The Disney Family Singalong

The Disney Family Singalong is a series of American music television specials that were broadcast by ABC in 2020. First aired on April 16, 2020, and all hosted by Ryan Seacrest, the specials featured performances of songs from Disney films by musicians and other celebrity guests from their respective homes. The performances featured on-screen karaoke lyrics, encouraging viewers to sing along.

The Disney Family Singalong

Mason Steinberg
Brian Strickland

Hamish Hamilton

Ryan Seacrest

United States

English

Sam Brenzel
Chris Convy
R. J. Durell
Nick Florez
Raj Kapoor
Katy Mullan

Kenny Ortega
Trevor Rothman
Rachel Sussman
Trevor Vaughan
Kristen Wong

Virtual

Buzz Chatman
Brad Comfort
Guy Harding
Alistair Knapp
Hamish Lyons
Christopher Rodriguez
Ken Yankee

52 minutes

Done and Dusted

ABC

April 16, 2020 (2020-04-16)

The first special was seen by 10.3 million viewers. A second special—The Disney Family Singalong: Volume II—was aired on May 10, 2020, which was seen by 5.74 million viewers. This was followed by a Christmas-themed edition, The Disney Holiday Singalong, on November 30. The specials gained a spin-off in November 2021, The Queen Family Singalong, featuring similar performances of songs by British rock band Queen.^[1] Another spin-off titled Schoolhouse Rock! 50th Anniversary Singalong aired on February 1, 2023, featuring similar performances of songs from Schoolhouse Rock!^[2]

Production[edit]

Produced by Done and Dusted, the special was first announced on April 10, 2020, for a premiere on April 16. It was produced in response to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, and as part of impact on television. The special would include public service announcements highlighting Feeding America's COVID-19 response, featuring various Walt Disney Television talent.^[3]^[4]

Kenny Ortega organized a cast reunion of High School Musical for the special, with a performance of "We're All In This Together".^[5] Ortega noted that the song had experienced a resurgence in popularity amid the pandemic (including videos of medical workers and others singing the song in support of their responses), explaining that "I can’t imagine that Matthew Gerrard and Robbie Nevil, who wrote this song, had any idea that it would have the legs and perhaps mean more now than when we first did it." The performance featured cast members from the film, as well as Raven-Symoné, and cast members from fellow Disney Channel films Descendants and Zombies, and the film's Disney+ spin-off High School Musical: The Musical: The Series.^[6] Zac Efron was unable to participate, but made a special guest appearance to introduce the performance.^[7]

Broadcast[edit]

The special received 10.3 million viewers during its initial airing, making it the most-watched program of the evening. It also held a 2.6 share of the key demographic of adults 18-49, beating its nearest competitor Young Sheldon.^[14]

On April 24, 2020, an encore of the special on Disney Channel (accompanied by an airing of the sing-along version of High School Musical)^[15] drew 515,000 viewers.^[16]

On April 21, the special was made available for streaming on Disney+, before being removed exactly one year later.^[17]