Up characters Russell and Dug the dog are out — and so are the Actors’ Equity members who played them — in a revamped version of a bird-show attraction at Walt Disney World’s Animal Kingdom.
As the union and Walt Disney World in Orlando enter into discussions about a grievance filed by Equity over the resort’s COVID-19 safety protocols, Disney has quietly revised what was previously known as ‘Up! A Great Bird Adventure’ into an actor-less ‘Feathered Friends in Flight.’
As first reported by the Orlando Sentinel, the revised bird show (with socially distanced audience members) replaces the acted, onstage costumed characters of Russell and Dug (from Disney’s 2009 animated movie Up), along with “Wilderness Explorer Troop Leader Jones,” with Disney employees identified as animal behavior specialists who host the show.
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