The Walt Disney Company is helping to make wishes come true for children all over the world by donating proceeds from the highly anticipated World Premiere of Walt Disney Pictures/Jerry Bruckheimer Films’ Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End, to the Make-A-Wish Foundation of America and Make-A-Wish® International, it was announced today by Dick Cook, Chairman, The Walt Disney Studios. The event will take place on May 19th at Disneyland® Park in Anaheim, California, with all of the film’s stars expected to participate. This gala celebration for the third installment of the enormously popular “Pirates” saga will raise $3 million for Make-A-Wish efforts, with Disney providing an initial donation in excess of $1 million to the charities, in addition to underwriting the entire cost of the Premiere (so that 100 percent of the ticket income will benefit both Make-A-Wish organizations).
This is the first time that the public has been invited to participate in a “Pirates” Premiere. Individual tickets are priced at $1,500, and are now available for sale at PiratesPremiere.com. The Make-A-Wish Foundation of America and Make-A-Wish International are dedicated to granting the wishes of children with life-threatening medical conditions in order to enrich the human experience with hope, strength and joy.
Commenting on the announcement, Cook said, “Disney is dedicated to making dreams come true and we’re extremely proud to be lending our support to the Make-A-Wish Foundation with this benefit World Premiere of ‘Pirates’ to make a difference. The Studio is extremely excited about the upcoming release of ‘Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End’ and we’re pulling out all the stops to give it the send-off it deserves with a magnificent gala event at Disneyland. Disney has been a longtime supporter of this wonderful organization and we’re excited to be doing something special to bring smiles to the children and their families, giving them magical moments to share.”
Over the past 25 years, Disney has continued to support the Make-A-Wish cause, contributing more than $10 million in cash and in-kind donations on an annual basis. With more than 6,000 wishes granted each year including visits to the Disney Parks, Disney Cruises, meeting Disney Characters and visiting TV and movie sets, including “Pirates of the Caribbean” films, Disney-themed wishes continue to be the most popular requests.
