Disney has spent the summer staking out release dates in the distant future, though details are scare on what they’re planning.  Today, we know more than we did yesterday.  Steve is at D23 right now, and saw a sheet with the men in charge of four upcoming Pixar movies.  Up co-director Bob Peterson and The Incredibles producer John Walker are listed for 2013 projects.  Up director Pete Docter and Up producer Jonas Rivera get their shot in 2014.

Still not much to go on, but the pieces are coming together. Monsters University is scheduled for June 23, 2013, directed by Dan Scanlon.  Pixar has a claim on November 27, 2013 as well, which will presumably either go to Peterson or Walker.  Is it possible Pixar will release three movies in 2013?  Either Docter or Rivera will premiere his movie on May 30, 2014—a Thanksgiving 2014 release for the other project seems likely.  We will update when the news is official (and clearer).  Hopefully, we can also update with names of the untitled Marvel films, if Disney is feeling generous.

Disney is probably done with Comic-Con for good.  The studio now has its own convention, the D23 Expo, and they’re using it to promote their upcoming films.  This year, D23 will have presentations for The Avengers, The Muppets, John Carter, The Odd Life of Timothy Green, Brave, Wreck-It Ralph, Frankenweenie, Oz the Great and Powerful, and more.  The presentations will include appearances from Jason Segel, Taylor Kitsch, Kelly Macdonald, Jennifer Garner, Jack McBrayer, unnamed cast members from The Avengers, “and other surprise guests.”

Hit the jump for the full press release, which also announces presentations from the Pixar Creative team, a behind-the-scenes look at Monsters University, an advanced screening of The Lion King 3D and more.  The D23 Expo runs from August 19 – 21st at the Anaheim Convention Center.  Collider will be on hand to cover the event.

Disney will forego panels and presentations at this year’s San Diego Comic-Con now that the company has established its own convention with the D23 Expo.  This year’s D23 runs from August 19 – 21st and will include presentations, screenings, celebrity panels, autograph signings, and other fan-friendly activities.  The major ramification for Comic-Con isn’t the loss of films from Walt Disney Studios and Pixar (although that certainly stings), but from the loss of Marvel Studios.  While Marvel will certainly have a presence at Comic-Con, its panels will be reserved for D23.

The schedule for D23 has been released and on Saturday, August 20th from 11am to 12:30 pm, the presentation for Walt Disney Studios will be hosted by Disney chairman Rich Ross, President of Production Sean Bailey, Chief Creative Officer of Disney and Pixar John Lasseter, and Marvel Studios President of Production Kevin Feige.  Hit the jump for the full schedule.

Schedule D23 Expo’s official website.

At the end of “Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End,” Captain Jack Sparrow made it pretty clear where he was headed next: in search of the fabled Fountain of Youth. Well, at Disney’s recent D23 convention, they announced the fourth installment would be titled “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides”–incidentally enough, the subtitle is the name of a Tim Powers novel also about the Fountain of Youth. So, as one might expect, Disney and Depp fans alike bombarded Powers with fan mail inquiring about his work. The only problem is nobody at Disney took the time to tell Powers about the new name. So is this a case of one IP being morphed into another, or does Powers have grounds to sue for infringement? Find out after the jump.

Fans wary of Disney’s purchase of Marvel Entertainment can sleep a little easier tonight as we’ve got some comments made by CEO Robert Iger at the D23 Expo in California. Among other things, Iger touched on his excitement surrounding the monumental acquisition, as well the company’s approach to properties currently owned by other studios. Find out more after the jump.

With John Lasseter in London promoting upcoming Disney projects and D23 about to happen in California, I knew a lot of Disney news was about to break. So it really shouldn’t surprise me to see all these Disney stories this morning.

Anyway, the latest is Zachary Levi (“Chuck”) and Mandy Moore will be providing the lead voices for Walt Disney’s digital 3D-animated musical action-adventure “Rapunzel”. The film is based on the Brothers Grimm fairy tale and it’s due for release in late 2010 with music from Oscar winner Alan Menken (“Beauty and the Beast”, “Aladdin”). For more on the project, click the jump:

Disney has now announced what we will be seeing at the D23 expo this year. The event will take place from September 10-13 in Anaheim, California and it has a pretty fun and exciting line up. Over the 4 days Disney will be showing exclusive sneak peeks of “A Christmas Carol”, Tim Burton’s “Alice in Wonderland”, “Prince of Persia”, “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice”, “Tron: Legacy”, and “Toy Story 3″. Selected scenes from “Beauty and the Beast” in 3D and the 3D double feature of “Toy Story 1 & 2″ will be shown along with some newly restored prints of classic Disney films such as “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” and “Sleeping Beauty”. To find out what else will take place at D23 and how you can attend. check out the full press release after the jump.

If you’re a fan of movie props, costumes, and Disney, this year’s Comic-Con should be cool. That’s because D23 (the official community for Disney fans) is bringing a display of costumes and props from “The Rocketeer”, “The Black Hole”, “Sky High”, “Tron” and “Condorman”. They’re calling it the “Heroic and Robotic” exhibition and it’s been created exclusively for this year’s convention.

After the jump I have an image of the full “Rocketeer” costume that will be on display and some more info on the exhibit. If you’re a fan of any of these movies, it should be very cool to see all these costumes up close. And I cannot believe they’re bringing “Condorman”. That’s a blast from the past.