Season’s greetings 2022: an animated festive round-up

Wishing you an animated Christmas!

This December, we’ve rounded up some of our favourite festive releases in the world of animation. Join us as we celebrate the year’s end with new feature films, TV series and even songs that spread the holiday cheer.

Scrooge: A Christmas Carol

Charles Dickens’ ageless legend is reborn in this supernatural, time-travelling, musical adaptation of the definitive Christmas story.

With his very soul on the line, Scrooge has but one Christmas Eve left to face his past and build a better future. Starring Luke Evans as the titular character and featuring re-imagined songs from the legendary Leslie Bricusse OBE, Scrooge: A Christmas Carol is one for a new generation to sing.

Produced by Timeless Films, in association with Axis Studios, this festive picture was released on Netflix in early December. Watch the trailer here and be sure to add it to your watchlist this holiday season.

The Snowman

The Snowman melts hearts once more in Channel 4’s newest Christmas ident.

Created by Lupus Films and 4creative, the short film features the beloved Snowman, Snowdog and James playing in a wintery landscape. The nostalgic hand-crafted animation honours the legacy of Raymond Briggs and celebrates the 40th anniversary of the very first transmission of The Snowman film adaption on Channel 4.

Watch the festive ident here or catch it regularly on-air this holiday season.

Numberblocks

There’s a new holiday jingle in town! Blue Zoo Animations’ top CBeebies children show, Numberblocks, has released their very first festive single, ‘How Many Sleeps ’til Christmas?’.

In keeping with the Numberblocks’ mission to help children discover the wonder and excitement of maths, the lively tune encourages children to follow the advent calendar countdown to Christmas Day. All proceeds from the UK will go to the Children in Need charity, to help support children and families who face hardship this holiday season.

Sing along here and read more about the project here.

The Smeds and The Smoos

When two young aliens from warring families fall in love and run away, their relatives must work together to find them in a chase across outer space. The film stars Adjoa Andoh, Bill Bailey, Rob Brydon, Sally Hawkins, Daniel Ezra, Ashna Rabheru and Meera Syal, with services by Blue Zoo Animation Studio.

Based on the children’s book by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler, this animation marks the tenth time Magic Light Pictures have adapted works by the two authors.

Watch the trailer here and catch it on Christmas Day at 2:30pm on BBC One.

Pinocchio

Academy Award-winning director Guillermo del Toro and award winning, stop-motion legend Mark Gustafson reimagine the classic Carlo Collodi tale of the fabled wooden boy in Netflix’s latest winter release.

Featuring your favourite childhood characters in puppet form, including Pinocchio, Geppetto, Cricket, Volpe, Spazzatura and the Podestà – all crafted by Mackinnon & Saunders – the whimsical production is now available to watch on Netflix.

See the trailer here and queue the film on your holiday watchlist.

Happy the Hoglet

Keep the young ones entertained this Christmas with Paper Owl Films’ latest pre-school show, Happy the Hoglet. In the Sunny River Community Garden, Happy, the grumpy hedgehog, and his friends reflect the emotional ups and downs – and everything in between – of pre-schoolers, modelling emotional resilience for its young audience. The show inspires viewers to look after each other, get outside and work with nature.

Supported by the Young Audiences Content Fund, which celebrated the creation of distinctive, quality content for young audiences, the animation will continue to air on littleBe and RTÉjr throughout December.