Disney's 5 Best Animated Christmas Specials

For most children, and quite a few grown ups as well, watching cartoon Christmas specials is a much loved part of the holiday season. From classics like the Looney Tunes or Hanna-Barbera, to more modern fare such as that produced by Nickelodeon, nearly every studio has at least a few beloved specials to their name.

Due to their status as the rarely disputed King of animation, it is understandable that Disney has produced a large number of high-quality animated Christmas specials. To celebrate the Christmas season, let's look at five of the best.

1. Mickey's Magical Christmas: Snowed In at the House of Mouse

Mickey's Magical Christmas: Snowed In at the House of Mouse was a direct-to-video special released in 2001. Based on the premise of the House of Mouse animated series, the special has a large group of classic Disney characters trapped inside Mickey Mouse's dinner theatre restaurant, the House of Mouse, after a snowstorm blocks the exits. Wanting to make the best of the situation, Mickey decides to throw an impromptu Christmas party for the trapped guests. Unfortunately, Mickey struggles to get Donald Duck into the spirit of Christmas.

Aside from a few new shorts created just for the special, including Mickey and Minnie in the Nutcracker, Mickey's Magical Christmas also includes the classic shorts Pluto's Christmas Tree and Mickey's Christmas Carol. To the disappointment of many fans, the film is not currently available on Disney Plus. However, there is hope that this may change in 2022, when the House of Mouse series is rumoured to be making it's debut on the service.

2. Winnie The Pooh: A Very Merry Pooh Year

Released on video and DVD in 2002, and currently available on Disney Plus, Winnie The Pooh: A Very Merry Pooh Year is a favourite with both Pooh fans, and general Disney fans. The special opens with Pooh and his friends gathering on Christmas Eve, where they soon begin reminiscing on an eventful Christmas ofthe past. Later, the gang make New Year's resolutions to change their ways in order to keep a frustrated Rabbit from leaving the Hundred-Acre Wood.

The special consists of a digitally restored version of the earlier special Winnie The Pooh and Christmas Too, and a new story, Happy Pooh Year. The voice cast also recorded holiday songs such as Jingle Bells and Auld Lang Syne for the film.

3. Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas

Released in 1997, Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas was a sequel/midquel to the original film, as well as a Christmas movie. The film opens with Mrs. Potts deciding to tell Chip the story of how Christmas came back to the Castle. Sometime before the spell was broken, Belle, against the Beast's wishes, begins to help the enchanted servants plan for Christmas. The Beast slowly comes around, but Forte, an organ who used to be the Court Composer, would prefer that The Beast never breaks the spell.

For many fans, The Enchanted Christmas is a holiday staple, and a much loved classic.

4. Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas

Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas was a direct-to-video feature released in late 1999. It is a package film, consisting of three shorts: 'Christmas Everyday', in which Huey, Dewey, and Louie become trapped in a Christmas time loop, 'A Very Goofy Christmas', which sees Goofy try to restore Max's belief in Santa, and 'Mickey and Minnie's Gift of the Magi', an adaptation of the classic story starring Mickey and Minnie Mouse.

Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas proved so sucessful that a CGI-animated sequel, Mickey's Twice Upon A Christmas, was released in 2004.

5. The Small One

The Small One is a Christmas-themed Disney short released in 1975. The story centres on a young boy, who is told that his favourite donkey, Small One, has grown too old to work and must be sold. Though upset at the news, the boy offers to take Small One to Market himself, and promises the donkey that he will find a 'Friendly Face' to care for him. Unfortunately, this proves to be easier said than done.

With many of Disney's old guard either having passed away or retired by the early 1970s, The Small One, based on a novelette by Charles Tazewell, was commissioned as a 'starter project' for the next generation of Disney animators. The featurette was directed by Don Bluth, who eventually founded his own studio, producing cult classics such as All Dogs Go To Heaven and The Land Before Time.

Christmas is a time to spend with family, and Disney is still the biggest name there is in family-friendly entertainment. If you're looking for a special to watch with your own family this holiday season, perhaps something from this list is worth a try.