The coronation award highlighted a star-studded event that featured music and performances by Anika Noni Rose, who sang \u201cGo the distance\u201d the theme from \u201cHercules, \u201d a medley\u2026<\/b>
\nMark Hamill wiped a tear from his eye as he watched a tribute to Carrie Fisher\u2019s career roll on a screen at the Walt Disney Co.\u2019s Disney Legends ceremony.
As he got up to accept his award, Hamill, known for playing the iconic Luke Skywalker, said very much like their characters in the \u201cStar Wars\u201d films, the two co-stars were inseparable off screen.
\u201cI would love to give my deepest respect to the super cool space sis I have in Carrie Frances Fisher, \u201d Hamill said as the crowd erupted. \u201cWe were like siblings \u2013 the good and the bad. There was a comfort with her. We can rely on one another. And there was a deep respect.\u201d
Fisher, who played Princess Leia, died in December.
On Friday, July 14, Disney kicked off the D23 Expo at the Anaheim Convention Center by presenting the company\u2019s highest honor, Disney Legends, to 11 individuals, who \u201chave significantly contributed to the company\u2019s legacy.\u201d
The award ceremony, with 5,000 in attendance, is the company\u2019s \u201csincere expression of our deep, deep gratitude, \u201d Disney CEO Bob Iger said.
In the morning, they bestowed a surprise honor to actor and comedian Whoopi Goldberg.
\u201cI\u2019 m part of Disney\u2019s family now, \u201d said Goldberg, who was wearing Minnie Mouse shoes with bows, after cementing her hands on a plaque. The Disney Legend plaques are placed in a plaza in front of Disney\u2019s headquarters in Burbank.
The coronation award highlighted a star-studded event that featured music and performances by Anika Noni Rose, who sang \u201cGo the distance\u201d the theme from \u201cHercules, \u201d a medley from \u201cThe Lion King\u201d cast, and dancers from \u201cDancing with the Stars.\u201d
Oprah Winfrey, who received the award for her work as host of \u201cThe Oprah Winfrey Show, \u201d which ran for 25 seasons, said Disney Media Networks subsidiary ABC \u201clet me be me.\u201d
\u201cSince 1984, when we launched \u2018The Oprah Winfrey Show,\u2019 everyday Disney\/ ABC 7 let me be me, \u201d Winfrey said. \u201cMore than anything, being a legend\u2026 is about the common experience that we all share. And everyday on that show, I was able to tell common stories.\u201d
Just a week after his wife\u2019s death, Stan Lee, made an appearance to accept his award. He choked up when he talked about his late work partner, Jack Kirby, who also received a Legend award. Kirby helped create \u201cFantastic Four, \u201d \u201cX-Men\u201d and the \u201cHulk.\u201d
\u201cSo well deserved, \u201d Lee said before turning toward Iger. \u201cThank you.\u201d
Hamill recited Lou Gehrig\u2019s famous, \u201cToday I consider myself the luckiest man in the world.\u201d
\u201cIt\u2019s true, \u201d he said.
Fisher\u2019s daughter, Billie Lourd, who was not in attendance, penned a touching tribute ready by Iger.
\u201cWe went to Disneyland so much that I now realize she might have even loved it more than I did, \u201d Lourd wrote. \u201cSo to become part of the Disney family is a big moment for her. She secretly wanted to be a Disney princess. Being a Disney princess and a Disney Legend would have been her ultimate dream.\u201d
The other awardees included Wayne Jackson, a Disney Imagineer who helped develop attractions at Disney theme parks around the world; Julie Taymor, a Tony, Emmy and Grammy-winning filmmaker best known for her work adapting \u201cThe Lion King\u201d to the Broadway musical; and posthumous awards went to Clyde Geronimi, one of Walt Disney\u2019s original animators; Manuel Gonzales, also a Disney animator; and Garry Marshall, a producer, writer and actor known for his work on \u201cHappy Days, \u201d \u201cLaverne & Shirley\u201d and \u201cPretty Woman.\u201d<\/p>\n

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