The 2017 San Diego Comic-Con is just around the corner and today they announced the Thursday Schedule of Events for July 20, 2017. There’s a few panels that fall under the Disney umbrella and there’s also a few other goings on that Disney fans will enjoy, too.

Highlights include: Disney Animation Studios; The Art of Story, Off the Rails: When Disney Park Attractions Come to Life . . . in Books!; and Disney Kingdoms: Theme Park Stories with Marvel Comics.

There’s a few other goings on that Disney fans might enjoy, including The 18th Annual Animation Show of Shows; Dinosaurs, Monsters, Movies and The Blues: Worlds of William Stout; and The Future is Female: Women in Animation.

Below are details about some of the events with tangential Disney appeal.

Thursday Schedule of Disney Events

Dinosaurs, Monsters, Movies and The Blues: Worlds of William Stout
10:00am – 11:00am, Room 32AB

Comic-Con veteran (he’s been to every single one) William Stout (Wizards, Conan the Barbarian, Pan’s Labyrinth, Walt Disney’s Dinosaur) delivers an exciting story- and picture-filled lecture on a varied career that includes comics, movie design, book illustration, movie posters, LP and CD covers, prehistoric life murals, theme park designs, Antarctica, and his passion for the blues.

The Future is Female: Women in Animation
10:00am – 11:00am, Room 7AB

Marge Dean (WIA co-president, GM at Stoopid Buddy Stoodios), Molly Mason-Boulé (VP content group, Electronic Arts Worldwide Studios), Maggie Malone (VP, creative affairs, Walt Disney Animation Studios), and Jinko Gotoh (executive producer, The Lego Movie Sequel, Warner Animation Group) discuss female creative talent by format, unconscious bias, and the goal of obtaining 50-50 by 2025, with women sharing equally in the creation, production, and rewards of animation.

The 18th Annual Animation Show of Shows
10:00am – 11:30am, Ballroom 20

Ron Diamond (founder and curator of the Animation Show of Shows and Acme Filmworks) presents a curated program of new animated shorts, including work from 11 countries, featuring Mirror from This American Life’s Ira Glass, Chris Ware, and John Kuramoto; Google Spotlight Stories’ Oscar-nominated Pearl ; and Walt Disney Pictures’ and Pixar Animation Studios’ Academy Award winner Piper. A tour de force selection of heartfelt, emotionally impactful, and socially relevant topics. Diamond will lead an audience Q&A session.

Spotlight on Mike Royer
11:30am – 12:30pm, Room 4

As part of this year’s gala Jack Kirby Centennial, here’s an hour-long chat with Jack’s favorite inker of his work, the man who worked with him on the Fourth World comics, Kamandi, The Demon, and many others. But Mike Royer was so much more than just Jack Kirby’s inker. He worked with Russ Manning on the Tarzan comic books and newspaper strip and again with Russ on the Star Warsnewspaper strip. He drew for Creepy, Eerie, and Vampirella and worked on the ’60s Marvel superhero cartoons and for Gold Key Comics and had a multi-decade career working for Disney on things as un-Kirbylike as Winnie the Pooh. Come hear him be interviewed by his friend and colleague, Mark Evanier.

The Relationship Between Artist and Model
11:30am – 12:30pm, Room 24ABC

With all the drawing software out there, why do animation studios, video game developers, and comic illustrators still use live-action models for character design and development? This panel will discuss how art models contribute to and enhance an artist’s vision, how to find the right one for a project, ways into the business, and how to make a seeming disability work as an asset. Panelists include art models Jennifer Fabos Patton (Gallery Girls founder), Margaret Baker (Spider-Man), and Michael Q. Schmidt (Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone), mo-cap model T. J. Storm (Deadpool), and Disney master teacher Mark McDonnell. Moderated by Fast Company’ s Susan Karlin.

Disney Animation Studios: The Art of Story
2:00pm – 3:00pm, Room 7AB

Think, act, draw, pitch. Get the inside scoop on the story development process from the story artists of Walt Disney Animation Studios. The artists will share their creative process for going from script to board to pitch.

Off the Rails: When Disney Park Attractions Come to Life . . . in Books!
4:00pm – 5:00pm, Room 23ABC

Hosts Justin Madriaga and Joshua “Ish” Ishizaki lead another round of their geek trivia podcast. They’ll be joined by challengers Sam Delara (associate producer, Geek K.O.) and Alix Galit (host, Ready Set Geek!) to test their Marvel movie skills against end boss JPG (executive producer, Geek Say What? Network). Moderated by Cole Garrison (host, Ready Set Geek!). Audience questions and prizes.

Geek K.O. LVL 025: The Marvel Cinematic Universe
2:00pm – 3:00pm, Neil Morgan Auditorium, San Diego Central Library

Take a trip through the Disney Parks through books. From graphic novels to novels, Disney Publishing editors discuss how they are expanding the beloved stories of some of the parks’ most beloved rides (Space Mountain, Haunted Mansion, Jungle Cruise) into prose. With panelists Michael Siglain, Nachie Marsham, Eric Geron, and special guests.

1987: Greatest Geek Year Ever
3:00pm – 4:00pm, Room 5AB

The “We’re Getting Too Old for This S@#t” edition! This expert panel of geeksperts takes a trip 30 years back in time to that great geek year of 1987. Expect untouchable analysis and lethal quips as they look back at Predator, The Princess Bride, Lethal Weapon, The Lost Boys, RoboCop, Near Dark, Spaceballs, Hellraiser, The Untouchables, The Running Man, and many more. Panelists Mark A. Altman (St. Martin’s The Fifty-Year Mission, Tor’s Slayers & Vampires), Scott Mantz (Access Hollywood), Charles de Lauzirika (Alien Anthology, The Martian: Extended Edition), Steve Melching (Star Wars Rebels, Star Wars: The Clone Wars), Jose Molina (The Tick, Agent Carter), Ashley E. Miller (Thor, X-Men: First Class), Robert Meyer Burnett (Agent Cody Banks, The Hills Run Red), and Steve Kriozere (V.I.P., NCIS, Castle) remind you that “if it bleeds, we can kill it” and that you should “never fight a land war in Asia.” Thank you for your cooperation. Plus: a 40th anniversary bonus look back at 1977.

Disney Kingdoms: Theme Park Stories with Marvel Comics
6:00pm – 7:00pm, Room 7AB

The creators of Disney Kingdoms by Marvel discuss in depth the history as well as future titles of this popular family comic book series.

Marvel Television: Marvel’s Inhumans
6:15pm – 7:15pm, Ballroom 20

The Inhumans have landed in San Diego! Special guests of the highly anticipated Marvel’s Inhumansunveil an explosive panel moderated by executive producer Jeph Loeb. This event series will premiere a version of the first two episodes exclusively in IMAX theatres for a two-week window prior to the debut of the full series on ABC.

Sweet Christmas! A Mock Trial to Prove Luke Cage Is Innocent
8:00pm – 9:00pm, Room 23ABC

Marvel’s Luke Cage ended with Luke in FBI custody for breaking out of prison. This will be a mock evidentiary hearing where attorneys will argue to US Magistrate Judge Mitch Dembin a writ of habeas corpus petition to prove Cage’s actual innocence. Attorneys arguing the case include Christine Peek, Esq. (McManis Faulkner) and Megan Smith, Esq. for Luke Cage (played by David Gibson) and Steve Chu, Esq. and Jane Boardman (deputy city attorney for the City of San Diego Office of the City Attorney) for the government.

 

But Wait, There’s More!

Keep an eye here tomorrow for FRIDAY SDCC announcements!