'Haunted Mansion' Cast Skips Premiere Amid Actors Strike, Disneyland Characters Walk Carpet Instead

The red carpet premiere of Disney’s new movie Haunted Mansion took place this weekend, but none of the cast members were able to attend because of the SAG-AFTRA strike.

Instead, Disney characters walked the red carpet at the event held at Disneyland Resort on Sunday (July 15) in Anaheim, Calif.

Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Cruella De Vil, Maleficent, and Snow White’s Evil Queen were among the characters who were seen on the carpet right outside the Haunted Mansion ride.

The film’s director Justin Simien did attend. On the carpet, he talked about being at the event without the cast.

“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 honor her words and to honor their work,” Justin told THR. “If they can’t be here to speak for it, I felt like I had to be here to speak for it. It’s sad that they’re not here, 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.” He also noted that he finds the AI issues coming up in SAG-AFTRA’s negotiations to be “a very important thing to hammer home and to figure out.”

Check out the trailer for the movie, which hits theaters on July 28.