If the Academy Awards is like the Super Bowl for acting, then Brendan Fraser is the defending champion. So what is he going to do next? He’s going to Disney World! Today the theme park resort announced the list of performers who will be taking part in the annual Candlelight Processional during Epcot’s International Festival of the Holidays, and Brendan Fraser has joined the list for the first time.
The Candlelight Processional is an annual event at Epcot that sees a celebrity read the Story of Christmas as part of a larger event full of light and music to celebrate the holiday season. A handful of celebrities, like noted Disney Adults Neil Patrick Harris and John Stamos, often return year after year to perform as part of the event, but there are always a few new additions, and most of them have some sort of Disney connection.
Jordan Fisher, who got married at Walt Disney World, voiced Disney characters and sings the iconic song in the Happily Ever After nighttime spectacular, which will be appearing December 21-23. Frozen 2’s Sterling K. Brown will lend his excellent voice to the show on December 19 and 20. But the name I love the most is Brendan Fraser, and so I’ll be trying to figure out how to get to Epcot on December 12-14.
While Brendan Fraser might not be a name you automatically associate with Disney like some of the others who have done the CandlelightProcessional in years past, he is a Disney alum. He starred in the live-action George of the Jungle movie, which was a Disney production, and one of Fraser’s first films, the comedy Encino Man was a Touchstone Pictures movie, which was a Disney studio.
The Brenaissance of late 2022 and early 2023 brought Brendan Fraser back into the limelight in a big way, and his Oscar-winning turn in The Whale seems to have solidified the actor’s “comeback.” It’s certainly possible that he could have been asked to perform the Candlelight Processional without all that. But it seems all but certain this opportunity came about because Disney, just like a lot of other people, has been very recently reminded how great Brendan Fraser is.
And doing the Candlelight Processional has to be a lot of fun. I have to assume that Disney puts you up in one of the nicer resort hotels, and gives you the VIP treatment in the park. There are few times to visit Walt Disney World that are better than the holiday season.
And if he has time, maybe he can sneak over to Universal Studios Florida, grab a ride on Revenge of the Mummy, where Fraser actually appears, and finally get his cup of coffee.
It will be interesting to see if this opportunity spawns a new relationship between Brendan Fraser and Disney. Fraser could become one of those mainstays that returns for the Candlelight Processional every year, and there could be more opportunities for him in Disney movies as well.
