One of the most loved Christmas traditions at Disneyland and Epcot at Walt Disney World is the Candlelight Processional – as we dig into the history of the Candlelight Processional at Disneyland, we travel back to the park’s earliest days. During the park’s first Christmas season in 1955, a group of twelve Dickensian carolers under the direction of Dr. Charles C. Hirt of the University of Southern California performed at various points around the park, and other choirs periodically performed at the Main Street Bandstand. The numbers of carolers and guest choirs grew through the 1956 and 1957 holiday seasons, quickly becoming one of the park’s most popular seasonal offerings.
In 1958, Hirt went to park management with the idea of adding a procession of a larger mass choir. The full choir has been a part of the show ever since, and they now perform on a large “Christmas tree” made of risers. Since 1982, the choir has been comprised of cast members who are part of the Disney Employee Choir.
The Processional began to look like the experience we know today in 1960, when the performance was moved to Main Street, U.S.A., and actor Dennis Morgan was brought in to read excerpts from the Biblical Christmas story to tie together the classic hymns being performed by the choir. Over the course of the decades since, luminaries including Cary Grant, John Wayne, Henry Fonda, Jimmy Stewart, Gregory Peck, Charlton Heston, James Earl Jones, Jodi Benson, Dick Van Dyke, John Stamos, and Chris Hemsworth have all been narrators for the event.
Just over a decade after Disneyland’s Candlelight Processional took on its modern form, the processional was duplicated for the east coast during Walt Disney World’s first holiday season in 1971. The show was performed in Magic Kingdom’s town square, similar to its Disneyland location, for 22 years. In 1994, the Candlelight Processional was moved to Epcot, eventually becoming the centerpiece of the park’s sprawling Festival of Holidays celebration.
The music is amazing – the narration is moving – and we are reminded of what Christmas is all about.
The following lines are from the script of the Candlelight Processional at Epcot …
He was born in an obscure village, the child of a peasant woman. He grew up in still another village where he worked in a carpenter’s shop until he was thirty. Then, for three years he was an itinerant preacher. He never wrote a book. He never held an office. He never had a family or owned a house. He didn’t go to college. He never visited a big city. He never traveled two-hundred miles from the place where he was born. He did none of the things one usually associates with greatness. He had no credentials, but himself. He was only thirty-three when the tide of public opinion turned against him. His friends ran away. He was turned over to his enemies, and went through the mockery of a trial. He was nailed to the cross between two thieves. While he was dying his executioners gambled for his clothing, the only property he had on earth. When he was dead, he was laid in a borrowed grave through the pity of a friend. Twenty centuries have come and gone and today he is considered by many to be the central figure of the human race and the leader of mankind’s progress. All the armies that ever marched, all the navies that ever sailed, all the parliaments that ever sat, all the kings that ever reigned put together have not effected the life of man on this Earth as much as that one, solitary life.
Although hundreds of years have passed we still celebrate the birth of the baby in Bethlehem. And the joy of that first Christmas still lives in our hearts.
For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government shall be upon his shoulders and his name shall be called Wonderful! Counselor! The Might God! The Everlasting Father! The Prince of Peace!
May the joy and peace found at the manger be yours in abundance this Christmas season and always.
Take the magic and joy of Christmas at touch and change the world…Merry Christmas to you!
More about Jeff Dixon: Jeff has written a series of novels set in and around Walt Disney World entitled, The Key to the Kingdom, Unlocking the Kingdom, Storming the Kingdom, Terror in the Kingdom and his newest book, Kingdom Chaos. He is also the author of The Disney Driven Life, a book that draws life lessons and leadership principles from the history and life of Walt Disney. Some know Jeff as Dixon On Disney – and he resources and comments on Disney history, attractions, and news. He is a researcher that draws heavily on the incredible works of Disney historians and biographers with an attempt to understand and apply the life lessons that are uncovered. He is also a storyteller that transports readers into a world beyond their imagination.
