Why haven’t we heard anything about the narrators? We’re somehow in the middle of September, and the Epcot International Festival of the Holidays is just over two months away. It will take place November 24-December 30. We are missing one key piece of information. Why do we not have at least a partial list of celebrity narrators for the Candlelight Processional?
Most likely the reason we haven’t heard anything is because of the strike. The Screen Actors Guild and American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) is on strike against the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP). I am not going to go into the details of the strike, and please keep your opinions to yourself. Because of the strike, SAG Members are not allowed to participate in many activities, it’s not just about not filming new TV shows and movies. Disney is an AMTPT Member, and there have been some not-so-nice quotes attributed to Disney CEO Bob Iger about the strike. I will not add those here either. I can’t verify if he said them or not, and my purpose here isn’t to talk about the strike.
Essentially, participating in the Candlelight Processional would mean that a SAG Member celebrity has crossed the picket line, which would be the end of his or her career. This is most likely why The Bacon Brothers pulled out of the Eat to the Beat Concert Series this year. Kevin Bacon is a SAG Member, and even playing music at Epcot would have meant he was crossing the picket line.
Does that mean we won’t have a Candlelight Processional this year? No, it should still take place. It’s just a bit trickier to find artists for it. I expect that we’ll see singers who aren’t actors, athletes, news commentators, maybe even reality stars. I’m sure that the list will be filled up.
Disney could also be holding back a bit, hoping that the strike ends. If you say that it’s too early to think about the Candlelight Processional, in past years the first group of names were released in July! We usually have at least half of the names by now.
And who knows? Maybe some actors will receive permission to narrate the Candlelight Processional, and they’ll be able to perform without it considered crossing the picket line. Or maybe I’m wrong on all of this, and there’s a different reason why we haven’t yet seen the list. When we finally have an update, I’ll let you know on Disney Over 50.