{"id":641286,"date":"2026-08-17T06:07:16","date_gmt":"2026-08-17T06:07:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/641286\/"},"modified":"2026-08-17T06:07:16","modified_gmt":"2026-08-17T06:07:16","slug":"dwayne-johnson-receives-disney-legends-award-at-d23-from-emily-blunt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/641286\/","title":{"rendered":"Dwayne Johnson Receives Disney Legends Award at D23 From Emily Blunt"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tDwayne Johnson has been officially crowned a legend \u2014 a\u00a0Disney Legend<\/a>\u00a0that is. <\/p>\n

\n\tOn Sunday at\u00a0D23<\/a>, Johnson was honored with the hall-of-fame-style award from the Walt Disney Company. From \u201cJungle Cruise\u201d to the \u201cMoana\u201d franchise and \u201cRace to Witch Mountain,\u201d Johnson is no stranger to the world of Disney. But as he took the stage to receive the honor, Johnson emphasized that his most important role is that of father. <\/p>\n

\n\tDuring his off-the-cuff speech, Johnson recalled the first time he took his eldest daughter Simone to Disneyland. She was five years old, and they had breakfast with the princesses.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI was in my 20s \u2026 I was trying to figure that stuff out at that time: how I was going to be a father, how I was going to be a husband, man, etc,\u201d he recalled. \u201cBut I remember one of the princesses said, \u2018Close your eyes and make a wish.\u2019 And I\u2019ll never forget, [Simone] closed her eyes and she made a wish.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tJohnson continued, getting a little emotional at the memory: \u201cI just remember that moment on my daughter\u2019s face. I had never seen that before. She was just so into making a wish. \u2026 I said, \u2018God, I wonder what was going through the little mind.\u2019 And it\u2019s just experiences like that that we create that I know she\u2019ll never forget. I\u2019ll never forget. That\u2019s the beauty of Disney. That\u2019s the beauty also of being a Disney Legend.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tAs it turns out, the Disney Legends ceremony took place just after Simone\u2019s 25th birthday, so he led the full arena in a \u201cHappy Birthday\u201d tribute to her. <\/p>\n

\n\tDuring his emotional remarks, Johnson also shouted out his younger daughters, Jasmine and Tiana, who were watching at home. \u201cThey asked me, \u2018What does it mean to be a Disney Legend?’\u201d he recalled. \u201cI said, \u2018Well, it means we get free tickets.’\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tJohnson was presented with his Disney Legends award by his \u201cJungle Cruise\u201d and \u201cThe Smashing Machine\u201d co-star Emily Blunt, who made a surprise appearance at the award to wax poetic about her friend.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWhen I first met Dwayne Johnson, I had assumed wrongly that he would have the energy of a man who was a sort of walking suplex,\u201d Blunt said. \u201cBut the bravado of \u2018The Rock\u2019 was actually nowhere to be seen.\u201d Johnson\u2019s persona as \u201cThe Rock\u201d is just a performance, she explained. \u201cIt\u2019s the performance of a lifetime<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWhat I was met with was someone who was so disarmingly wise, gentle, curious, totally unpretentious,\u201d Blunt continued. \u201cAnd not to say this one\u2019s an angel, all right, because he\u2019s not. He\u2019s a non-conforming, rule-breaking, mold-breaking rebel.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

Emily Blunt calls Dwayne Johnson \u201cdisarmingly wise, gentle, curious and totally unpretentious\u201d while honoring him as a Disney Legend at #D23<\/a>: <\/p>\n

\u201cAnd that\u2019s not to say this one\u2019s an angel, all right, because he\u2019s not. He\u2019s a non-conforming, rule-breaking, mold-breaking rebel.\u201d pic.twitter.com\/fBwRhIyFq6<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Variety (@Variety) August 16, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\n\tThis summer, Johnson brought \u201cMoana\u201d back to the big screen for a live-action voyage and reprised his role as the demi-god Maui. In the lead-up to the movie\u2019s debut, Johnson spoke about bringing Pacific Islander culture to the masses, and why the \u201cMoana\u201d cinematic universe matters for representation and visibility. Johnson, who also produced the movie, said he didn\u2019t see himself represented in media when he was growing up: \u201c\u2018Indiana Jones\u2019 inspired me. When I was 8 years old watching Harrison Ford, I was like, \u2018I want to be that guy,\u2019 but that guy didn\u2019t look like me.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tAs mentioned, the \u201cMoana\u201d movies are just part of Johnson\u2019s legacy with the company. In 2024, Seven Bucks Productions<\/a>, the film and TV content label founded by\u00a0Johnson<\/a>\u00a0and Dany Garcia, signed a first-look deal with The Walt Disney Company to develop films for theatrical and streaming. Last year, 20th Television closed a first-look TV deal with\u00a0the company.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe Disney Legends Awards program is a 39-year tradition of The Walt Disney Company, which began when Fred MacMurray (\u201cThe Shaggy Dog,\u201d \u201cThe Absent-Minded Professor,\u201d \u201cThe Happiest Millionaire\u201d) was honored in 1987. Including this year\u2019s honorees, a total of 329 Disney Legends have been named.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe 2026 Disney Legends honorees include former Disney chairman and CEO Bob Iger, <\/a>Anne Hathaway,<\/a> Susan Egan and Alan Tudyk, for bringing \u201cunforgettable characters to life on-screen and on-stage.\u201d The Jonas brothers are being honored for \u201cshaping a generation of Disney music,\u201d Lin\u2011Manuel Miranda for \u201cgroundbreaking songwriting for modern Disney favorites\u201d and Eric Goldberg for his \u201cartistry and animation.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tPast Disney Legends include Tim Allen, Dame Julie Andrews, Angela Bassett, Tony Baxter, Kristen Bell, James Cameron, Jamie Lee Curtis, Miley Cyrus, Marc Davis, Robert Downey Jr., Harrison Ford, Annette Funicello, Josh Gad, Whoopi Goldberg, Jonathan Groff, Steve Jobs, Sir Elton John, Dame Angela Lansbury, Stan Lee, George Lucas, Steve Martin, Burny Mattinson, Alan Menken, Idina Menzel, Hayley Mills, Fess Parker, Ellen Pompeo, Robin Roberts, the Sherman Brothers, Marty Sklar, Dick Van Dyke, Barbara Walters, Betty White, John Williams, Robin Williams and Oprah Winfrey.<\/p>\n