Sam Wrench, who directed the smash movie Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour, is directing two holiday specials from ABC and Disney. Julianne Hough and brother Derek Hough host The Wonderful World of Disney: Magical Holiday Celebration, on Sunday, November 26, and Disney Parks Magical Christmas Day Parade, on Monday, December 25. Both events see the siblings at Walt Disney World in Florida.
Magical Holiday Celebration is on at 8 p.m. ET and Magical Christmas Day Parade is on at 10 a.m. ET. Both specials go for two hours and feature performances from Disney’s Aulani resort in Hawai’i and aboard Disney Cruise Line.
For Magical Christmas Day Parade, Mickey Guyton co-hosts from Disney World and Jesse Palmer co-hosts from Disneyland.
According to ABC, “These beloved annual specials showcase spectacular performances of holiday classics and festive new favorites, highlight heartwarming family stories from around the globe, and offer special looks at what’s new around The Walt Disney Company.”
Performers for Magical Holiday Celebration include Michael Bolton doing “Christmas Isn’t Christmas” with Mickey Guyton, The Smashing Pumpkins doing “Silver Bells,” Chrissy Metz performing “Santa Claus is Coming to Town” and American Idol champ Iam Tongi singing “White Christmas,” among other stars and songs.
Performers for Magical Christmas Day Parade include Meg Donnelly singing “Christmas (Baby, Please Come Home)”, Metz singing “Silver Bells,” Smashing Pumpkins doing “Evergreen” and Tongi performing “Mele Kalikimaka.”
The specials are produced by Sally Conner for Disney Parks, who brought on Film 45 Live and executive producers Michael Antinoro and Richard Godfrey.
Besides the Taylor Swift tour film, Sam Wrench’s credits include Amazon’s Prime Day Show X H.E.R. and Netflix’s Rhythm + Flow.
