By Zach Johnson
There was no shortage of pixie dust in the Dancing with the Stars ballroom!
On Tuesday, the 11 remaining couples celebrated The Walt Disney Company’s 100th anniversary with timeless performances set to songs from classic and recently released films. “Disney100 Night” began with the pro dancers performing a routine to “We Don’t Talk About Bruno,” from the fan-favorite film Encanto, choreographed by Christopher Scott. From there, the couples—wearing costumes by Daniela Gschwendtner and Steven Lee—channeled beloved Disney characters in the hopes of impressing the judges, earning viewers’ votes, and getting one step closer to winning The Len Goodman Mirrorball Trophy.
Mauricio Umansky and pro Emma Slater were the first couple to dust off their dancing shoes, earning a score of 19/30 for their Paso Doble routine to “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice” from Fantasia. After the show, Umansky told D23, “We felt so good. It’s Disney: It’s magic, it’s happy, it’s amazing. We felt great about our dance, and we had a great time. We delivered!” Getting into character as Sorcerer Mickey was a delight, Umansky added: “How lucky am I? I’m literally Mickey Mouse on ‘Disney100 Night’ on live television all around the world. It could not have been better!” Slater agreed the character was the perfect choice for Umansky to embody, saying, “I think Mauricio is the most iconic, happy, positive symbol for hope, enjoyment, excitement, and love. I mean, that’s Mickey Mouse right here!”
Following that number, Mira Sorvino and pro Gleb Savchenko performed a Waltz to Cinderella‘s “A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes.” Although Savchenko had previously performed a Waltz to the same song with Chrishell Stause in Season 29, he said “the choreography, the pace, and the story” were different, just like his “chemistry” with each partner. For Sorvino, Tuesday’s performance marked a turning point in the competition, as her stage fright finally disappeared. “I felt like I was her tonight, because this is my Cinderella story, [doing] Dancing with the Stars,” Sorvino said. “I love dancing so much.”
In the end, the couple earned a score of 21/30.
Next, Barry Williams and pro Peta Murgatroyd performed a Jazz routine to “He’s a Tramp” from Lady and the Tramp, which ended with them sharing a spaghetti noodle. Despite a few “fumbles,” as judge Derek Hough put it, the couple earned a still impressive score of 18/30. “You’re so charming, my man,” Hough reassured Williams. “I just love you to death.”
Jason Mraz and pro Daniella Karagach hit the dance floor next, performing a Foxtrot routine to “A Whole New World” from Aladdin and earning a score of 24/30. Going into next week, Karagach teased, “Without giving away our next dance, it’s going to be even more challenging.” Mraz laughed, saying, “That’s the theme of this whole show! It started out like, ‘You got the hardest dance out of the way.’ Second week: ‘This one’s harder.’ Third week: ‘This one’s very hard.’ This week for me was the hardest dance. Next week, apparently, it’s going to be the hardest dance and very challenging. I’m getting used to it.”
Lele Pons and pro Brandon Armstrong took a walk on the wild side with their Rumba routine to “Can You Feel the Love Tonight” from The Lion King, earning a score of 22/30. “I think it was by far her most confident and her best performance, technically,” Armstrong told D23. “Everything the judges are saying are things we want to keep getting better at. You notice tonight that they did compliment her on fixing things that we had been given [before]. Now they’ve given us more things, and so we’re going to keep working on those.”
As Lumiere, Alyson Hannigan lit up the screen during her Jazz routine with pro Sasha Farber to “Be Our Guest” from Beauty and the Beast. “[With] the wardrobe and the hair and the makeup, it just it was so easy, because the departments did such an incredible job,” she said. “They’re incredible at what they do—all of them! It made it super fun.” After earning a score of 18/30, she vowed to “work on the technical aspect that is not coming easily. I’m trying! I watch a lot of videos when I get home—just dancing, dancing, dancing!”
“Disney100 Night” got even more playful when Harry Jowsey and pro Rylee Arnold performed a Quickstep to “You’ve Got a Friend in Me” from Toy Story, earning a score of 21/30. “I think we did really good,” said Arnold. “I think this is definitely Harry’s best dance. He really brought out the character. We had so much fun on the dance floor, and I was just so proud of him.” Jowsey said he especially enjoyed getting to embrace his “inner child” as Woody. Likewise, when Arnold tried on her costume, she recalled, “I actually felt like Bo Peep. Then, when I saw Harry in his outfit, I was like, ‘Oh, my gosh! He looks like Woody!'”
Next, Xochitl Gomez and Val Chmerkovskiy earned the night’s highest score of 27/30 for their Paso Doble to “Un Poco Loco” from Coco. “Obviously, we’re humbled by the feedback,” Chmerkovskiy said. “It was everything that we worked really hard for, so we’re very fortunate that it came together the way we planned.” Gomez—whose friend, AnthonyGonzalez, voiced Miguel in the hit Pixar Animation Studios film and showed up to support her for the “Disney100 Night” taping—said she was excited to perform the routine. “‘Un Poco Loco’ was literally embedded in my brain for probably two years after Coco came out,” she laughed. Praising Coco’s “incredible soundtrack,” Chmerkovskiy added, “Coco is more than just entertainment; it represents something really important to a lot of people.”
Adrian Peterson and pro Britt Stewart next performed a Viennese Waltz to “Baby Mine” from Dumbo, backed by pianist Chloe Flower—a routine judge Carrie Ann Inaba called “the most touching dance of the night.” They earned their first sevens, for a score of 21/30.
Ariana Madix and pro Pasha Pashkov then performed a Contemporary routine to “Into the Unknown” from Frozen 2, earning a score of 25/30. “I think Elsa is such a powerful and awesome character, and her story is something I really resonate with,” Madix told D23. “It was really fun to get in character.” She also enjoyed seeing the other couples in their Disney best, saying, “Alyson’s candelabra hair? Obsessed! I can’t get enough of it. That needs to go in the Disney Archives. It’s so good. And seeing Mira as Cinderella, looking so elegant and beautiful, and Xochitl’s look—everyone just looks really phenomenal. I love it.”
Not only is Madix a major Disney fan—she’s a former Cast Member at Walt Disney World Resort in Florida! “Honestly, it was such an incredible experience,” she said. “It allowed me to be a part of something that I loved so much as a kid, but also to be a part of something that’s so much bigger than I or any one person could ever be, and that is the Disney magic.”
The night’s final performance came from Charity Lawson and pro Artem Chigvintsev, who performed a Viennese Waltz to “Part of Your World” from The Little Mermaid. After the couple earned a score of 24/30, Chigvintsev confessed, “‘Disney Week’ one of my favorites.” It was Lawson’s favorite thus far, particularly because she is so fond of the live-action reimagining of The Little Mermaid starring Halle Bailey. “It hit different, seeing someone who looks like me,” she said. “Halle was amazing, and she embodied that role so perfectly.”
At the end of the episode, Peterson and Stewart were eliminated.
Dancing with the Stars is simulcast live across both ABC and Disney+ every Tuesday at 8 p.m. ET/PT (in local time zones). Each episode is also available to stream next day on Hulu.