It’s been a little over a week since I went to New York Comic Con 2023. This was my fourth in-person NYCC — and one of the most star-studded and entertaining visits yet.

My excitement was high heading into opening day at NYC’s Javits Center. First stop: Disney’s family fun activity showcase they called their “EnterTOONment HQ”. This place was THE destination for parents and kids at NYCC, from a giant “Kiff” display, to coloring sheets, to a “SuperKitties” activity board and face painting station and a “Spidey and His Amazing Friends” photo activation.

Disney displays at the NYCC

I watched some Star Wars: Young Jedi Adventures masters train Younglings on the powers of The Force. Kids could check out clips of their favorite shows in rotation on a TV monitor and pick up a swag bag with cool Disney programming merchandise. My personal favorite moment: getting to hold a wand and do the classic Disney Channel intro by trying to draw the shape of Mickey’s head! I grew-up in the age of “Lizzie McGuire”, with Hilary Duff and other Disney Channel stars performing this iconic TV moment. Awesome.

Next stop: Nickelodeon. I was welcomed to the “Good Burger”… Home of the Good Burger. Nick and Paramount+ are teaming-up to debut Good Burger 2, the sequel to 1997 comedy starring Kenan Thompson and Kel Mitchell, on November 22nd. Played a special virtual burger game inside the one of a kind restaurant display. The colorful burgers on the screen reminded me of the Pretty Patties from the classic “SpongeBob” episode “Patty Hype”. On the animation side, Nick was promoting the PAR+ release of recent theatrical feature hit “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem”.

Right next door to the Nick section, PAR+ had a special “South Park” showcase of memorabilia brought to life.

Nearby on the convention floor was the FOX Animation Domination space, with free posters of new series “Krapopolis” and upcoming “Grimsburg” being handed out. There was also a giant “Grimsburg” display of the Jon Hamm-led detective comedy. I spoke with showrunner Chadd Gindin the day before on Zoom. Later in the weekend, Gindin announced the January 7th debut date and other main cast members to the NYCC audience.

While walking around the extensive convention floor I saw “One Piece” and “DragonBall” displays… and Sean Astin signing autographs and posing for pictures with fans. Astin is probably best known for “Rudy”, “The Goonies” and “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy, but he’s also done quite a lot of voice work, from the title role on Disney’s “Special Agent Oso” to Raphael on Nick’s 2012-2017 “Turtles” series and Shazam in some recent DC animated films.

Later in the day I met and had a brief conversation with Academy Award winning actress Susan Sarandon. Some of her voice acting credits over the years include “James and the Giant Peach”, “Rugrats in Paris: The Movie”, “Cats & Dogs”, “Rick and Morty” and Disney’s breakthrough live-action/animation combo “Enchanted”. She was quite friendly.

Towards the end of my time at NYCC 2023 I interviewed Emma Tammi, the director of Universal’s “Five Nights at Freddy’s”, and the makers of new Max animated series “Scavengers Reign”. To wrap things up I attended a panel presentation with horror movie producer Jason Blum. Everyone in the crowd got a special “FNAF” pizza box — the cherry, or rather, pepperoni, on top of a fun day.

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Jackson Murphy

Jackson Murphy is a movie critic and entertainment columnist. He is the creator of the website Lights-Camera-Jackson.com, and has made numerous appearances on television and radio.

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