Eddie Asner was an American actor. He is most notable for portraying Lou Grant during the 1970s and early 1980s, on both The Mary Tyler Moore Show and its spin-off series Lou Grant, making him one of the few television actors to portray the same character in both a comedy and a drama.
Olive, the Other Reindeer is a 1999 American animated Christmas comedy musical film written by Steve Young, based on the 1997 children's book by Vivian Walsh and J. Otto Seibold, and directed by Academy Award-nominated animator Steve Moore. The feature was produced by Matt Groening's The Curiosity Company and animated by DNA Productions. Drew Barrymore voices the title character, and she is credited as an executive producer on the special.
Mickey's Twice Upon a Christmas is a 2004 American Direct-to-video animated Christmas anthology fantasy film produced by Disneytoon Studios and directed by Matthew O'Callaghan. The film includes stories directed by Peggy Holmes, O'Callaghan, Theresa Cullen, and Carole Holliday. It is the sequel to Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas (1999). It features Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Pluto, Goofy, Max, Donald Duck, Daisy Duck, Huey, Dewey, and Louie, and Scrooge McDuck, in five different segments rather than three like its predecessor. It received generally positive reviews from critics.
The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus is a 1902 children's book, written by L. Frank Baum and illustrated by Mary Cowles Clark.
The Year Without a Santa Claus is a 1974 stop motion animated Christmas television special produced by Rankin/Bass Productions. The story is based on Phyllis McGinley's 1956 book of the same name. It is narrated by Shirley Booth and starring the voices of Mickey Rooney, Dick Shawn, and George S. Irving. It was originally broadcast on December 10, 1974, on ABC.
How the Grinch Stole Christmas! is a 1966 American animated television special, directed and co-produced by Chuck Jones. Based on the 1957 children's book of the same name by Dr. Seuss, the special features the voice of Boris Karloff as the Grinch. It tells the story of the Grinch, who tries to ruin Christmas for the townsfolk of Whoville below his mountain hideaway.
Motion pictures featuring Santa Claus constitute their own subgenre of the Christmas film genre. Early films of Santa revolve around similar simple plots of Santa's Christmas Eve visit to children. In 1897, in a short film called Santa Claus Filling Stockings, Santa Claus is simply filling stockings from his pack of toys. Another film called Santa Claus and the Children was made in 1898. A year later, a film directed by George Albert Smith titled Santa Claus was created. In this picture, Santa Claus enters the room from the fireplace and proceeds to trim the tree. He then fills the stockings that were previously hung on the mantle by the children. After walking backward and surveying his work, he suddenly darts at the fireplace and disappears up the chimney.
Freeform's 25 Days of Christmas is an American annual seasonal event of Christmas programming broadcast during the month of December by the U.S. cable network Freeform. The event was first held in 1996, and has been an annual fixture of the channel through its various incarnations, including The Family Channel, Fox Family, ABC Family, and Freeform. The brand covers airings of classic holiday specials as well as new Christmas-themed television movies each year; generally few of the network's original series air during the time period, outside of Christmas-themed episodes. In 2006, the lineup has also included airings of general, family films that Freeform holds rights to, which included the Harry Potter films until January 2017, and other Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures films. In 2007, the block was extended to November with a Countdown to 25 Days of Christmas block. 25 Days of Christmas programming often attracts major surges in viewership for Freeform, with higher-profile film airings often attracting 3–4 million viewers or more.
"Christmas Special" is the sixth episode of the third season of the American television comedy series 30 Rock. It was written by executive story editor Kay Cannon, and series' creator, executive producer and lead actress Tina Fey. The director of this episode was series producer Don Scardino. The episode originally aired on December 11, 2008 on NBC.
Christmas Comes to Pac-Land is a 1982 American animated Christmas television special of the Saturday morning animated series Pac-Man based on the video game, produced by Hanna-Barbera. It premiered in prime time on ABC on December 16, 1982. The film was ranked #38 in the Nielsen Ratings published the next week.
The Story of Santa Claus is a 1996 CBS animated television special directed by Toby Bluth. It features the voices of Ed Asner, Betty White, and Tim Curry.
StoryBots is an American children's media franchise including an educational TV series, books, videos, music, games, classroom activities, and the Netflix series Ask the StoryBots, StoryBots: Answer Time, StoryBots: Super Silly Stories with Bo, and StoryBots Super Songs.
How Murray Saved Christmas is a 2014 animated musical television special, directed by Peter Avanzino and written by Mike Reiss. The story, narrated in verse, is based on Reiss's 2000 picture book of the same name. Voice actors included Jerry Stiller, Sean Hayes, Kevin Michael Richardson, Jason Alexander, John Ratzenberger, and Dennis Haysbert.
Elf: Buddy's Musical Christmas is a 2014 American stop-motion animated Christmas musical television special produced by Warner Bros. Animation, directed by Mark Caballero and Seamus Walsh and written by Aaron Horvath, Michael Jelenic, Bob Martin and Thomas Meehan. It is based on the 2003 film Elf and the Broadway theatre musical Elf: The Musical. While Ed Asner reprises his role of Santa Claus from the film, the rest of the cast consists of Jim Parsons, Mark Hamill, Kate Micucci, Max Charles, and Rachael MacFarlane. The special premiered on December 16, 2014, on NBC.
A Very Murray Christmas is a 2015 American Christmas musical comedy film directed by Sofia Coppola and co-written by Bill Murray, Mitch Glazer, and Coppola. The film features an ensemble cast including Bill Murray, George Clooney, Paul Shaffer, Amy Poehler, Julie White, Dimitri Dimitrov, Michael Cera, Chris Rock, David Johansen, Maya Rudolph, Jason Schwartzman, Jenny Lewis, Rashida Jones, and Miley Cyrus and was released on December 4, 2015, on Netflix.
Ask the StoryBots is an American live-action/animated children's television series based on the characters from the StoryBots educational website and videos. It premiered exclusively on Netflix on August 12, 2016. Originally created and produced by JibJab Bros. Studios, the StoryBots media franchise was fully acquired by Netflix in May 2019.
StoryBots Super Songs is an American animated children's television series based on the characters from the StoryBots educational apps and videos. It was produced by JibJab Productions and released by Rainmaker Entertainment in collaboration with Powerhouse Animation Studios. Episodes have also been released in full monthly on StoryBots' official YouTube channel.
Saving Christmas is a Christmas comedy-drama film about a middle school student who decides to prove that Santa Claus is real. Directed and co-written by Tom DeNucci, it stars Ed Asner, Brooke Langton, and Patrick Muldoon. It was released direct-to-video on November 21, 2017.
Jeff Gill is an American animator, director, and voice actor. He is best known for animating on the show South Park as well as his work with StoryBots in which he voices the character Bing. He directed the series StoryBots Super Songs and has won multiple Emmy awards for his work on Ask the StoryBots including Outstanding Directing in an Animated Program and Outstanding Writing for a Preschool Animated Program.
