Are you 23? [UPDATED!]

Disney has fans stumped. A very mysterious site has arisen from deep within Disney's website, and all I can gather from it is: D23 (or Disney 23). Upon entering the site you are greeted with a Flash movie, and the question "Are you 23?" pops up, then the words "Find out March 10" appear; an animation of Tinker Bell and a countdown to march 10 follow. No more information is given. A simple countdown to March 10 and the phrase "Are you 23?" That is it.

I have several theories about what this new D23 might be. It seems like a sure bet that the "23" represents the year that the Walt Disney Brothers Studio was founded (October 16, 1923). Or possibly the 23rd birthday of Pixar, or even the release of 23 Disney DVDs. Many rumors around the internet, however, agree that D23 is most likely a new membership club for Disney fans (this is confirmed in the update below). Rumors also mention enrollment fees, exclusive merchandise, a yearly convention and an online community. Some leaked photos on The Disney Blog somewhat confirm these rumors (or, at least, the exclusive merchandise rumor), but there's no telling whether the pictures are legitimate at all:



These rumors sound about right to me since there are no real Disney fan clubs for true Disney fans, like myself (except, of course, for Club 33 which is very restricting due to its location and the fact that that's about all it is; an experience, not a real fan club or anything of that nature). There are very mild fan clubs, but those don't do or mean or provide very much. I guess we won't know until March 10. I did try to sneakily find out the answer by downloading the Flash file to my local hard drive and changed the system clock to March 10, but the video was disappointing; it had the countdown still, just in the negatives. I'll be sure to post all of the details on March 10, so come back then if you're curious, I know that I am very curious...

Update: StitchKingdom.com has some very exciting news regarding this mystery. They have discovered an insert from the Pinocchio Platinum Edition DVD being released on March 10 (the same day that the announcement by Disney regarding D23 is made), and this insert pretty much solves the mystery of D23. (See the insert at the top of this post.)

Although this doesn't specify any details regarding D23, it does solve the mystery of what D23 is: "D23: The Official Community for Disney Fans".

Well there you have it. Come back on March 10 to read all about the details given at Disney's official D23 announcement.