Recap: Deep Cuts, Movie News, and Great Dancing Take Center Stage During Season 34 Disney Night on "Dancing With The Stars"
Tonight was the night many fans of Dancing with the Stars look forward to each season - Disney Night! Tonight was especially festive this evening, as the ballroom also celebrated the ongoing 70th anniversary of Disneyland with special fun and dance numbers. Plus, this was the first Disney night that used music from the parks in the dances, not just the movies!
It all kicked off with an opening number featuring Danny Gardner from the North American tour of Beauty and the Beast in the role of Lumiere telling viewers to “Be Our Guest" as the troupe took over the dance floor alongside Disney characters in a number choreographed by (not the pop star/actress) Mandy Moore (La La Land).
Dylan Efron and Daniella Karagach
After that, the first dance we saw was from Dylan Efron and his partner Daniella Karagach. We got to see the pair tour Cars Land at Disney California Adventure before they took to the ballroom floor and performed a quickstep to “Life is a Highway" as heard in the Pixar Animation Studios film, Cars. Afterward, co-host Julianne Hough asked Efron why he didn’t do a song from High School Musical - as many fans expected given his brother Zac’s role in the classic Disney Channel original films. He teased that that might be something that viewers will see next week - which happens to be Dedication Week on the show.
Judges scores were as follows:
Carrie Ann - 7
Derek - 8
Bruno - 8
Danielle Fishel and Pasha Pashkov
Next we head over to Adventureland at Disneyland and meet up with Danielle Fishel and her partner, Pasha Pashkov. Together, they explore the land and experience the classic opening day attraction, Jungle Cruise. Along with that, they also enjoyed some Dole Whip and Pirates of the Caribbean before they took the stage to perform a quickstep to “I wanna be like you" from The Jungle Book.
Notably, some of the cast of the new Disney Channel series, The Electric Bloom, were in the crowd to support Fishel as she was their director in the new series.
Judges scores:
Carrie Ann - 7
Derek - 7
Bruno 7
Scott Hoying and Rylee Arnold
Heading back over to Disney California Adventure, we meet up with Scott Hoying and his partner, Rylee Arnold. While we check out Avengers Campus and Guardians of the Galaxy - Mission: Breakout, we learn that they will be performing a salsa to “Bop to the Top" from High School Musical. Ironically, most of their conversation took place on the shores of Paradise Bay at Disney California Adventure, where World of Color Happiness! Takes place in the evening. However, there was no mention of the show which is strange given a song in this special 70th anniversary edition of the nighttime spectacular - “Great Rainbow" - is performed by Hoying.
Judges Scores:
Carrie Ann - 7
Derek - 7
Bruno - 7
After these dances, we get a great moment of synergy as we get another dance number featuring the house troupe, this time to music from the upcoming TRON: Ares.
Alix Earle and Val Chmerkovskiy
Our next pair performed a Viennese Waltz to the ethereal rendition of “Once Upon A Dream" as heard in the hit film, Maleficent.
However, regular Disneyland Park-goers who watched saw Alix and Val on their day at Disneyland enjoying Fantasyland attractions like the Matterhorn Bobsleds leaving them to wonder - how could they dance after beating up their body so terribly on that classic attraction. Guess those Mickey pretzels are the cure.
Judges Scores:
Carrie Ann - 8
Derek - 8
Bruno - 8
Hilaria Baldwin and Gleb Savchenko
Hilaria and Gleb headed to Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge at Disneyland where we learn that they will be performing a quickstep to “Cantina Band" from Star Wars: A New Hope.
Okay, I’m sorry but I have to say that this is actually a song titled “Mad About Me" and was performed by Figrin D’an and the Modal Nodes in the film - more colloquially known as the Cantina Band. This isn’t a deep cut either - as that was how they were also introduced at Star Wars Weekends at a different Disney destination in a bygone era.
We also got to see Hilaria and Gleb joined on their Disneyland adventure by her husband, Alec Baldwin, who seemed to be impressed by the scale, accuracy, and detail of the Star Wars-themed land at the park.
Judge’s Scores:
Carrie Ann - 8
Derek - 7
Bruno - 8
Andy Richter and Emma Slater
Next up, Andy Richter and Emma Slater spend some time on Pixar Pier. Appropriate since they are going to dance a Viennese Waltz to the song “Le Festin" from the 2007 Pixar film, Ratatouille. Richter took on the role of Linguini, while Slater appeared in the dance as a Remy-inspired Rat. All of this after they enjoyed some turkey legs, hot dogs, Toy Story Midway Mania, Incredicoaster, and more at the park.
Judge’s Scores:
Carrie Ann - 6
Derek - 6
Bruno - 6
Robert Irwin and Witney Carson
One of the biggest stars of the season, if not thee pick to win this go-round, Robert Irwin and his partner Witney Carson branched out a bit from the Disneyland Resort and headed to Burbank, where they watched Zootopia 2. Appropriate since we learned that Irwin himself will be voicing a new character in the movie that was also revealed during tonight’s broadcast.
Judge’s Scores:
Carrie Ann - 7
Derek - 7
Bruno - 8
Elaine Hendrix and Alan Bersten
Deep diving Disney Parks fans were likely looking forward to this dance the most since it was announced last week. You see, when it was revealed that these two would be dancing a quickstep to the music from Disneyland’s Space Mountain, some caught on that this was a deep cut to Hendrix’s early career, when she portrayed news broadcaster Pam Pulsar in the (since removed) preshow queue video for Space Mountain. Fortunately, this was explained to all the viewers as Hendrix shared that this was a special full circle moment for her entire career. Their spin wasn’t limited to a ride on Space Mountain though, as we also saw the duo enjoy Astro Orbitor.
Judge’s Scores:
Carrie Ann - 8
Derek - 8
Bruno - 8
Whitney Leavitt and Mark Ballas
Now on Disney+, Hamilton takes over the ballroom as Whitney and Mark get a bit more theatrical as they perform a foxtrot to “The Room Where It Happens" from the landmark musical. With the judges commenting that the dance would be perfect for the Broadway stage, the performance also earned the season’s first 9.
Judge’s Scores:
Carrie Ann - 9
Derek - 8
Bruno - 8
Jordan Chiles and Ezra Sosa
Now, it’s on to Bayou Country at Disneyland Park as Olympian Jordan Chiles and her partner Ezra Sosa enjoy the new Tiana’s Bayou Adventure. Marking the second piece of music from a Disney park on the episode, the duo performed a quickstep to the new song, “Secret Spice," as featured in the finale of the attraction.
While Chiles explains how important the character of Princess Tiana is to her, we also see them enjoy beignets at Tiana’s Palace in New Orleans Square.
Judge’s Scores:
Carrie Ann - 8
Derek - 8
Bruno - 8
We’ll take another break to check out the resident dance troupe in the ballroom, this time as they perform a number to “The Tiki Tiki Tiki Tiki Room."
Jen Affleck and Jan Ravnik
The final number of the night sees Jen Affleck and Jan Ravnik check out “it’s a small world" with their families, pointing out Aladdin and Jasmine on the attraction, with Affleck commenting that that’s who she is about to be to her kids. That’s because she and Ravnik performed a Jazz number to “Friend Like Me" from Aladdin. Affleck donned an outfit channeling that of Princess Jasmine from the film, while Ravnik put on full body paint to emulate Genie for a performance that host Alfonso Ribeiro points out was much better than Will Smith did. I guess if anyone can say that, he can.
Judge’s Scores:
Carrie Ann - 7
Derek - 8
Bruno - 8
Voting closed at the end of the broadcast, and it was revealed that Hilaria Baldwin will be going home.