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Apple Original Films Acquires Animated “Little Santa” Feature

6/19/2026

Summary

Apple Acquires LittleSanta

Apple Original Films announced it has acquired the animated feature Little Santa, based on Jon Agee’s book.
Oscar- and Annie-award-winning director Peter Baynton will direct Little Santa.
Producer Julia Pistor, known for Nacho Libre, will produce the film.
WildBrain will animate Little Santa, with pre-production by its House of Cool.
Bret McKenzie will write original songs for Little Santa.

Summary

Apple Re-teams

Apple Original Films re-teamed with director Peter Baynton after his Academy Award for “The Boy the Mole.”
The musical comedy adventure follows a young Santa on an Oz-like trek through the North Pole.
Wildbrain handles pre-production and animation, extending its partnership with Apple beyond the upcoming Snoopy Unleashed film.
Apple’s slate also includes Snoopy Unleashed, its first original Peanuts film leveraging Charles M. Schulz’s catalog.

Summary

Apple Holiday Slate

Apple is assembling a holiday-focused animated slate that includes Little Santa, Snoopy Unleashed, and Foster the Snowman.
The Walsh Company deal adds Foster the Snowman, expanding Apple’s partnership model beyond WildBrain.
WildBrain animated Little Santa and previously produced Apple’s shorts The Boy the Mole, the Fox and the Horse, and Wolfwalkers.
By streaming these titles on Apple TV, Apple aims to capture seasonal audiences and compete with other services’ festive line-ups.

Summary

Apple Expands Slate

Apple is expanding its non-animated slate with “The Dink,” “Mayday,” and “Matchbox the Movie.”
The company aims to turn TV hits like “The Studio,” “Ted Lasso,” and “Slow Horses” into film draws.
Apple is pairing talent like Bret McKenzie and Martin Hynes with its animation slate to boost credibility.
Its strategy balances streaming-first releases with selective theatrical windows to maximize reach after the box-office hit “F1: The Movie” last year.

History

Historical Context

When Warner Bros. released Robert Zemeckis’s motion-capture film *The Polar Express* in November 2004, it broke the animated-feature budget record at $165 million and earned $318 million worldwide, earning a 2005 Academy Award nomination for visual effects. Apple TV+ now follows that model, hiring director Peter Baynton, songwriter Bret McKenzie and WildBrain to debut *Little Santa* alongside a Peanuts tribute to Charles M. Schulz.

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Apple Acquires LittleSanta

Apple Original Films announced it has acquired the animated feature Little Santa, based on Jon Agee’s book.
Oscar- and Annie-award-winning director Peter Baynton will direct Little Santa.
Producer Julia Pistor, known for Nacho Libre, will produce the film.
WildBrain will animate Little Santa, with pre-production by its House of Cool.
Bret McKenzie will write original songs for Little Santa.

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