0:05
Please put your hands together for Emily
0:29
>> I really thought I could make the
0:31
teleprompter, but I Okay.
0:40
>> I'm so proud to be able to wax on about
0:49
that we're celebrating today, you know.
0:56
You know, when I first met Dwayne
0:58
Johnson, I had assumed wrongly that he
1:03
would have the energy of a man who was a
1:05
sort of walking suplex.
1:08
But the bravado of The Rock was actually
1:15
The Rock, in fact, is a performance.
1:18
It's it's the performance of a lifetime.
1:21
What I was met with was someone who was
1:23
so disarmingly wise and gentle, curious,
1:29
totally unpretentious.
1:32
And not to say this one's an angel, all
1:37
He's a nonconforming, rulebreaking, mold
1:41
breaking rebel. He's funny as hell. He's
1:49
and he's played some merciless pranks on
1:52
me and forget trying to keep up with him
1:54
on the tequila. Don't do it.
1:58
You will be absolutely legless and it
2:01
won't have put a dent in him.
2:04
But the hangovers aside, I admire him. I
2:09
admire him so much. You know, this is
2:12
someone who came from a great struggle,
2:15
who had a hell of a lot to overcome, but
2:18
I think someone who always felt that
2:20
compass in his chest and he listened to
2:22
it. Well, he was right to follow that
2:26
compass and not to listen to the noise
2:28
of those who told him he wouldn't make
2:30
it in Hollywood. Those people were
2:36
because he has Yeah. [cheering]
2:44
because he has in no uncertain terms
2:46
redefined what it is to be the modern
2:55
he has captivated the world with his
2:58
ludicrous charisma and talent which are
3:01
as powerful as his kindness. I've been
3:04
on the receiving end of his range in our
3:06
two films together, from Jungle Cruise
3:08
to his hearttoppping performance in The
3:15
[cheering and applause]
3:16
But don't get me started on his
3:17
swaggering, fabulous demigod. Maui just
3:27
>> You know, in Polynesian culture, mana is
3:30
a sacred spiritual force, a power and a
3:33
vital energy that guides us. And it
3:36
represents authority, prestige,
3:41
This sounds a lot like the person I
3:43
know. To me, this sounds like the stuff
3:46
of a legend. So, take a look.
3:52
One of the biggest movie stars in the
3:54
world, Dwayne Johnson. Ladies and
3:57
gentlemen, the moment you've all been
4:02
>> Dwayne has such incredible charm.
4:08
>> He's such a humble guy, even though he
4:10
has no need to be modest about anything.
4:12
>> guys have fun. You can pick one guy to
4:15
send the wheel. I'll pick Mr. Johnson.
4:19
You're one of the most well-loved people
4:21
in the world. Under the swagger, it was
4:23
his tenure. Dwayne was just a marvel
4:30
I think [music] of someone who has taken
4:32
what life threw them and made it into
4:34
the sweetest lemonade. That [music]
4:35
would be Dwayne Johnson. He has become
4:37
my most enormous buddy. The love and the
4:42
>> I think Disney is lucky to have Dwayne.
4:44
I believe anyone who loves life more
4:47
than twin Johnson. [music]
4:58
>> I want to say congratulations Toots. I
5:01
think you're a wonder and I love you.
5:04
And to bring this dis this Disney legend
5:07
up here. Am I drunk? Jesus.
5:11
To bring this Disney legend up here.
5:14
Could everyone on three give this guy
5:17
the biggest chi who he's ever heard in
6:09
>> Thank you for that beautiful choo. That
6:11
was incredible. Thank you so much.
6:27
uh growing up a trailer park kid to
6:30
being introduced on stage here today by
6:33
my one of my closest friends Emily Blunt
6:37
as a Disney legend and sharing it with
6:39
all of you. This is a pretty damn cool
6:41
day. So, thank you so much. [cheering]
6:46
Um you know, all week long Disney has
6:49
been uh just hitting up my publicist. We
6:51
need his speech. We need a speech. And
6:54
she kept she kept telling them, "Um, he
6:56
doesn't actually write it down."
6:59
And that's why there's nothing on the
7:00
teleprompter, nor is there anything in
7:02
my pockets that I wrote anything down.
7:05
So, I just figured just for a moment,
7:07
uh, what I do like to do in moments like
7:08
this is be as present as I possibly can
7:11
and just share some thoughts with you
7:12
from my heart. Can I do that? [cheering]
7:22
I want to I want to thank all of you for
7:24
being here and I want to congratulate to
7:26
all the Disney legends. What an honor
7:29
this is to be a Disney over 300 I think
7:31
Disney legends. So what a day. What a
7:33
moment. So thank you.
7:36
I want to thank um I want to thank uh my
7:40
friend and my mentor over the years uh
7:42
Bob Iger. Thank you sir. I appreciate
7:46
Alan Bergman, David Greenbomb, Dana
7:48
Walden, Assad, of course, and and all of
7:51
Disney. Uh, you know,
7:55
and I also want to take a moment to
7:56
thank my team who's here. I also want to
7:58
take a moment to thank my family who's
8:00
here. Danny, Dave, Tati, Simone, my
8:04
oldest daughter Simone. It's her
8:11
>> and right now she's like, "Oh
8:14
don't embarrass me." But
8:16
I won't. But I do want to say there
8:19
there and and you'll see where where I
8:20
tie all this in as I share my thoughts
8:22
with you is there's um there there's a
8:25
few things I think that connect all of
8:27
us Disney legends, but all of us here at
8:30
Disney is this idea that we all do what
8:35
we can to create moments and experiences
8:40
of joy for people and families around
8:44
And that's important and that means
8:47
something. [applause]
8:49
And when I first went to Disney the very
8:52
first time, we lived in Tampa, Florida.
8:54
I was 5 or 6 years old. Yeah. Go Tampa.
8:57
Look at Tampa in the house.
9:01
Um that's my mom. Thank you. That's
9:06
I was five or six. I went to Disney in
9:13
And um and I never forgot that
9:15
experience. And it and and it was
9:17
wonderment and joy. And then of course
9:20
it went back years later uh when I was
9:23
in my 20s. And also when I when we had
9:27
Simone, we took her to Disney when she
9:30
was five. And I'll never forget we had
9:31
the Disney for those of you who've been
9:33
to Disney, which is all of you, you
9:34
know, you have the the the the the
9:37
breakfast with the princesses. Do you
9:39
remember that? [cheering]
9:41
And we were there and I was a new dad. I
9:45
was, you know, she was five and I was
9:47
trying to figure my stuff out at that
9:48
time. How I was going to be a father,
9:50
how I was going to be a husband, a man,
9:52
etc. You know, as us dudes when we're in
9:54
our our 30s, we're trying to figure our
9:57
out, you know, and we're still
10:00
figuring it out. Uh,
10:02
but I remember one of the princesses
10:05
said, "Now, close your eyes and make a
10:08
And I'll never forget she closed her
10:10
eyes and she made a wish. I might get
10:12
emotional, but she made a wish. And I
10:13
just remember that moment looking at my
10:15
daughter's face like I've never seen
10:17
that before. Like she was just so into
10:19
making a wish. And I was telling Danny,
10:22
I said, "God, I I wonder what was going
10:24
through her little mind at that time."
10:26
And it's just experiences like that that
10:28
we create that I know she'll never
10:30
forget, that I'll never forget. But
10:32
that's the beauty of Disney. And that's
10:36
the beauty also of being a Disney legend
10:40
and how lucky we are like Anne Hathaway
10:42
said. And by the way, Annie was just
10:44
talking about how lucky she is. We are
10:46
all lucky to get to do what we do. But
10:48
man, in for everybody listening,
10:50
especially our young folks out there,
10:52
you get lucky when you work hard. And
10:54
Annie works hard by the way.
11:04
And so I never forgot that and I
11:06
remember that I was like that's what
11:07
life is all about creating experiences
11:10
for people. And since it's her birthday
11:13
weekend, uh you guys want to have some
11:18
>> Well, her name is Simone.
11:44
Thank you. [applause]
11:50
Thank you for that cuz what you just
11:52
did, you did the thing that was created
11:54
in her years ago. uh 20 years ago when
11:57
she was five and create just gave an
11:59
experience she will never forget.
12:03
[applause] I love you.
12:06
My little daughters who are at home, two
12:08
of her sisters, Jazzy and Tia, they're
12:09
back in Boston. They're watching right
12:11
now. I know they will. Yes. And they and
12:14
and they asked me, "Hey, you know,
12:16
Daddy, what does it mean to be a Disney
12:17
legend?" Like Annie's kids ask, "What
12:19
does it mean to be a Disney legend?" I
12:20
said, "Well, it means um we're going to
12:22
get free tickets for the for the rest of
12:27
Thank you, Bob. [laughter]
12:31
I said, but you know what it means? I
12:33
said, it means the thing that uh we talk
12:35
about all the time and what we talk
12:37
about. If you ask Jazzy and Tia, her
12:40
sisters, Simone's sisters, hey, what's
12:42
the best part of fame? They'll say
12:46
making people feel good.
12:53
that's the thing you realize like that
12:56
the world will spin and it'll hit us,
12:58
it'll punch us, it'll kick us, it'll hug
13:00
us. But what what we do in this room,
13:05
outside of this room, whether you're a
13:06
Disney legend or not, I'm a big advocate
13:09
for despite the noise in the world and
13:12
despite how algorithms kind of uh
13:18
sometimes noise and negativity and
13:20
things like that. We can always control
13:22
how we respond and how Disney responds,
13:25
Disney legends, whe whether you're a
13:26
Disney legend or not, we respond. We
13:29
treat with making people feel good and
13:31
treating them with kindness. [applause]
13:37
And I'm going to wrap this up, but may I
13:47
[cheering] All right.
13:53
I'm going to hold. I love you, too.
13:54
Thank you for saying that.
13:57
>> I love you. Oh, [cheering]
14:00
thank you. That's enough, Grandma.
14:02
Listen, um, this is heavy. Thank you.
14:06
Uh, I I do want to say this that um, you
14:09
know, when it comes to our
14:11
responsibility, I think of what it means
14:13
to be a Disney legend, which is amazing,
14:15
but also I think what our responsibility
14:18
is to be a human being, which is
14:21
treat do our best. It's not easy, but do
14:27
to make people feel good and treat them
14:29
with kindness because
14:32
you never know what they're going
14:33
through. And by the way, everybody's
14:35
going through something.
14:38
So, with that in mind, um,
14:42
trends will come and go and algorithms
14:45
will do what they do. But being kind and
14:48
being good to people, and I heard this
14:50
quote when I was 15, and I'll never
14:52
forget it, is it's nice to be important,
14:56
but it's more important to be nice. I
15:01
[cheering and applause]
15:03
with that, I love you. Thank you.
15:15
[music and applause]
