ABC Family's 25 Days of Christmas
From Christmas Specials Wiki
The 25 Days of Christmas (also known as ABC Family's 25 Days of Christmas, previously known as Fox Family's 25 Days of Christmas and "The Family Channel's 25 Days of Christmas") is an annual programming block that has been shown on ABC Family and its predecessors since 1996. As the title implies, the special is shown every year from December 1 to December 25, and features classic holiday programming (such as Rankin/Bass' TV specials), as well as new television movies. ABC Family is owned (as of 2009) by The Walt Disney Company through their Disney/ABC Cable Television divison.
Contents |
[edit] List of Original Specials
- 1996 - Home and Family Christmas Special
- Holiday Beefs
[edit] List of Original Movies
Most years, at least one new TV film is produced for the channel. However, starting in 2004, two TV films were produced. In 2007, three films were created for the channel, due to the popularity generated from the previous year. [2]
The Family Channel's 25 Days of Christmas
- 1996 - Christmas Every Day
- 1997 - The Christmas List
Fox Family's 25 Days of Christmas
- 1998 - Like Father, Like Santa
- 1999 - Ghosts of Christmas Eve
- 2000 - Special Delivery
ABC Family's 25 Days of Christmas
- 2001 - Donner; Three Days
- 2002 - None.
- 2003 - Celine Dion, One Year, One Heart
- 2004 - Red Boots for Christmas; Snow
- 2005 - Christmas in Boston; Chasing Christmas
- 2006 - Santa Baby; Christmas Do-Over
- 2007 - Christmas Caper; Holiday in Handcuffs; Snowglobe
- 2008 - Snow 2 Brain Freeze; Christmas in Wonderland*
- 2009 - The Dog Who Saved Christmas; Santa Baby 2: Christmas Maybe.
* - This was released in Canada theatrically, but this will mark the American television debut.
[edit] Christmas Movies
The following are movies that are regularly broadcast every year, but were not made by ABC Family.
- Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and the Island of Misfit Toys
- Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July
- Home Alone 2
- Home Alone 3
- Home Alone 4
- The Santa Clause 2
- The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause
- The Polar Express
- Unaccompanied Minors
- Jingle All the Way
- Richie Rich's Christmas Wish
- A Dennis the Menace Christmas
- I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus
- A Carol Christmas
- Eloise at Christmastime
- To Grandmother's House We Go
- A Very Brady Christmas
- Jack Frost (1998 film)
[edit] Christmas Specials
The following specials have been featured during the programming block:
[edit] Current
- Little Drummer Boy
- The Little Drummer Boy, Book II
- 'Twas the Night Before Christmas
- The Cat in the Hat
- Dr. Seuss on the Loose
- Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town
- The Year Without a Santa Claus
- Frosty's Winter Wonderland
- Rudolph's Shiny New Year
- Jack Frost
- The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus
- Pinocchio's Christmas
- Nestor, the Long-Eared Christmas Donkey
- Mickey's Christmas Carol
- Winnie the Pooh and Christmas Too!
- A Miser Brothers Christmas, the Warner Bros made sequel to The Year Without A Santa Claus.
- Phineas and Ferb Christmas Vacation!
- Prep & Landing
- A Garfield Christmas Special
- A Flintstone Christmas
- The Little Rascals Christmas Special
- Cranberry Christmas
- Gotta Catch Santa Claus
[edit] Past Christmas Specials
- How the Grinch Stole Christmas! (still airs on sister outlet ABC, although the program is owned by Time Warner and also airs on TBS and Cartoon Network)
[edit] Countdown to The 25 Days of Christmas
In 2007, due to popular ratings from the previous year, ABC Family launched the first official countdown to the programming block, which began on November 23, the day after Thanksgiving.
Although this was the first official early start [1], in recent years, holiday programming has begun during the last week of November, showing mostly older original films, some of which pertained to Christmas and some that did not. The 2008 countdown began on November 16th of that year, and included basic cable debuts of Disney's Aladdin, Garfield and the ABC Family debut of Hallmark Channel's A Carol Christmas. The 2009 event, which started on November 10 saw the basic cable premieres of The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe, Disney's animated films Lilo and Stitch and Hercules, and the ABC Family original film The Dog Who Saved Christmas.
[edit] Soundtrack
In 2009, Walt Disney Records, which is owned by The Walt Disney Company, ABC Family's owner, released a compilation album titled Songs to Celebrate 25 Days of Christmas, featuring a compilation of music from their 2009 special premieres as well as previously released songs that were featured in programs with the exception of among others Jimmy Durante's version of Frosty the Snowman from the 1969 TV special that has aired on CBS.
