received a Tony award for her performance in Wicked and is also known for her work in the Frozen franchise (her performance of “Let It Go” won both an Oscar and Emmy), as well as in Enchanted, Disenchanted, and Cinderella (2021).  

Chris Montan

Montan joined The Walt Disney Company in 1984. Roles he has worked in include vice president of music for motion pictures and television and President of Walt Disney Music. He oversaw soundtracks such as The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, The Lion King, Pocahontas, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, and Hercules. He has been nominated for and won multiple Grammy Awards and Academy Awards.

Ellen Pompeo

Pompeo is known best for her work in Grey’s Anatomy, which she has received multiple award nominations and wins for, including a Golden Globe nomination. Other credits of hers include Moonlight Mile (2002), Old School (2003), and Daredevil (2003). 

Tracee Ellis Ross

Ross is recognized for her work on black-ish as an actress, producer, and director. She was nominated five times for an Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series and won the NAACP Image Award for Best Actress in a Comedy Series four times. Other television credits include roles on grown-ish and mixed-ish, The Premise, and Private Practice. 

Though the three-day event is sold out, select presentations will be streamed online. Check out D23 Expo for more information. And, of course, stay tuned to MickeyVisit as we will be live posting throughout the weekend.

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