Christmas in the Heartland

A father, who can't keep his promises, dies in a car accident. One year later, he returns as a snowman, who has the final chance to put things right with his son before he is gone forever.

Tired of scaring humans every October 31 with the same old bag of tricks, Jack Skellington, the spindly king of Halloween Town, kidnaps Santa Claus and plans to deliver shrunken heads and other ghoulish gifts to children on Christmas morning. But as Christmas approaches, Jack's rag-doll girlfriend, Sally, tries to foil his misguided plans.

Mog feels a little ignored during the Thomas family's Christmas preparations. When she spots the huge Christmas tree, she freaks out and climbs to the roof, where she refuses to move no matter how hard the family tries.

When a petty thief learns that his latest mark is a struggling single mother who works at a homeless shelter, he decides to use his savvy street smarts to make this Christmas one to remember for her and her young son.

While trapped on the island of Madagascar, the Central Park Zoo escapees receive a visit from Santa-crash landing on their territory and getting amnesia to boot! The animals must help Santa assume his rightful place in the universe, while King Julian laps up the opportunity for his subjects.

A young reindeer named Niko dreams about flying like his father, whom he has never met. Despite constant teasing from others, he sneaks out of his home valley to take flying lessons from Julius, a flying squirrel.

When the evil Krad steals Santa's toy bag, he crushes the holiday spirit- and over time, the world's children forget all about Christmas. Now, a wide-eyed orphan and her band of friends will embark on the polar adventure of a lifetime, as they try to stop Krad from destroying Christmas once and for all!

Miser Ebenezer Scrooge is awakened on Christmas Eve by spirits who reveal to him his own miserable existence, what opportunities he wasted in his youth, his current cruelties, and the dire fate that awaits him if he does not change his ways. Scrooge is faced with his own story of growing bitterness and meanness, and must decide what his own future will hold: death or redemption.

After being kidnapped and escaping, young drummer boy Aaron searches for his camel and finds him in the Nativity of the Baby Jesus. Aaron gives Baby Jesus the only gift he has, a song on his drum.

As the holiday season rolls around and all the Peanuts gang are getting ready for it. Whether it be Charlie Brown struggling to raise money for his girlfriend or Sally and Peppermint Patty struggling to rehearse and memorize their one word lines for the Christmas pageant, these kids try to keep with the Christmas spirit while Snoopy has his mischief to do.

This Christmas film, created as a special for television broadcast throughout the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania viewing region, was produced by puppeteer Mabel Beaton and her husband Les for Bell Telephone Company and first aired in 1953. Following a short live-action opening portion, featured are two extended marionette segments, the first dramatizing Clement Moore's "A Visit from St. Nicholas", the second reverently telling the Nativity story; the two stories are staged in classic, traditional style. From 1953 onward, for several years, The Spirit of Christmas was broadcast in the intended region multiple times per holiday season. It was also available as a 16mm film licensed to schools for showings to students. This film often is misstated to have originally been broadcast in 1950.