I've also seen this footage put together with extra cartoons and film clips to create a longer special that came out in 1983 called "A Disney Channel Christmas" (remember, this was during a time when animation was still terribly expensive, especially the high-quality Victorian style that Disney specialized in). Here, it's about 45 minutes as opposed to the 90 minute special I saw and had been broadcast on television before then. But in any form, its still priceless.
It's hard to come across this sort of modesty and friendliness in Christmas entertainment these days. All of which goes to show that one doesn't need a lot of flash and commercialism to get a rise out of an audience when it comes to a program like this one; all it takes is honest warmth and heart.
This is the sort of Disney television special that simply doesn't get made anymore: an anthology consisting of touching moments from famous Disney animated films as well as cartoon shorts with back-then new animation between them all to give the presentation as a whole holiday structure.
Okay, now that I've described the technical part of it, let me describe the emotional: I can't help but be touched by it. It's hard to imagine segments like Peter Pan's famous "You Can Fly!" song, presented here as a Christmas card, *not* being appropriate to the holiday season due to the sheer loveliness of the original piece. And it's always fun to watch cartoons such as Goofy attempting to demonstrate how to ski. But for me, the best moment is when after all of this, the special wraps itself in cozy innocence in the end by having Jiminy Cricket sing the famous "When You Wish Upon A Star" as a Christmas carol with Disney characters gathering around to blissfully melt together in a moment which somehow strikes both nostalgia and holiday spirit in such a way that it gives you the sort of feeling you get when filled with peace and joy looking out the window at the stars while at ease by a friendly fireplace. I love it.
The climax brought tears to my eyes back then each time I saw it: it still does now.
