If you thought your eyes were deceiving you during Thursday night’s Disney Family Singalong special that aired on ABC, don’t worry about your eyesight.
Odds are, you did see a familiar face.
Champaign mom Mindy Borden and her daughters, Kennedy and Mallory, and their pet Toshiro the cockatiel, were shown on the screen during the program’s finale, “A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes.”
“It was surreal to share the airtime with such celebrities and classic Disney songs that myself and the girls grew up listening to,” Mindy Borden said. “It was also something that I believe strongly in to thank all of our essential workers that are helping to keep our community going. The girls thought that it was awesome.”
Mindy is a beloved occupational therapist in Champaign Unit 4 Schools; she is also well known to chambanamoms readers, partners and event attendees as a key member of the chambanamoms.com team. (Dad/husband Jon Borden was a part of the action too, as the man behind the scenes operating the camera.)
Disney producer Julie Arie, who lives in the Champaign-Urbana area, reached out to a number of local families last week instructing them to submit videos of families singing Disney songs. Disney costumes were strongly suggested.
Of the seven who submitted, only the Bordens made the final cut. Mindy said she was gratified that “it helped to spread happiness and cheer.”
“I’m blown away by people from my hometown and high school who reached out not even knowing we were in the show. They recognized us and people were texting to say that they thought they saw us on TV,” she said.
The special was hosted by Ryan Seacrest, and included an animated character who guided on-screen lyrics to classic Disney songs from “Beauty and the Beast,” “The Little Mermaid,” “Toy Story,” “Moana,” “Frozen,” “High School Musical” and other films.
Special guests included Christina Aguilera, Erin Andrews, Bobby Bones, Michael Bublé, Kristin Chenoweth, Aulii Cravalho, Luke Evans, Jordan Fisher, Josh Gad, Derek Hough, Julianne Hough, Carrie Ann Inaba, Little Big Town, Kenny Ortega, Donny Osmond, Thomas Rhett, Amber Riley, John Stamos, and many more.
Want to participate in the CU Singalong on April 25? Check out more info HERE.