INSTEAD of Haunted Mansion’s stars, Disney characters walked the red carpet of the film’s premiere at Disney last week.
The cast was missing in action due to the SAG-AFTRA strike that was initiated on July 13.
Mickey and Minnie Mouse, Maleficent, the Evil Queen from Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, and Cruella de Vil posed on the carpet for photos with guests, who also gained private access to ride the titular attraction, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Director Justin Simien was the only one from the film to attend the premiere, telling Variety that he was “sad” his cast couldn’t walk the carpet with him.
“I feel very ambivalent about it, but at the same time, I’m just so proud of this cast, and I’m so, so proud of Katie Dippold, who wrote the script, and so much of why I did this was to honour her words and to honour their work,” Simien said at the premiere.
“If they can’t be here to speak for it, I felt like I had to be here to speak for it,” he explained.
“It’s sad that they’re not here, but at the same time, I totally support the reason why they’re not here. And I’m happy to be the one to ring the bell in their stead.”
According to THR and Variety, LaKeith Stanfield, Tiffany Haddish, Jamie Lee Curtis, Danny Devito, Rosario Dawson, Owen Wilson, Dan Levy, Hasan Minhaj, Chase W. Dillon, Marilu Henner, and Lindsay Lamb were originally supposed to walk the red carpet at the premiere of the film.
However, in observance of the strike’s stipulations, they did not.
In a memo signed by union president Fran Drescher and national executive director and chief negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, SAG-AFTRA members were ordered “to cease rendering all services and performing all work covered by the TV and theatrical contracts” once the strike began.
This meant any work on TV shows and movies had to come to a halt. In other words, production had to be shut down completely.
It also extends to the promotion of new projects, such as tours, personal appearances, and attendance at premieres and screenings.