The daylong presentation at the Kodak Theatre, home of the Oscars, delivered repeated surprises as actors emerged onstage to tout animated 3-D movies, live-action thrillers and comedies _ with animal co-stars ranging from guinea pigs and chihuahuas to humpback whales.

Jim Carrey, starring in his first Disney film, a 3-D motion capture remake of Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol," summed up the chaos of his performance, in which he plays seven characters including Ebenezer Scrooge.

"It's pretty much just a party and everyone's invited," he said.

Commenting on Disney's lengthy rollout, which included a full screening of the animated dog-hero movie "Bolt," Carrey told out-of-town guests, "You can go back home and say these saddle sores came from Hollywood."

Disney made a similar presentation of its animated films to investors in April in New York, but held its last live-action movie showcase three years ago.

The 17 films presented then grossed over $5 billion at the box office, said Dick Cook, the chairman of Disney studios. He called the upcoming film slate the "most creative" in Disney history.

Among other casting announcements, Disney said Oprah Winfrey will be the voice of the character of Eudora in the hand-drawn animated movie set in New Orleans, "The Princess and the Frog."

The film features an African American heroine, Tiana, played by Anika Noni Rose. Winfrey plays Tiana's mother in the movie set for release on Christmas in 2009.

Depp, who received top billing for the role of Jack Sparrow in the "Pirates of the Caribbean" franchise, will also play the Mad Hatter in a Tim Burton remake of "Alice in Wonderland."

"Believe me, any time this guy wears a funny hat, it's good news for Disney," Cook said.

A brief snippet from "Tron 2" featured a louder, crisper and more thrilling bike race and a cameo of an older Jeff Bridges, who starred in the original version.

Miley Cyrus, star of an eponymous movie and television show, performed a live song from "Hannah Montana: The Movie"; Robin Williams and John Travolta, stars of the upcoming "Old Dogs," yucked it up on stage; George Lopez appeared to promote "Beverly Hills Chihuahua"; and Dwayne Johnson was on hand to tout "Race to Witch Mountain."

The University of Southern California marching band even made an appearance.

The Pixar and Disney animation studios' chief creative officer, John Lasseter, also broke the news that "Cars 2," the sequel to the blockbuster he directed for Pixar Animation Studios, would be released in the summer of 2011, a year earlier than once planned.

Along with a wide-ranging slate of films starring Sandra Bullock ("The Proposal"), Tim Allen ("Wild Hogs 2"), and Zac Efron ("High School Musical 3: Senior Year"), Cook boasted Disney would release five 3-D movies next year, more than any other studio.

Cook fired a barb at former Disney studios chairman Jeffrey Katzenberg, now chief executive of DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc., ribbing: "I read that even Jeffrey Katzenberg may release his first 3-D movie next year," in reference to "Monsters vs. Aliens."

The company also previewed films from its labels Touchstone and Miramax, the latter of which produced the 2007 Oscar winners "No Country for Old Men," and "There Will Be Blood."

The follow-up to John Lasseter's 2006 film "Cars" originally was scheduled for release in summer 2012. But at a Disney presentation Wednesday, Lasseter, Pixar's chief creative officer, said that the film has been moved up to a 2011 release.

Brad Lewis, who served as a producer on "Antz" and "Ratatouille," is directing the film, which Lasseter said takes its inspiration from cars from around the world that he saw while doing publicity tours on behalf of "Cars."

Giving the keynote address to EuroSummit ’08, Pyne explained how US cablenets such as Cox and Cablevision had invested in fibre and “the bundle”, expanding into telecoms and later wireless. “Cablevision have used Disney SVOD and both of us make money on that package every month. Every once in a while we give them a premiere, but they have a piece of every other element of Disney, be it Disney Mobile or Disney.com, as it goes over their networks.”

The relationship with cable is a far cry from when Pyne announced the launch of the online catch-up service ABC.com during the NCTA cable show in Atlanta in 2006. “That entire day I was a marked man, every cable op thought we were betraying them. What we said was whether it’s on ABC.com or Disney.com we will more than build the audience and over the past two years we’ve proved that.”

The Disney College Program is an education and work experience program at the Walt Disney World Resort. It is open to students who are full-time students at a college or university in the United States and have completed at least one semester.

Alyssa Brussee, a recent Auburn graduate, interned on Main Street East in the Magic Kingdom in merchandising.

“It was really the best time of my life,” Brussee said. “I now consider my Disney friends to be just as close, if not closer to me than my Auburn friends.”

According to the Disney College Program Web site, interns have the opportunity to build skills including relationship building, problem solving and written and verbal communication.

Brussee got involved with the program through an informational meeting on campus. The Disney College Program visited Auburn last week. If interested students missed the presentation, they can still view it online through the E-Presentation.

Once the presentation is watched, applicants can fill out an application and interview.

“I was a communications major and needed an internship, so I went on the Web site and filled out some paperwork,” Brussee said. “I got an interview right after the Disney presentation.”

Sarah Bradford, a freshman in radio television and film, said she has seen fliers and advertisements for the Disney College Program presentation, but still wasn’t sure what it was.

“I think anything where you can intern, even if it doesn’t really have to do with your major, is a good opportunity to try and get something done so you can have the experience,” Bradford said.

Responsibilities range anywhere from training new College Program students, to working cash registers in a store at one of the parks.

Brussee said she gave directions to guests, was responsible for store merchandise and provided “Magical Moments” to children and guests.

Magical Moments are special treatments, like fast passes or staying at the castle, that are given out to randomly picked guests.

Bradford said the program sounds a fun experience, and she would be interested in doing something like that later on in her college career.

“I don’t have to intern for my major, but I am definitely going to try to intern later on for the experience,” Bradford said.

According to the Web site, one of the perks of the program is cast members get to “make new friendships that cover the globe.”

“We were given roommates in our apartments, ones that Disney owns, from all over,” Brussee said. “Mine were from North Carolina, New York City, Hong Kong and Japan.”

Brussee said she even went to one roommate’s wedding in February. She said she believes the people are amazing, including cast members and guests.