It’s the holiday season, and Apple TV+ has a variety of fitting titles for getting in the spirit. Here are three must-see holiday specials I highly recommend: one’s a movie, another’s a fun short based on a beloved property, and finally there’s a TV classic.
Spirited
Ryan Reynolds is one of the biggest stars currently working in Hollywood. Recently he was in the wildly popular Deadpool and Wolverine, but did you know Reynolds also starred in a holiday musical comedy for Apple TV+?
Spirited is, in my view, a modern-day Christmas classic. It pairs Reynolds with Will Ferrell for a fresh twist on Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. Even if you think you’ve seen one too many Scrooge movies in your life, Spirited is well worth your time.
Here’s Apple’s summary:
Each Christmas Eve, the Ghost of Christmas Present (Will Ferrell) selects one dark soul to be reformed by a visit from three spirits. But this season, he picked the wrong Scrooge. Clint Briggs (Ryan Reynolds) turns the tables on his ghostly host until Present finds himself reexamining his own past, present and future. For the first time, “A Christmas Carol” is told from the perspective of the ghosts in this hilarious musical twist on the classic Dickens tale.
If you’re really against musicals, maybe Spirited won’t be for you. But the music here is especially great, hailing from the duo behind La La Land, The Greatest Showman, and more.
Spirited is available now exclusively for Apple TV+ subscribers.
Ted Lasso: The Missing Christmas Mustache
Ted Lasso, the quintessential Apple TV+ series, produced a fun claymation short for the holidays.
Ted Lasso: The Missing Christmas Mustache is less than five minutes long, but it’s a fun way to celebrate the Christmas tradition of claymation classics like Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.
From the team that brought kindness back, “Ted Lasso: The Missing Christmas Mustache” is a stop-motion short, featuring the voice talents of the beloved ensemble cast as they help Ted search for a lost item that ultimately leads him to realize the meaning of the holiday season. The holiday short stars Jason Sudeikis, Hannah Waddingham, Brendan Hunt, Jeremy Swift, Juno Temple, Brett Goldstein, Phil Dunster and Nick Mohammed.
Apple has made the short available free on YouTube, so you don’t even need a TV+ subscription.
However, if you are an Apple TV+ subscriber, I also recommend rewatching some of Lasso’s holiday episodes, and also checking out the lovely Hannah Waddingham: Home for Christmas.
A Charlie Brown Christmas
Nearly the entire Apple TV+ library consists of originals, but Peanuts is one of the very few examples of TV+ content that is not original to Apple.
Apple has produced its own brand-new Peanuts content, but it’s also licensed a variety of classic TV specials and made them available to Apple TV+ subscribers.
A Charlie Brown Christmas probably needs no introduction from me, as it’s annual viewing for a lot of families. But in case you need a show summary, here you go:
In this beloved Peanuts special, feeling down about the commercialism of Christmas, Lucy recruits Charlie Brown to be the director of the gang’s holiday play. Can he overcome his friends’ preference for dancing over acting, find the “perfect” tree and discover the true meaning of Christmas?
What are your favorite Apple TV+ holiday go-tos? Let us know in the comments.
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