Disney skirts union by changing shows
Actors’ Equity, company to continue negotiations Monday
As Walt Disney World and Actors’ Equity Association members prepare to discuss a grievance filed by the union, Disney is finding ways to work around the absent performers.
Actors’ Equity represents about 750 performers at Walt Disney World, including those who sing in “Beauty and the Beast — Live on Stage,” “Finding Nemo — The Musical” and the “Hoop-Dee-Doo Musical Revue.” The union has been pressing Disney to provide regular COVID-19 testing of performers; Disney has said it is confident in the safety protocols already in place.
Equity filed a grievance after Disney canceled a planned recall to work for Equity-represented performers when the theme parks reopened this month after the lengthy coronavirus shutdown. Multiple sources familiar with the negotiations confirmed the two sides would meet Monday.
Without fanfare, Disney has debuted a revamped version of its bird show at the Animal Kingdom theme park. Previously titled “Up! A Great Bird
Adventure,” the show featured an Equity-represented actor portraying Wilderness Explorer Troop Leader Jones, as well as troop member Russell and Dug the dog, characters from the film “Up!”
The new version is titled “Feathered Friends in Flight.” As seen in an online video, a Disney employee who identifies himself as part of a team of animal-behavior specialists now hosts the show with a colleague. He acknowledged the change in his opening remarks.
“For the last 20 years we have had so many different things happen here. We’ve had people get over their fear of birds. We’ve had people gain an appreciation for wildlife, and recently we had an adventure with the gang from ‘Up!’ ” the cast member says in the video. “But you know what? 2020 decided to happen, and then everything got weird, right?”
Meanwhile, other fanmade video shows Savi’s Workshop at Disney’s Hollywood Studios open for business, but without its “Star Wars”-themed show and Equity-represented actor. Instead, guests can be seen choosing lightsabers while background music plays but without the special effects, actor or $200 price tag previously charged.
In the original, a signature experience of Disney’s Galaxy’s Edge area of the park, an actor presided over the show while other cast members helped guests build specialty lightsabers. Now guests interact only with the secondary cast members, who in the video are wearing face masks and shields.
The official Walt Disney World website still lists the former “Up!” and “Savi’s Workshop” shows as “temporarily
unavailable,” so they could return. But the changes have rattled Equity performers, who are taking to social media to express their fear of being squeezed out of their jobs.
A vocal contingent of performers says Equity is unfairly applying traditional-theater standards to Disney World, which has performances in varying types of venues and situations. Animal Kingdom’s bird show, for example, is in an open-air theater.
In an interview with the
Orlando Sentinel last week, an Actors’ Equity spokesman remained adamant that COVID-19 testing was critical for the safety of all performers.
Disney’s agreement with Actors’ Equity lasts until 2022. If discussions between Disney and Actors’ Equity cannot resolve the grievance, an arbitrator will be called in.