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25DaysOfChristmasLogo

The current logo for ABC Family's 25 Days of Christmas.

File:Original 25 Days of Christmas logo.jpg

The original logo for the Family Channel's 25 Days of Christmas, used in 1997.

FoxFamilys25DaysOfXmasLogo

The logo for Fox Family's 25 Days of Christmas from 1998 and 1999.

FoxFamilys25DaysOfXmasPromoShot

Another variant of the 1998-99 logo for Fox Family's 25 Days of Christmas.

FoxFamily25DaysOfChristmas PrintAd

A print advertisement promoting the event in 1998 (oddly using the logo from the Family Channel era).

25 Days of Christmas logo from 2001

One of several variations of the block's logo used during the first year of the ABC Family era (2001).

25 Days of Christmas logo from 2003

The logo used in 2003.

The 25 Days of Christmas (also currently 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, 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 Harry Potter films, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, and various Walt Disney Animation Studios films. Starting in 2007, ABC Family extended the "25" days into late November with a Countdown to 25 Days of Christmas block.

Original programming

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.[1] No new original Christmas movies were made for the block in 2002 or 2014.

Movie Year
The Family Channel
Christmas Every Day 1996
The Christmas List 1997
Fox Family
Like Father, Like Santa 1998
The Ghosts of Christmas Eve 1999
Special Delivery 2000
ABC Family
Three Days 2001
Picking Up & Dropping Off 2003
Snow 2004
The Polar Express 2005-2014
Christmas in Boston 2005
Chasing Christmas
Santa Baby 2006
Christmas Do-Over
Christmas Caper 2007
Holiday in Handcuffs
Snowglobe
Snow 2: Brain Freeze 2008
Christmas in Wonderland*
The Dog Who Saved Christmas 2009
Santa Baby 2: Christmas Maybe
The Dog Who Saved Christmas Vacation 2010
Christmas Cupid
Desperately Seeking Santa 2011
12 Dates of Christmas
Home Alone: The Holiday Heist [2] 2012
The Mistle-tones [3]
Christmas Bounty 2013
Home Again
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer 2015

* - This was released in Canada theatrically, but made its US debut on television.

Original specials

Special Year
Home and Family Christmas Special 1996
Donner 2001
A Miser Brothers' Christmas 2008
Gotta Catch Santa Claus [4] 2009
Holly and Hal Moose: Our Uplifting Christmas Adventure
A Very Pink Christmas 2011
Melissa & Joey: "A New Kind of Christmas" 2013
Baby Daddy: "Emma's First Christmas"
The Fosters: "Christmas Past" 2014
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"

Acquired programming

Current acquired programming

The following non-original (meaning that they originally premiered theatrically, direct-to-video, or on another TV network or cable channel) Christmas movies are, as of 2014, presently featured during the 25 Days of Christmas (including the Countdown to 25 Days of Christmas).

Movies
Specials

Past acquired programming

The following non-original specials and movies listed below have aired as part of the 25 Days of Christmas in past years.

Movies
Specials

Countdown to The 25 Days of Christmas

Countdown to 25 Days of Christmas logo

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 [5], 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 included the basic cable debuts of Disney's Aladdin, the live-action Garfield movie, and the ABC Family debut of the Hallmark Channel's A Carol Christmas. The 2009 event saw the basic cable premieres 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. In 2010, the event, which began on November 21, included The Dog Who Saved Christmas Vacation.

Soundtrack

Main article: Songs to Celebrate 25 Days of Christmas

In 2009, Walt Disney Records, 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 inclusion of Jimmy Durante's version of Frosty the Snowman from the 1969 TV special, which itself is aired annually on CBS.

Controversy

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. This has sparked many complaints to ABC Family, via email and their Facebook page.[6]

References

External links

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