25 Days of Christmas

The 25 Days of Christmas (fully known as The Family Channel's 25 Days of Christmas in 1996 and 1997, Fox Family's 25 Days of Christmas from 1998 to 2000, and ABC Family's 25 Days of Christmas from 2001 to 2015) is an annual programming block that has been shown on the cable channel and its predecessors since 1996. As the title implies, it is shown every year from December 1st to December 25th, and features classic holiday programming (such as Rankin/Bass' TV specials), as well as new Christmas-themed television movies, and occasionally new Christmas-themed episodes of the network's original series. Since 2006, the block has also aired general-interest family movies such as the ' films, ', and various and  films. Starting in 2007, ABC Family extended the "25" days into late November with a companion block called the Countdown to 25 Days of Christmas, which was rebranded as Kickoff to Christmas in 2018.

On October 30, 2017, it was announced that, for the holiday season of 2017, the 25 Days of Christmas would be expanding to also air on the other networks owned by, including ABC, the , , and.

Original movies
Almost every year since the block started in 1996, at least one new TV film is produced for the channel, with two movies being made every year since 2005. Three films were created for the channel in 2007, due to the popularity generated from the previous year. No new original Christmas movies were made for the block in 2002, 2014, or 2015.

Original specials

 * Family Channel / Fox Family / ABC Family / Freeform
 * 1996: Home and Family Christmas Special
 * 2001: Donner
 * 2008: A Miser Brothers' Christmas
 * 2009:
 * Gotta Catch Santa Claus
 * Holly and Hal Moose: Our Uplifting Christmas Adventure
 * 2011: A Very Pink Christmas
 * 2013:
 * Melissa & Joey: "A New Kind of Christmas"
 * Baby Daddy: "Emma's First Christmas"
 * 2014:
 * The Fosters: "Christmas Past"
 * Switched at Birth: "Yuletide Fortune Tellers"
 * Pretty Little Liars: "How the 'A' Stole Christmas"
 * Baby Daddy: "It's a Wonderful Emma"
 * Melissa & Joey: "A Melanie & Josiah Christmas"


 * Disney Channel
 * 2017:
 * Bizarrdvark: "A Killer Robot Christmas"
 * Disney Parks Presents a Disney Channel Holiday Celebration
 * Hotel Transylvania: The Series: "The Fright Before Creepmas"
 * The Lion Guard: "Timon and Pumbaa's Christmas"
 * Mickey and the Roadster Racers: "Happy Hot Diggity Dog Holiday!" / "Happy Holiday Helpers!"
 * Puppy Dog Pals: "A Very Pug Christmas"
 * Sofia the First: "The Mystic Isles: A Very Mystic Wassailia"
 * Stuck in the Middle: "Stuck at Christmas"
 * 2018:
 * Bizzardvark: "Holiday Video Sketchtacular"
 * Disney Parks Presents a 25 Days of Christmas Holiday Party
 * Doc McStuffins: "Doc McStuffins Christmas Special"
 * DuckTales: "Last Christmas!"
 * Fancy Nancy: "Nancy and the Nice List"
 * Muppet Babies: "A Very Muppet Babies Christmas" / "Summer's Super Fabulous Holiday Surprise"
 * Puppy Dog Pals: "A Santa for Bob"


 * Disney XD
 * 2017:
 * Milo Murphy's Law: "A Christmas Peril"
 * Pickle and Peanut: "Tree Lighting" / "A Merry Mocap Musical"
 * Star vs. the Forces of Evil: "Stump Day" / "Holiday Spellcial"


 * Disney Junior
 * 2017:
 * Goldie & Bear: "Winterchime Day"
 * 2018:
 * Elena of Avalor: "Snow Place Like Home"
 * Vampirina: "Nanpire and Grandpop the Greats"

Current non-original programming (2018)
The following is a list of Christmas movies and specials presently featured during the 25 Days of Christmas (as of 2018) that originally either premiered theatrically, direct-to-video, or on another TV network or cable channel. This also includes currently-airing specials that premiered on ABC, the Disney Channel, Disney XD, and Disney Junior before the brand came into use on those channels.

Past programming
The following non-original specials and movies listed below have aired as part of the 25 Days of Christmas on Freeform and its predecessors in past years.


 * Movies


 * An All Dogs Christmas Carol
 * All I Want for Christmas
 * An American Christmas Carol
 * Arthur Christmas
 * Babes in Toyland
 * Borrowed Hearts
 * A Carol Christmas
 * A Chance of Snow
 * The Christmas Box
 * Christmas Eve
 * The Christmas Path
 * A Christmas Romance
 * The Christmas Secret
 * The Christmas Shoes
 * Christmas Town
 * The Christmas Wife
 * The Christmas Wish
 * A Christmas Without Snow
 * A Dennis the Menace Christmas
 * Elf
 * Eloise at Christmastime
 * Ernest Saves Christmas
 * The Family Man
 * Fred Claus
 * Holiday Inn


 * A Holiday to Remember
 * Holidaze
 * Home Alone
 * Home Alone 2: Lost in New York
 * Home Alone 4
 * How the Toys Saved Christmas
 * I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus
 * Jack Frost
 * Jingle All the Way
 * Love Actually
 * Meet the Santas
 * Miracle on 34th Street
 * A Mom for Christmas
 * Mr. St. Nick
 * Mrs. Santa Claus
 * The Munsters' Scary Little Christmas
 * The Muppet Christmas Carol
 * Must Be Santa
 * National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation
 * Naughty or Nice
 * The Night They Saved Christmas
 * Once Upon a Christmas
 * One Christmas
 * The Polar Express
 * Prancer


 * The Preacher's Wife
 * The Prince & Me: A Royal Honeymoon
 * Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July
 * Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and the Island of Misfit Toys
 * Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer: The Movie
 * Santa and Pete
 * Santa and the Three Bears
 * Santa Buddies
 * Santa Claus: The Movie
 * The Santa Clause 2
 * Santa, Jr.
 * Santa Who?
 * Scrooged
 * The Search for Santa Paws
 * Sons of Mistletoe
 * Stealing Christmas
 * To Grandmother's House We Go
 * Twice Upon a Christmas
 * Unlikely Angel
 * A Very Brady Christmas
 * White Christmas
 * Winnie the Pooh: Seasons of Giving


 * TV specials and episodes


 * Aliens First Christmas
 * Annabelle's Wish
 * The Bear Who Slept Through Christmas
 * Benji's Very Own Christmas Story
 * Bugs Bunny's Looney Christmas Tales
 * A Chipmunk Christmas
 * The Christmas Orange
 * The Christmas Pirates
 * Christopher the Christmas Tree
 * Cranberry Christmas
 * Cricket on the Hearth
 * Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas
 * The First Christmas: The Story of the First Christmas Snow
 * A Flintstone Christmas
 * The Forgotten Toys
 * Fraggle Rock: "The Bells of Fraggle Rock"


 * Frosty's Winter Wonderland
 * A Garfield Christmas Special
 * Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer
 * Jack Frost
 * Jingle Bell Rap
 * Kung Fu Panda Holiday
 * The Leprechaun's Christmas Gold
 * The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus
 * The Little Drummer Boy, Book II
 * The Little Rascals Christmas Special
 * Merry Christmas, Mr. Bean
 * Merry Madagascar
 * A Merry Mirthworm Christmas
 * Mickey's Christmas Special
 * A Monster Christmas
 * Nestor, the Long-Eared Christmas Donkey


 * The Night the Animals Talked
 * Noel
 * Pee-wee's Playhouse Christmas Special
 * Pinocchio's Christmas
 * Robbie the Reindeer
 * Rudolph's Shiny New Year
 * Santa's First Christmas
 * Timmy's Gift: A Precious Moments Christmas
 * Timmy's Special Delivery: A Precious Moments Christmas
 * 'Twas the Night Before Christmas
 * We Wish You a Merry Christmas
 * White Christmas
 * The Year Without a Santa Claus
 * Yes Virginia, There is a Santa Claus

Companion block
In 2007, due to popular ratings from the previous year, ABC Family launched a companion block titled the Countdown to 25 Days of Christmas, 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. In 2018, it will be renamed Kick-Off to Christmas and will be expanded to cover the full month of November.

Soundtrack
In 2009,, the record label owned by the Walt Disney Company (which is ABC Family's parent company), released a compilation album titled Songs to Celebrate 25 Days of Christmas. The album featured music from their 2009 special premieres as well as previously released songs that were featured in other programs broadcast on the block, with the notable inclusion of Jimmy Durante's version of Frosty the Snowman from the 1969 TV special, which itself is aired annually on.

Criticism
In recent years, many fans of the 25 Days of Christmas programming block have been upset with the inclusion of such movies as the Harry Potter films, various Disney and Pixar films, and other non-holiday films in the lineup. Fans have also taken issue with the abundance of certain specials and movies being repeated numerous times throughout the block. This has sparked many complaints to the network, via email and their page.