AS the home of the Oscar ceremony, the Kodak Theatre on Hollywood Boulevard is used to stars. They were out again in force at the end of last month as 2,000 people gathered for a showcase of Walt Disney’s forthcoming films.

This was Disney’s largest — and most important — presentation for three years, and the company pulled out all the stops. In the lobby, exhibitors, advertisers and journalists picked at breakfast burritos, green for veggies and plain for sausage, prepared by celebrity chef Wolfgang Puck.

There seemed to be a health kick going on — the veggie burritos were most popular, the sticky buns untouched and water was more popular than coffee. The pre-show talk was of Disney’s health.

The Magic Kingdom officially gets a new boss tomorrow, its first in 21 years. Bob Iger, the new chief executive, takes over from Hollywood legend Michael Eisner, a man who in the first decade of his reign turned Disney from a sleepy also-ran into a media giant.

But, sometime in the 1990s, Eisner lost his magic touch. His accomplishments have been clouded by an angry shareholder rebellion triggered by years of disappointment.

The studio division, too, has been in trouble. After recent disappointments such as Terry Gilliam’s $100m (£57m) The Brothers Grimm, Disney announced it would lose up to $300m in its fourth quarter.

As the crowd took their seats, one man grumbled about the length of the presentation. He said: “Disney has been a real disappointment in recent years. This had better be good.”

And it was. The showcase started with the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra playing live as Johnny Depp appeared on screens piloting his sinking pirate ship to port in Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean. As the video and the orchestra then swept through Disney’s history, themes emerged — from pirates (Depp gave way to Captain Hook and Peter Pan) to 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.

Women performed miraculous makeovers — Mary Poppins, Little Mermaid, Pretty Woman, Mulan. It was the sort of stirring presentation that made bad films look good.

Displaying an easy charm to rival any Oscar night host, Dick Cook, head of Disney’s studios, introduced the crowd to Jodie Foster, promoting Flightplan, last weekend’s box-office hit.

Then a husky was brought on to promote Eight Below Zero, a heart-warming film based on the true story of some very cold dogs trapped in Antarctica.

Sir Elton John made a surprise guest appearance, thumping out Crocodile Rock, to a delighted audience. His score for The Lion King gave Disney one of its biggest hits and led to a smash Broadway show. Now he’s working on a new cartoon, Gnomeo and Juliet, and took a day off from sell-out concerts in New York to promote it.

Mel Gibson, in Old Testament beard, promoted his new film, Apocalypto, which will be performed in the ancient Mayan language. But the real meat of the day was a full-length screening of Chicken Little.

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