25 Days of Christmas

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.

List of Original Specials

 * 1996 - Home and Family Christmas Special
 * Holiday Beefs

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. 

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 - Santa Baby Too.
 * - This was released in Canada theatrically, but this will mark the American television debut.

Christmas Specials
The following specials have been featured during the programming block:

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
 * Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July
 * Jack Frost
 * The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus
 * Pinocchio's Christmas
 * Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and the Island of Misfit Toys
 * Nestor, the Long-Eared Christmas Donkey
 * A Miser Brothers Christmas, the Warner Bros made sequel to The Year Without A Santa Claus.
 * Phineas and Ferb's Christmas Vacation
 * Prep and Landing

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)

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, 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.

ABC Family continues this for 2009, which starts on November 10. Among the movies and specials that will air in 2009 are basic cable debuts 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.