A look at prolific Candlelight Processional narrators (and a few surprises)

Dewayne Bevil, Orlando Sentinel
Updated ·4 min read

All I wanted to do was crown the king and/or queen of Epcot’s Candlelight Processional narrators. But I fell into another patented Dewayne Bevil Data Blackhole (a k a DBDB).

I knew it was unlikely to find complete listings of every year of the holiday event, which started at Magic Kingdom in 1971 — just a couple of months after Disney World’s grand opening — and moved to Epcot in 1994. So I shifted my goal to be “which celeb has read Candlelight the most in the past decade?” I also decided 2020 didn’t happen because pandemic canceled the event that year.

And my gut told me that Neil Patrick Harris is the champ of the 2012-to-present era. My gut is right, but the data is spotty. Using two different digital archives of the Orlando Sentinel and internet research including, perilously, Wikipedia lists posted without sources or footnotes, I have some answers.

But first some questions in a pop Candlelight Processional quiz.

  1. Who was the final reader at Magic Kingdom, and who was the first one at Epcot? (The answer is two different people.)

  2. Which narrators have the same last name but aren’t related? There are two sets, and one of them involves Disney royals, in a way.

  3. Which regular cast member of “Saturday Night Live” has pulled the most Candlelight duty?

Answers in a bit. Most years, Candlelight Processional features celebrity narrators telling the story of Christmas and flanked by a mass choir and a live, 50-piece orchestra.

But how to define “most” Candlelight appearances? One could look at it by years in attendance, or you could look at it by actual nights of reading. The latter is trickier because exact dates haven’t always been published, and there have been cancellations that are difficult to track.

Reading 10 times has been Edward James Olmos.

Reading 11 times, including this year, are Harris and Whoopi Goldberg. Another 11-timer is Marlee Matlin, who is sometimes credited with translator Jack Jason.

Reading 12 times, including last year, is Steven Curtis Chapman. Gary Sinise has appeared 12 times, too.

Your results may vary. Although my data is incomplete, I thought Harris would top the most evenings list as he typically reads four nights a year, whereas Goldberg usually has two-night Candlelight gigs. But to my surprise, Sinise sometimes did six-night tours and that adds up.

To be fair, there are three years that I can see that Olmos was here, but I see no listing of how many nights he read then. If he did three nights each, he’s probably right on the heels of the others.

Although it would be foolhardy to hand out a crown and scepter at this point, I’d say Sinise is the overall front-runner with 42 nights of Candlelight Processional reading. With three performances a night, that would put him over the 100 mark.

I’m putting Sinise, Harris, Chapman, Olmos, Goldberg and Matlin in the royal court. Long may they reign. Also deserving: Blair Underwood, with nine years of service, and Isabella Rossellini (seven year) and Chita Rivera, who also has been here seven years, including the last four Candlelight seasons, the longest active streak.

Little lists

Narrators who gave voices to Disney princesses: Auli’i Cravalho, Anika Noni Rose, Ming-Na Wen, Jodi Benson.

Oscar winners: Geena Davis, Helen Hunt, Marlee Matlin, Whoopi Goldberg, Cuba Gooding Jr., Lou Gossett Jr., George Kennedy, Rita Moreno, Mira Sorvino and Cicely Tyson (honorary).

Teenagers: Abigail Breslin, Auli’i Cravalho, Laurie Hernandez, Haley Joel Osment.

Miss Americas: Orlando’s Ericka Dunlap, Tara Holland, Nicole Johnson.

Soap stars: Susan Lucci, Deidre Hall, Joshua Morrow.

Surprises: Art Garfunkel, Cary Grant, McLean Stevenson, Perry Como, Erik Estrada, Brad Garrett, George Hamilton, Maureen McGovern, astronauts Buzz Aldrin and Story Musgrave.

In the beginning

In 1971, the sole narrator was Rock Hudson, who pulled Candlelight duty five other times, the final time being 1984. (Hudson died in 1985.) There are photos with him reading from atop the tree, looming above singers. Sentinel reports vary as far as number of singers, ranging between 500 and 1,200, in the Magic Kingdom days. It’s not like we sent out an intern to count heads.

But in ‘73, a reporter spent time with the prep for Candlelight, including a Hudson sighting on the second floor of City Hall. The movie star “was studying the script he was to read,” the story says. “He smoked a filter-tipped cigarette. Tall, handsome and dignified …. He says he keeps coming back because he enjoys doing it.”

Answers

  1. The final reader at Magic Kingdom’s Candlelight Processional was James Earl Jones. The first reader at Epcot was Phylicia Rashad, who was joined that year by Robert Guillaume and Robert Urich.

  2. Jodi Benson (Ariel) and Robby Benson (Beast). Also Geena Davis and Warwick Davis.

  3. Ana Gasteyer is the only “Saturday Night Live” regular to narrate.

Candlelight Processional runs three times nightly through Dec. 30. It is included with regular Epcot admission (date-specific park reservation required).

Email me at dbevil@orlandosentinel.com. Subscribe to the Theme Park Rangers newsletter at orlandosentinel.com/newsletters or the Theme Park Rangers podcast at orlandosentinel.com/travel/attractions/theme-park-rangers-podcast.