From All of Us to All of You

"From All of Us to All of You"
Walt Disney Presents episode
Original air date December 19, 1958

"From All of Us to All of You" is an animated television Christmas special, produced by Walt Disney Productions and first presented on December 19, 1958 as part of the Walt Disney Presents anthology series. Hosted by Jiminy Cricket along with Mickey Mouse and Tinker Bell, the special combines newly produced animation with clips from vintage animated Disney shorts and feature films, presented to the viewer as "Christmas cards" from the various characters starring in each one.

Starting in 1963 and continuing through the 1970s, re-airings of the special would include preview footage of the studio's new or upcoming feature films. Beginning in 1983, it was expanded to 90 minutes and retitled A Disney Channel Christmas for airing on cable television's The Disney Channel.[1] A home video version of the special, retitled Jiminy Cricket's Christmas, appeared on VHS and laserdisc in 1986.

The show has been shown infrequently in the US in recent years, but in the Nordic countries (Sweden, Finland, Denmark and Norway) the show has been broadcast every year since 1959, and has become a holiday classic. Ratings show that around 40% of all Swedes watch it on Christmas Eve, the record (in 1997) being just over half the population.[2][3]

This special has yet to see a DVD release.

United States

In the US, the show originally aired on ABC and occasionally afterwards on NBC. The original version included Walt Disney's introduction where he has been cricket-sized because as Mickey and Jiminy would said it, Christmas is bigger than all of them. The American version has been infrequently shown since 1980.

The original American version features the following shorts:

As well as clips from the following feature films:

It ends with Jiminy Cricket singing "When You Wish Upon a Star". Starting in 1963 and continuing through the 1970s, all of the scenes with Walt and Tinker Bell's intros, as well as Santa's Workshop, had been replaced by a teaser for Disney's new or upcoming feature films, including The Sword in the Stone, The Jungle Book, The Aristocats and Robin Hood. Goofy's cartoon "The Art of Skiing" was added in the 1983 broadcast.

Denmark

In Denmark the show is called Disneys Juleshow: Fra alle os til alle jer ("Disney's Christmas Show: From All of Us to All of You") and is broadcast every Christmas Eve afternoon on DR1. It is narrated by Danish actor Ove Sprogøe who does the Danish voice of Jiminy Cricket. Clips from feature films are voiced in Danish while shorts are in English with Danish subtitles.

The Danish version features the following shorts:

As well as clips from the following feature films:

It ends with Bjørn Tidmand singing "When You Wish upon a Star" in Danish ("Når Du Ser et Stjerneskud") and a sneak peek of either an upcoming or a clip from a recently released Disney movie.

Finland

In Finland, this show is called "Samu Sirkan joulutervehdys", ("Jiminy Cricket's Christmas Greeting") and it is shown every Christmas Eve evening on MTV3.

The Finnish version features clips from the following shorts:

As well as clips from the following feature films:

A special "surprise" clip (from a recent or upcoming Disney feature premiere) is dubbed in Finnish but everything else is in English, with Finnish subtitles.

Norway

In Norway, the show is called Donald Duck og vennene hans ("Donald Duck and his friends") on NRK and Disneys julekavalkade (Disney's Christmas Cavalcade) on TV Norge in 2003, and it is shown every Christmas Eve afternoon on NRK1. Most of the shorts are shown in their original English-speaking versions, with Norwegian subtitles.

The following shorts are usually shown, in integral or edited format:

These feature films are represented through important scenes:

Sweden

In Sweden, the show is called Kalle Anka och hans vänner önskar God Jul ("Donald Duck and His Friends Wish You a Merry Christmas"). It is broadcast on SVT1 at 3:00 p.m. every Christmas Eve, in connection to the all-day traditional holiday programme previously led by Arne Weise. The title reflects the fact that Donald Duck is far more popular than Mickey Mouse in Sweden. The special is typically introduced and hosted live (itself an homage to Walt Disney's role in the original presentation), and was most prominently hosted by Arne Weise from 1972 through 2002. The montage is narrated by Bengt Feldreich, dubbing the original English voice of Jiminy Cricket.[3]

The special, which is typically referred to as simply Kalle Anka, along with its characters and cartoons, are ingrained in Swedish pop culture as a Christmas tradition. The popularity of Kalle Anka in Sweden as a television event was influenced by several factors, including the fact that for the ten years since the special's original premiere in 1959, SVT1 was the only television channel in the country (SVT2 launched in 1969), and even then, the country's public broadcaster Sveriges Television had a monopoly on television broadcasting until the 1987 launch of the country's first commercial channel. It was at the time, also one of the few occasions that U.S.-produced animation was broadcast by Swedish television.[3] Kalle Anka has remained one of the most-watched television specials in the country: in a country with just over nine million inhabitants, the 2008 airing (despite having its lowest ratings in 15 years) drew in just over 3.2 million viewers.[3]

Due to its legacy and prominence, the special has remained relatively unchanged (aside from the incorporation of promotions for newer Disney films). The Swedish public has been protective of Kalle Anka, resisting any significant changes to the special's content: in the 1970's, when SVT's head of children's programming disclosed plans to discontinue the special due to growing anti-commercial sentiment in the country, public outcry resulted in the special being maintained. A similar backlash was faced in 1982 when Ferdinand the Bull was replaced with The Ugly Duckling—a change that was quickly reverted the following year.[3] In 1992, Weise planned to pre-record his hosting segments so he could spend Christmas with his family, but backed down after receiving criticism for breaking the tradition of hosting it live. In a 2007 interview, Weise quipped that hosting the special had affected his personal life, stating that he had three divorces as a result of it.[3]

The following shorts are usually shown, in integral or edited format:

These feature films are represented through important scenes:

Number of viewers (according to Mediamätning i Skandinavien).
Year Viewers
2012 3 883 000 Second most watched show of the year
2011 3 495 000 Second most watched show of the year
2010 3 356 000 Second most watched show of the year
2009 3 294 000 Second most watched show of the year
2008 3 215 000 Third most popular show of the year
2007 3 490 000[4] Second most popular show of the year
2006 3 610 000 Second most popular show of the year
2005 3 515 000 Second most popular show of the year
2004 3 685 000 Third most popular show of the year
2003 3 410 000 Fourth most popular show of the year
2002 3 655 000 Second most popular show of the year
2001 3 825 000 Second most popular show of the year
2000 3 565 000 Fourth most popular show of the year
1999 4 165 000 Most popular show of the year
1998 3 600 000 Most popular show of the year
1997 4 320 000
1996 4 125 000
1995 3 690 000
1994 3 225 000

Russia

The Russian version features the following shorts:

As well as clips from the following feature films:

Two movies in the very end are different, depending on the year of the premiere.

2010

2012

2013

France

In France, the show is called Un Nouveau Noël Disney ("From All of Us to All of You") or Les Contes d'hiver de Jiminy Cricket ("Jiminy Cricket's Christmas"). It was broadcast on TF1 on December 23, 1990 as part of the "Disney Parade" program.

The French version features the following short:

As well as clips from the following feature films:

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Disney First Christmas Special". TVparty!.
  2. ↑ Axelsson, Malin (22 December 2008). "Kalle Ankas jul tappar tittare" (in Swedish). Svenska Dagbladet.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 Stahl, Jeremy (22 December 2011). "Nordic Quack – Sweden's bizarre tradition of watching Donald Duck cartoons on Christmas Eve". Slate.
  4. ↑ Svenska Dagbladet on 28 December 2007

External links