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Star gazing

Fans meet celebrities at ABC Primetime Preview Weekend

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At 4 p.m., the Parade of Stars made its way through the park. All the celebrities were riding in dozens of Chrysler Sebring convertible cars. The afternoon was still over 100 degrees, but the stars kept the smiles going and seeming to be in good spirits. The parade lasted about 15 minutes with a steady stream of cars, celebrities, smiles and waves, and park visitors were thrilled at the chances to see all their favorite ABC stars on one place.

Ty Pennington & Michael Moloney (Extreme Makeover: Home Edition) in the parade. Photo by Frank Anzalone.

The cast of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition was especially having fun with the guests. They were the only ones in the parade that were not “actors,” and they were thrilled to be included in this celebrity circle.

Kelly Osbourne and Goofy in the parade. Photo by Frank Anzalone.

There were also a few stars who had rode with Disney character stars. Kelly Osbourne (Life as we Know It) rode with Goofy, George Lopez (George Lopez Show) rode with Donald Duck, Chris Harrison (The Bachelor) rode with Minnie, and Mark Cuban (The Benefactor) rode with Pluto.

George Lopez rides with Donald Duck in the Parade of Stars through Disney's California Adventure during the 2004 ABC Primetime Preview Event. Photo by Frank Anzalone.

Besides meeting with park visitors, the ABC celebrities are busy promoting their shows with both local and national media. Kimberly Williams and Jim Belushi do a radio spot for 94.1 FM San Diego during the 2004 ABC Primetime Preview Event. Photo by Frank Anzalone.

The highlight of Saturday evening was a concert at the Golden State Amphitheater with Jim Belushi and the Sacred Hearts. Made up of semi-professional musicians with “day jobs” who are just “friends getting together to jam,” the band played solid R&B material with real live vocals and instruments (nothing prerecorded or synthesized).

Jim Belushi works the concert crowd on a beautifully warm Southern California evening during the 2004 ABC Primetime Preview Weekend held in Disney's California Adventure. Photo by Frank Anzalone.

The opening song, “Sweet Home Chicago,” got everyone clapping and toe-tapping, but the song that brought down the house was an awesome rendition of “Soul Man.” Jim and the boys in the band really had the audience feeling as if they were on stage with them just having a great big party time. There were times when Jim would bring an audience member to the stage to join in on the dancing… and there were times he would go out into the audience to sing and dance among them. Belushi demonstrated his versatile abilities and was a true showman, a man of many talents.

Jim Belushi and the Sacred Hearts concert at DCA. Photo by Frank Anzalone.

Overall, Disney made great efforts to showcase the stars and their shows with the added benefit of the boosting the attendance draw to the theme park without the obvious “in your face” promotion of the product. Call it want you want: Co-op advertising, cross merchandising or company synergy… for the Walt Disney Company and its subsidiary, ABC… it worked!

For the third year in a row, Disneyland and ABC displayed corporate synergy as Disney's California Adventure hosted the ABC Primetime Weekend event on September 10, 11 and 12.

The following actors were scheduled to appear in person on either Saturday, September 11, or Sunday, September 12:

The cast of Less Than Perfect. Photo by Frank Anzalone.

Less Than Perfect – Sara Rue, Andrea Parker, Sherrie Shepherd, Eric Roberts, Zachery Levi, Will Sasso, Patrick Warburton

Eva Longoria is one of the stars of of the new ABC-TV show Desperate Housewives. Photo by Frank Anzalone.

Desperate Housewives – Teri Hatcher, Eva Longoria, James Denton, Ricardo Antonio Chavira, Stephen Culp, Nicolette Sheridan, Marcia Cross, Felicity Huffman

James Denton is “Mike Delfino” on Desperate Housewives. Photo by Frank Anzalone.

The George Lopez Show – George Lopez, Constance Marie, Masiela Lusha, Belita Moreno, Luis Armand Garcia, Valente Rodriguez

Lost – Matthew Fox, Evangeline Lilly, Dominic Monaghan, Harold Perrineau

The cast of “life as we know it.” Photo by Frank Anzalone.

“life as we know it” – Sean Faris, Chris Lowell, Kelly Osbourne

The Bachelor – Chris Harrison

Mickey Mouse shirt-donning Chris Harrison, host of The Bachelor, responds to questions during a media interview. Photo by Frank Anzalone.

The Benefactor – Mark Cuban

The cast of Complete Savages. Photo by Frank Anzalone.

Complete Savages – Keith Carradine, Andrew Eiden, Shaun Sipos, Jason Dolley, Erik von Detten, Evan Ellingson, Vincent Ventresca

Park visitor Barbara Kessenich (center) was rewarded for her patience with a photo opportunity with the cast of According to Jim. Photo by Frank Anzalone.

According to Jim – Jim Belushi, Kimberly Williams-Paisley, Courtney Thorne Smith, Larry Joe Campbell

Extreme Makeover: Home Edition – Ty Pennington, Constance Ramos, Paul DiMeo, Michael Moloney, Tracy Hutson, Preston Sharp, Sweet Alice Harris

The cast of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition: Sweet Alice Harris, Constance Ramos, Michael Moloney (the guy with the always friendly big smile), Tracy Huston, Ty Pennington, Paul DiMeo. This cast was one of the more popular with the guests. One guest said she waited in line for over two hours to have a moment with this cast during their photo op appearance.. Photo by Frank Anzalone.

Jim Belushi and the Sacred Hearts

For information on our coverage of previous years' events, see our 2003 coverage or 2002 coverage.

Thoughts, questions, or comments? Contact Frank through our Mailbag here.

We are very happy to introduce to you our newest photographer, Frank Anzalone. As you can see from this article, Frank has a keen eye and the skill to deliver his vision.

Frank is a mild-mannered real estate broker by day, but his true passion is his professional band, Sage, and his photography. His Web site, Mckyfoto.com, sports an impressive collection of Disney photos from his period as an official photographer for Disney Magazine.

Frank shot all of the photos for this article with a Nikon D100 digital camera with a 24-85 zoom and 70-300 zoom lenses, and uses a Nikon flash for fill light.

Frank lives in Northern California with his wife, Karen. Premium annual passholders, the Anzalones visit Disneyland as time permits in their busy schedule.

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