The Walt Disney Company and Make-A-Wish® Invite Fans to “Share Your Ears” to Help Grant Wishes in Celebration of 90 Years of Mickey Mouse

BURBANK, Calif., November 5, 2018 /3BL Media/ – The Walt Disney Company today launched its 2018 Share Your Ears campaign, benefiting Make-A-Wish. The campaign kicked off during Mickey’s 90th Spectacular on ABC tonight with a segment from Robin Roberts, award-winning broadcaster and co-anchor of ABC’s Good Morning America, on the significance of wish granting. The elegant affair featured star-studded musical performances and moving tributes in celebration of 90 years of Mickey Mouse.

For the third year in a row, Disney is supporting Make-A-Wish by inviting fans to share their ears on social media to grant more wishes. From now through November 17, 2018, Disney will donate US $5, up to a total of US $2 million, to Make-A-Wish for every public photo posted showing off “Mickey Mouse ears”—or any creative “ears”—on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter using the hashtag #ShareYourEars.

“Make-A-Wish does such vital work and I am excited to be part of an initiative that will help make wishes come true for even more children,” said Roberts.

Guests who visit Disney stores throughout the campaign can decorate a pair of paper Mickey Mouse ears, snap a picture in the #ShareYourEars photo frame and post their pictures to social media with #ShareYourEars to celebrate Mickey’s 90th and make a difference (Disney stores in U.S. and Canada only; outlet locations excluded).  

In addition, beginning tomorrow, guests at various Disney Parks around the world can #ShareYourEars with special photo opportunities, including uniquely themed photo walls at select locations created exclusively for the campaign by Walt Disney Imagineering. Disney Cruise Line guests can #ShareYourEars with a special onboard photo opportunity using iconic ship elements as a backdrop to provide the famous “ears.”

“It is a tremendous honor to support children whose wish is to come to Disney. Wish granting exemplifies the magic our 160,000 cast members and Imagineers create for guests all over the world every day,” said Bob Chapek, Chairman, Disney Parks, Experiences and Consumer Products. “With this third Share Your Ears campaign, we’ll get to make a difference in the lives of even more children and families.”

Disney has helped grant more than 130,000 wishes during its 40-year partnership with Make-A-Wish, including one out of every two wishes in the United States. Chapek also recently joined the Make-A-Wish America board of directors.

During the campaign, ABC, Disney Channel and Freeform will feature messages from popular actors and performers across multiple platforms encouraging viewers to #ShareYourEars. Social media handles and celebrities from across the company will also post #ShareYourEars photos and videos. Disney Theatrical Productions will celebrate with audiences on Broadway, providing campaign information in Playbills for The Lion King, Aladdin and Frozen.

ESPN will run #ShareYourEars digital ads across its media platforms, along with on-air and ESPN Radio promotions. In addition, ESPN personalities will support the program on social media.

Disney and Make-A-Wish have a long-standing history together. Since 1980, when Disney was part of the first official wish, the company has helped Make-A-Wish fulfill experiences that not only brighten lives for a special moment, but also help wish kids and their families replace fear with confidence, sadness with joy and anxiety with hope. Currently, more than 10,000 Disney wishes are granted every year, and the number continues to grow.

“We are thrilled to once again join forces with The Walt Disney Company for the Share Your Ears campaign to provide people with a fun, family-friendly way to make a lasting, impactful difference in the lives of children with critical illnesses,” said Holly Thomas, vice president of corporate alliances for Make-A-Wish America.

Jon Stettner, president and CEO of Make-A-Wish International added, “We are so grateful to Disney, and its guests and fans worldwide, for their ongoing support. Disney’s continued generosity strengthens our global organization and allows us to grant life-changing wishes in more than 50 countries. We are delighted to be a part of the third year of this incredible campaign.”

Share Your Ears is part of the Disney Team of Heroes philanthropic initiative and outreach program to deliver comfort and inspiration to families around the world. In March 2018, The Walt Disney Company made a five-year, US $100 million commitment to reinvent the patient and family experience in children’s hospitals and is working with children’s wish-granting organizations around the world to fulfill wishes for children facing critical illnesses.

Visit www.ShareYourEars.org for more information.

About The Walt Disney Company
The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS), together with its subsidiaries, is a diversified worldwide entertainment company with operations in four business segments: Media Networks; Studio Entertainment; Parks, Experiences and Consumer Products; and Direct-to-Consumer and International. Disney is a Dow 30 company and had annual revenues of $55.1 billion in its Fiscal Year 2017.

About Make-A-Wish®
Make-A-Wish^® creates life-changing wishes for children with critical illnesses. We seek to bring every eligible child's wish to life because a wish is an integral part of a child's treatment journey. Research shows children who have wishes granted can build the physical and emotional strength they need to fight their illness. Headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona, Make-A-Wish is the world’s leading children’s wish-granting organization, serving children in more than 50 countries worldwide. Together, generous donors, supporters, staff and more than 40,000 volunteers grant a wish every 17 minutes, on average, somewhere in the world. Since 1980, Make-A-Wish has granted nearly 450,000 wishes to children; more than 30,000 last year alone. For more information about Make-A-Wish America, visit wish.org and for more information about Make-A-Wish International, visit worldwish.org.

Contacts:
Jacob DiPietre
The Walt Disney Company
Jacob.DiPietre@disney.com
(818) 560-7353

David Jefferson
The Walt Disney Company
David.J.Jefferson@disney.com
(818) 560-4832

Jamie Sandys
Make-A-Wish^® America
jsandys@wish.org
(602) 385-6884