6 wild Disney history facts revealed at Destination D23 2025
Disney history was revealed with Imagineers, animators, voice actors, and film directors during Destination D23 2025, Disney’s official convention.
Destination D23: A Journey Around the Worlds of Disney took place at Walt Disney World near Orlando, Fla., from Aug. 29-31, 2025. Attractions Magazine was there for all the Disney theme park announcements revealed throughout the weekend during panels at Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort, as well as the one-night-only Kuzcotopia at Typhoon Lagoon.
A huge part of D23 events that’s easy to overlook for all the flashy announcements and musical moments is the significant focus on Disney history. During retrospective panels held during Destination D23, here are six wild moments in Disney history I learned about for the first time.
Carousel of Progress cake makeover
Carousel of Progress made news at Destination D23 when Disney announced the Magic Kingdom ride will introduce a Walt Disney animatronic in the future, following this summer’s debut of the first Walt animatronic at Disneyland. In a separate panel, Imagineers shared a glimpse at an abandoned concept to adorn the exterior of Carousel of Progress like a birthday cake in honor of Mickey Mouse’s 60th birthday in 1988.
Artwork courtesy of Disney
(Elsewhere in Magic Kingdom, that same year Mickey’s Birthdayland opened as a new land. It would later become Mickey’s Starland, then Mickey’s Toontown Fair. Today, that land is where Storybook Circus stands.)
Many fans may be aware of Cinderella Castle’s 1996 “castle cake” makeover for Walt Disney World’s 25th anniversary (which the Imagineers also discussed in the same panel), but I had never heard about the concept for Carousel of Progress. Notably, the idea would’ve predated the “castle cake” by nearly a decade. Someone in Imagineering really wanted a pink cake makeover somewhere in Magic Kingdom!
Photo courtesy of Disney
In other cake-related epiphanies, I also didn’t realize Sleeping Beauty Castle at Disneyland Paris was decorated like a strawberry shortcake for a brief period in 1993 to celebrate that park’s first anniversary.
Photo courtesy of Disney
The poster that saved ‘Treasure Planet’
“Treasure Planet” co-director Ron Clements (who, along with John Musker, also directed “The Little Mermaid,” “Aladdin,” “Hercules,” “The Princess and the Frog,” and “Moana”) was on hand at Destination D23 to share a bit about the history behind his 2002 Disney movie that didn’t get a ton of love when it first debuted, but has since become a fan favorite.
Clements said “Treasure Planet” was not approved when he first pitched the idea. It wasn’t until a Disney artist created a concept poster (below) in the mid-’90s that Disney executives greenlit the film, seeing its potential within the artist’s visual.
Clements also shared some abandoned concepts for “Treasure Planet” aliens that never made it into the finished movie.
Early concept for Kronk and Yzma
“The Emperor’s New Groove” had a very prominent presence at Destination D23, as we shared in our recap of the incredible Kuzcotopia Night at Typhoon Lagoon.
During a history-based panel prior to Kuzcotopia Night, the film’s producer, Don Hahn, along with Kronk’s voice actor, Patrick Warburton, discussed the making of the 2000 Disney movie. During the presentation, Hahn shared early concept artwork for Kronk and Yzma from before the filmmakers settled on the characters’ final designs.
To compare, here are the characters’ finished looks as they appear in the movie:
The Imagineer who designed Figment and Dreamfinder
Disney often attributes Imagineers Tony Baxter and Steve Kirk for creating Figment and Dreamfinder, the star characters of the classic Epcot attraction Journey Into Imagination. While Baxter and Kirk certainly deserve their credit for developing the lovable characters, many fans don’t realize X Atencio polished the characters’ final designs. The late Imagineer was the subject of a panel at Destination D23 moderated by filmmaker Leslie Iwerks (director of “The Imagineering Story” and the author of the show’s companion book) and featuring Atencio’s family, who wrote a book about him releasing this November.
Atencio is most well-known in Disney circles for writing the scripts for the Pirates of the Caribbean and Haunted Mansion attractions, as well as the lyrics for those rides’ respective songs. I didn’t realize, nor did many others in the room, that X also had a hand in bringing Figment to life in the ’80s shortly before retiring.
In fact, the exact same drawing of Figment and Dreamfinder pictured above is featured in an Epcot book I own that was published in 1982 (“Walt Disney’s Epcot Center: Creating the New World of Tomorrow” by Richard R. Beard), and the book simply credits the illustration to an unidentified “artist.”
Little Red is okay!
Perhaps my biggest gasp of the whole weekend came when I laid eyes on Little Red, the elephant Audio-Animatronics figure who was previously part of Kilimanjaro Safaris at Disney’s Animal Kingdom. Little Red was on display at Destination D23 as part of “Charting the Course: Disney’s Global Stories & Inspirations” exhibit curated by the Walt Disney Archives.
For the attraction’s first decade and a half upon opening in 1998, Kilimanjaro Safaris included a backstory involving us, the riders, saving Little Red from a group of poachers. After Disney removed this storyline, Little Red greeted cast members backstage at the entrance to a service building. He was a sight for sore eyes at Destination D23, a true piece of Disney history back in the spotlight.
The real-life inspirations for ‘A Goofy Movie’
“A Goofy Movie” was another prominent tentpole of Destination D23, with an anniversary screening at Disney Springs in addition to a history panel during the event’s main programming. During the panel, director Kevin Lima and voice actors Bill Farmer (Goofy) and Jason Marsden (Max) reflected on the film’s 30th anniversary and the immense popularity it’s sustained over the years from its loyal fans.
Photo by Blake Taylor
Lima shared the impetus for the film and the core of its heartfelt father/son relationship between Goofy and Max stemmed from his own relationship with his dad. At the time Lima was directing “A Goofy Movie,” he hadn’t spoken to his dad in years, and his feelings toward their distance manifested in the strikingly emotional performance by Goofy in the film, brought to life by skilled animators and, of course, by Farmer as the voice.
It was a jam-packed weekend at Destination D23. Don’t miss any of our coverage; we’ve got a roundup of all the Disney theme park news announced, a recap of Kuzcotopia Night at Typhoon Lagoon, and a peek into Villains Land at Magic Kingdom.
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