By Courtney Potter Walt Disney had a knack for celebrating the holidays… surprising the Inking and Painting Department in December 1939 (during the making of Pinocchio) with a pushcart of festively wrapped presents and lots of Christmas cheer, helping create all manner of holiday tunes through Walt Disney Records, and even premiering the very first …
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By Nicole Nalty Whether it’s Mickey and Minnie exchanging gifts in Mickey’s Once Upon a Christmas, or Lady popping up out of a hatbox on Christmas in Lady and the Tramp, there’s something about holiday moments in Disney films that have just an extra sprinkling of pixie dust. Our friends at the Animation Research Library …
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By Courtney Potter Now that it’s only a handful of sleeps ‘til Christmas, we decided to take a look at one of our yuletide favorites! Charles Dickens published his now-legendary novella, A Christmas Carol, on December 19, 1843. And on December 11, 1992—Disney released the fourth Muppets movie, The Muppet Christmas Carol. The first feature …
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“Giving appreciation—showing it—is fully as important as getting it in our everyday relations,” Walt Disney once wrote. And the world’s showman certainly showed his appreciation to families and children by sending them gifts every holiday season. In the anterooms of his office suite, Walt’s secretaries managed a gift list for hundreds of children around the …
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For decades, families have enjoyed the Emporium’s whimsical window displays on Main Street, U.S.A., both at Disneyland and Walt Disney World. One of the most memorable of these is a series of vignettes telling the story of Mickey’s Christmas Carol (1983), the Academy Award®-nominated featurette based on the classic tale by Charles Dickens. Here, we …
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The year was 1929. A young Walt Disney is sitting in the bustling lobby of a New York City hotel when a man approached with an intriguing offer. Soon after, the very first licensed Mickey Mouse merchandise item was born: a children’s writing tablet featuring the world-famous mouse. In the years that followed, Christmas would …
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Watch animator Eric Goldberg—whose hand is behind some truly “animated” stars from the Genie (Aladdin) to Louis the alligator (The Princess and the Frog)—draw favorite Disney characters in an exclusive piece of artwork! After watching, don’t forget to download your own copy of this piece—created by Eric especially for D23 Days of Christmas.
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Walt Disney Archives director Becky Cline shares the history of the holiday tradition at Disneyland and Walt Disney World Resort. The Candlelight Procession and Ceremony is one of the oldest and most beloved traditions in the 65-year history of Disney theme parks. When Disneyland celebrated its first Holiday Festival in 1955, a group of 12 …
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Tchaikovsky’s 1892 ballet The Nutcracker has become a holiday favorite. To celebrate this enduring classic and seasonal hallmark, Disney historian and author Alexander Rannie takes a fond look back at the stunningly beautiful Nutcracker Suite sequence from Fantasia. 1. Americans had never seen the complete Nutcracker ballet when Fantasia premiered in 1940 It wouldn’t seem …
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One of the most beloved holiday films in the Disney canon is Santa’s Workshop, a Silly Symphony cartoon first released December 10, 1932, and presented here for D23 Days of Christmas. The story begins in a distant land, where Santa Claus and a merry band of elves prepare for the famous sleigh ride on Christmas …
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