Disney’s secret project revealed as ‘One Day at Disney’ book and documentary

The highly anticipated Disney secret project that fans were looking forward to among rampant speculation ranging from new theme parks to the purchase of another company was finally unveiled on the eve of the D23 Expo 2019, Disney’s largest fan gathering.

The announcement is One Day at Disney, a coffee table book and documentary series highlighting the work of Disney employees. The new, 224-page coffee table book will be available on Dec. 3, 2019. On the same day Disney+ will debut it’s new, 52-episode short-form series One Day at Disney launching with a feature-length documentary, Ricky Strauss, president, Content & Marketing for Disney+ and Good Morning America’s Robin Roberts announced.

On Feb. 21, 2019, 76 photo shoots took place around the world, as Disney dispatched photographers to capture images of the employees and cast members who drive creativity and innovation at The Walt Disney Company.

From Shanghai Disneyland and ESPN to Pixar and the set of “Modern Family,” the photographs—and the stories behind them—will be featured in the hardbound, collectible book, written by Bruce Steele.

The Disney+ new series takes an in-depth look at the roles the employees do on daily basis. The series and documentary are from Endeavor Content’s Non-Scripted Division and executive produced by Michael Antinoro and David Chamberlin and produced by Victoria Chamlee.

Following the debut of the special, which features Good Morning America’s Robin Roberts and legendary animator Eric Goldberg, more than 50 One Day at Disney shorts, ranging in length between 4 to 7 minutes long and each profiling a single remarkable person and their fascinating job, will debut each week.

Among those being profiled are:

• Eric Baker: The Walt Disney Imagineer who has overseen the creation of many of the intricately detailed props and lifelike creatures that inhabit Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, the newest lands at Disneyland and Walt Disney World Resorts
• Ashley Girdich: A Walt Disney Imagineer who, as a Research and Development Project Manager, drives plans and helps teams execute some of the innovative robotics technology projects being created for our Parks around the world
• Eric Goldberg: The legendary animator known for creating the Genie in “Aladdin” and Phil in “Hercules,” directing “Pocahontas,” as well as for animating Mickey Mouse in the Academy Award-nominated short “Get a Horse!”
• Mark Gonzales: A Los Angeles native who works on the world-famous Disneyland Railroad
• Grace Lee: A senior illustration manager at Disney Worldwide Publishing who has worked on titles from “Zootopia” to “Fancy Nancy”
• Zamavus “Zama” Magudulela: The talented South African actor currently playing Rafiki in the Madrid production of phenomenally successful musical “The Lion King”
• Ryan Meinerding: Marvel Studio’s head of visual development who has worked on films including “Avengers: Endgame” and “Guardians of the Galaxy”
• Dr. Natalie Mylniczenko: The veterinarian who cares for creatures large and small at Walt Disney World Resort, including a number of endangered and threatened species.
• Jerome Ranft: The skilled Pixar artist who created detailed sculptures for animators to use as reference for such films as “Finding Nemo,” “Toy Story 3,” and “Ratatouille”
• Robin Roberts: The former ESPN sportscaster has been co-anchor of the Emmy Award-winning, top-rated morning show, Good Morning America, since 2005