ABC Family’s 25 Days of Christmas – December 9

Tune in to ABC Family tonight for some holiday classics and a little something new. The Gruffalo is an ABC Family original that’s sure to delight the whole family. Rudolph, the Miser brothers and Santa are all part of tonight’s lineup in the 25 Days of Christmas. Enjoy!

(6:00–7:00 PM ET/PT) RUDOLPH’S SHINY NEW YEAR
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer has a new problem: Baby New Year has run away from Father Time and Santa has sent Rudolph after him. The future is riding on Rudolph’s success – without a Baby New Year to ring in the next year, December 31st will last forever and thereby eliminate all future Christmases. (Animated)

(7:00 –8:00 PM ET/PT) THE GRUFFALO – ABC Family Original Special
A half-hour animated film based on the classic children’s picture book written by Julia Donaldson and illustrated by Axel Scheffler, The Gruffalo tells the magical tale of a mouse who takes a walk through the woods in search of a nut. The special’s all-star voice cast features Robbie Coltrane as the Gruffalo; Helena Bonham Carter as the narrator, Rob Brydon as the Snake; James Corden as the Mouse; John Hurt as the Owl and Tom Wilkinson as the Fox. (Animated)

(8:00–9:00 PM ET/PT) SANTA CLAUS IS COMIN’ TO TOWN
Fred Astaire narrates this tale of Kris Kringle (Mickey Rooney), a young boy with an immense desire to do good things for others. In his home village of Sombertown, Kris has started a gift factory where he builds toys and gives them to all the local children. But when the evil ruler, Burgermeister (Paul Frees), bans toys from the land, Kris is forced to go directly to Mother Nature and ask her for assistance. With the help of magical elves and several special reindeer, Kris overcomes the Burgermeister and delivers toys to children all over the world, earning him the name Santa Claus. (Animated)

(9:00–10:00 PM ET/PT) THE YEAR WITHOUT A SANTA CLAUS
Mrs. Claus narrates this memorable children’s classic about the time she almost donned her husband’s famous red suit. Disenchanted with the lack of holiday spirit throughout the land, Santa (voiced by Mickey Rooney) decides not to deliver presents and Mrs. Claus and all the elves have to convince him to make his traditional Christmas Eve sleigh ride. Based on Pulitzer Prize-winner Phyllis McGinley’s children’s book and filmed using stop-motion animated puppets. The special is filled with Christmas classics including “Here Comes Santa Claus.” (Animated)

(10:00–11:00 PM ET/PT) A MISER BROTHERS’ CHRISTMAS
Starring Mickey Rooney, reprising his role as Santa Claus from the holiday classic “The Year Without a Santa Claus,” “A Miser Brothers’ Christmas” tells the story of how Santa throws out his back, potentially spoiling Christmas for boys and girls all over the world. The story begins when Santa’s new chief mechanic, Tinsel, creates a speedy, new high tech sleigh for Christmas. But what Santa doesn’t know is that North Wind has secretly sabotaged the sleigh in the hope of taking Santa’s place that year. When Santa takes it out for a spin, he gets caught in the crossfire between the feuding Snow Miser and Heat Miser Brothers and the sleigh crashes, causing Santa to hurt his back. North Wind frames the Miser Brothers for Santa’s accident and with Santa stuck in bed, everything falls into place for North Wind to slyly come to the rescue. But much to his chagrin, Mother Nature punishes the Miser Brothers by forcing them to put their differences aside and fill in for Santa. (Animated)