Disney Shares Schedule for 2023 Holiday Specials

 by Beth Keating

News

DisneyBizJournal.com

November 22, 2023

 

Disney fans will have two separate holiday specials to watch in coming weeks – one for Thanksgiving, and one for Christmas morning.

For Thanksgiving weekend,  “The Wonderful World of Disney: Magical Holiday Celebration” will air on ABC on Sunday, November 26, from 8:00-10:00 p.m. (EST), but if you miss it with all the family celebrations going on, it will also begin streaming the next day on Hulu and Disney+.

Courtesy of Disney Parks Blog

Siblings Derek and Julianne Hough will be returning to host “The Magical Holiday Celebration,” and among the featured performances on the Thanksgiving special will be:

 

• Derek Hough and Julianne Hough – “It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas,” “What Christmas Means to Me,” “Dance to the Music” medley

• Michael Bolton & Mickey Guyton – “Christmas Isn’t Christmas”

• Andra Day and Adam Blackstone – “Someday at Christmas” and an Adam Blackstone original song “Legacy Christmastime”

• Ariana DeBose– “This Wish” from Walt Disney Animation Studios’ Wish

• Mickey Guyton – “Jingle Bell Rock”

• Chris Janson – “Holiday Road”

• Tori Kelly – “This Christmas” and “Winter Wonderland”

• Chrissy Metz – “Santa Claus is Coming to Town”

• The Smashing Pumpkins – “Silver Bells”

• Robin Thicke – “Let it Snow” and “Perfect Holiday”

• Iam Tongi – “White Christmas”

 

There will also be a special look back at Mariah Carey’s 2016 version of “All I Want for Christmas Is You.”

 

And while you may be watching the Christmas morning parade from Disney with your family after opening your stockings and gifts, you’ll be forgiven for assuming it’s live from the parks – the parade already filmed last week.  If you weren’t in the parks to see it in person, you can catch the 40th anniversary airing of the “Disney Parks Magical Christmas Day Parade” on ABC on Monday, December 25, from 10:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m. (EST) or 9:00 a.m.-11:00 a.m. (PST).  It will also stream the next day on Hulu and Disney+.

 

Derek Hough and Julianne Hough will again host the Christmas Day festivities, along with co-hosts country music star Mickey Guyton and “The Golden Bachelor” host Jesse Palmer.  In addition to the parade (that’s what you’re really waiting for, right?), there will be musical performances from:

 

• Derek Hough and Julianne Hough – “Good Morning” and “Deck the Halls” Medley

• Chrissy Metz – “Silver Bells”

• The Smashing Pumpkins – “Evergreen” (A new, original holiday song)

• Iam Tongi – “Mele Kalikimaka”

• The Broadway and North American Tour Cast of Disney’s “Aladdin” – “Friend Like Me”

• Meg Donnelly – “Christmas (Baby, Please Come Home)”

 

The holiday specials were filmed at a variety of Disney locations, including Walt Disney World Resort in Florida, Disneyland Resort in California, Aulani in Hawai‘I, Disneyland in Paris, and on board the Disney Cruise Line.

 

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Beth Keating is a theme parks, restaurant and entertainment reporter for DisneyBizJournal.

 

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Disney Family Singalong Volume II Invites You To Be “Part of Their World” on May 10th

by Beth Keating

News 

DisneyBizJournal.com

May 9, 2020

If you enjoyed the first Disney Family Singalong, you weren’t alone. According to Variety, nearly 13 million viewers tuned in to belt their way through the evening with Disney stars including Auli’i Cravalho (Moana; Little Mermaid Live); Luke Evans (live action Beauty and the Beast); Josh Gad (Frozen); and Donny Osmond (Mulan, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat). Michael Bublé, Christina Aguilera, Ariana Grande, Thomas Rhett, and Little Big Town were also among dozens of the night’s performers, singing along with their own families from their living rooms, kitchens and front porches. Oh, and a good number of the wildcats from the High School Musical team showed up, too!

The Disney Family Singalong was the second most viewed show during the week of April 16th. According to Forbes, it topped its Thursday evening showing, enjoying a 2.6 rating in the adult 18-49 demographic, almost double the second ranked show for that night. The singalong posted 10.3 million viewers live, with the live+7 rating at nearly 13 million sets of eyes. And, for good measure, the viewership numbers don’t even include those families who watched the replays on Disney+ over the past two-and-a-half weeks.

The evening was so successful that Disney has choreographed the Disney Family Singalong Volume II.  Set to air on May 10^th (a treat for Moms that evening?), the Singalong will once again be hosted by Ryan Seacrest on ABC at 7 PM EST, and will feature the bouncing Mickey icon so you can sing along (though we’re pretty sure your family already knows most of the words by heart.)  The first Singalong version is still available on Disney+ in case you missed it in its original airing on April 16th.

Singalong Volume II will feature return appearances by Josh Gad, with “When I Am Older” from Frozen 2, and Derek Hough and Julianne Hough, who, with Hayley Erbert, will perform “Step in Time” and “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious” from Mary Poppins. (Seriously, did they just have those costumes hanging around their house for the first singalong?) 

The sequel event will also include performances by Idina Menzel and Ben Platt (“A Whole New World” from Aladdin); Chloe x Halle and Anika Noni Rose (“Almost There” from The Princess and The Frog); Seth Rogen, Billy Eichner, Donald Glover and Walter Russell III (“Hakuna Matata” from The Lion King);  Katy Perry (“Baby Mine” from Dumbo); Halsey (“Part of Your World” from The Little Mermaid); Rebel Wilson (“Poor Unfortunate Souls” from The Little Mermaid); Miguel and Christina Aguilera (“Remember Me” from Coco); Shakira (“Try Everything” from Zootopia); John Legend and Jennifer Hudson (“Beauty and the Beast” from Beauty and the Beast); Sabrina Carpenter and Lang Lang (“Your Mother and Mine” from Peter Pan); Disney on Broadway stars Merle Dandridge, Heather Headley, Adam Jacobs, Caissie Levy, Kara Lindsay, Kevin Massey, and Josh Strickland (“You’ll Be in My Heart” from Tarzan); and Keke Palmer (“Zero to Hero” from Hercules), with “Dancing with the Stars” performers Lindsay Arnold, Alan Bersten, Witney Carson, Val Chmerkovskiy, Jenna Johnson, Sasha Farber and Emma Slater. The Muppets will also lend a hand to the evening’s festivities. Additional guests continue to be announced.

Along with musical presentations, the event will offer public service announcements for the Feeding America network, helping to make viewers aware of resources in their area.

Settle in with the family for an evening of song, and feel free to dance along if you’d like. Costumes optional. It’s your living room. No one else will know!

Beth Keating is a regular contributor to DisneyBizJournal.