New Crop of Disney Legends Announced For D23 Including Bob Iger– Michael Eisner Still Passed Over

By / / 4 minutes of reading

Disney has announced the 2026 honorees to be named Disney Legends, and the list mostly includes celebrities, with a couple of Disney artists or Imagineers, and Bob Iger for some reason. Yet, Michael Eisner still hasn’t gotten to be named a Disney Legend.

Here are the 2026 honorees:

 

  • Chris Berman- ESPN
  • Jerry Bruckheimer – Film
  • Susan Egan – Voice
  • Eric Goldberg – Animation
  • Anne Hathaway – Film
  • Bob Iger – Ex-CEO
  • Kim Irvine – Imagineering (daughter of Imagineer Leota Toombs and animator Harvey Toombs)
  • Dwayne Johnson – Film (hopefully not in the Maui wig)
  • Jonas Brothers – TV/Music
  • Lin-Manuel Miranda – Film/Music
  • Alan Tudyk – Film/Voice

The award ceremony will take place on Sunday, August 16, at 1:30 p.m. PT at the Honda Center, as part of the D23 Event.

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Many are wondering why Bob Iger was named as a Disney Legend the moment he left, yet former CEO Michael Eisner still has not yet been awarded. Eisner is credited with saving the company from financial collapse, the Disney animation Renaissance, Disney’s Hollywood Studios, Disney’s Animal Kingdom, and Euro Disney (Now Disneyland Paris)

Iger has led the company for years, but his legacy is more about buying up a lot of IP/companies, including Pixar, Marvel, Lucasfilm, and Fox Assets.  Except for sequels, Pixar is struggling at the box office, Marvel and Star Wars are in a slump/decline, Willow and Indiana Jones hit the wall, and the Fox acquisition is still considered a good move, but was far too much money.

Bob Iger also awarded himself the 50-Year Disney employee award, even though 22 of those years were at ABC BEFORE Disney bought the company, and he came with it. So, technically, he was not a 50-year Disney employee.

Here is what people are saying on social media

 

 

 

Not saying that someday Bob Iger couldn’t be made a Disney Legend, but doing it immediately after he leaves, while his deserving predecessor still hasn’t been named, seems suspect.

What do you think? Comment and let us know!





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