D23 was introduced on March 10, 2009 by Robert Iger during the company's annual meeting in Oakland, California. The name D23 refers to Disney and 1923, the year the company was founded. The goal of D23 is to communicate with Disney fans by "placing them in the middle of the magic."[1]
The major components of D23 include a Web site, Disney twenty-three (a quarterly publication), yearly member gifts, member events, member exclusive merchandise, and the D23 Expo, a Disney fan convention dubbed "The Ultimate Disney Fan Event".[2]
At launch, D23 featured one level of Charter Membership for $74.99. For 2010, D23 introduced two levels of membership featuring different prices. Charter Memberships became Gold Memberships, and a $34.99 Silver Membership was introduced which included all the benefits of Gold with the exception of the quarterly publications "Disney twenty-three."
The D23 Web site features comic strips, breaking Disney news stories, event information, "This Day in Disney", and a "Walt Disney Archives" section, where visitors can view some rare pieces of Disneyana.
Starting August 2, 2010, D23's website added a new page called "D23's Disney Geek", a weekly video newsmagazine hosted by Jeffrey Epstein of D23 about the latest news from the Disney universe. That day also saw the site's slightly new overhaul, with a new slogan—The Official Disney Fan Club—and mascots Chip 'n' Dale. On November 9, 2010 a new weekly sister web-series titled "Armchair Archivists" premiered. Hosted by Steve Czarnecki & Josh Turchetta, 2 Disney employees (and D23 members) who showcase assorted treasures such as props, costumes and lost film clips from the Walt Disney Archives to the viewers.
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