Newsletter Signup
Stay up to date on all the latest news from Boston.com
2023 streaming holiday specials: A full list of favorites and how to watch them
It's already the holiday season on streaming platforms, with plenty of yuletide content on Netflix, Disney+, and more.
Whether you’re channel-surfing on cable or scrolling through your favorite streaming platform, one thing is clear: When it comes to viewing options, the holiday season is overflowing with choices. Dozens of the 100+ new 2023 holiday movies have already debuted on the likes of Hallmark and Netflix, and the seasonal holiday specials have begun to crop up as well.
Whether you’re looking forward to cozying up on the couch to watch “The Hip Hop Nutcracker” on Disney+ or frantically trying to figure out how to watch “A Charlie Brown Christmas,” we’ve got you covered.
Here is the full list of streaming holiday specials to watch for 2023, plus some additional details on how to watch “A Charlie Brown Christmas.” (Note: If you’re looking for classic TV specials like “Frosty the Snowman,” check out the list of holiday TV specials.)
Advertisement:
(New and upcoming releases are listed in bold.)
How to watch “A Charlie Brown Christmas” in 2023
Back in 2020, Apple TV+ acquired the exclusive rights to the various Charlie Brown animated specials, including “It’s The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown,” “A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving,” and “A Charlie Brown Christmas.” While PBS was able to air the Christmas special in previous years, for 2023, the only way to watch “A Charlie Brown Christmas” and other Peanuts specials are through Apple TV+.
The company is providing a two-day window on Dec.16 and 17 for non-subscribers to watch “A Charlie Brown Christmas” with no login required. Beyond that, you’ll need to subscribe to the streaming platform.
With that taken care of, here are all of the holidays specials to watch on various streaming platforms.
2023 Netflix Holiday Specials
“The Bad Guys: A Very Bad Holiday” (Nov. 30)
“I Hate Christmas” Season 2 (Dec. 7)
“The Action Pack Saves Christmas”
“An Elf’s Story”
“Angela’s Christmas 2”
“Blown Away: Christmas”
“Boss Baby: Christmas Bonus”
“Dreamworks Holiday Classics”
“Elves”
“The Great British Baking Show: Holidays”
“Happy Holidays from Madagascar”
“Holiday Home Makeover with Mr. Christmas”
“LEGO Friends: Holiday Special”
“My Little Pony: Winter Wishday”
“School of Chocolate”
“A Very Murray Christmas”
2023 Disney+ Holiday Specials
“Christmas With Walt Disney” (Nov. 24)
“The Shepherd” (Dec. 1)
“Doctor Who Holiday Special: The Church on Ruby Road” (Dec. 25)
Advertisement:
“A Very Boy Band Christmas”
“Best in Snow”
“Disney Channel Holiday House Party”
“Disney Channel’s Epic Holiday Showdown”
“Disney’s Fairytale Weddings: Holiday Magic”
“Donna Hay Christmas”
“Duck the Halls: A Mickey Mouse Christmas Special”
“From Our Family to Yours”
“The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special”
“High School Musical: The Musical: The Holiday Special”
“The Hip Hop Nutcracker”
“LEGO Star Wars Holiday Special”
“Mickey & Minnie Wish Upon a Christmas”
“Mickey Saves Christmas”
“Mickey’s Christmas Carol”
“Mickey’s Once Upon A Christmas”
“Mickey’s Twice Upon a Christmas”
“Olaf’s Frozen Adventure”
“Once Upon a Snowman”
“Pentatonix: Around the World for the Holidays”
“Pluto’s Christmas Tree”
“Prep & Landing”
“Prep & Landing: Naughty vs. Nice”
“Prep & Landing: Operation Secret Santa”
“Puppy for Hanukkah”
“The Santa Clauses” Season 2
“Santa’s Workshop”
“The Small One”
“Toy Story: That Time Forgot”
“A Very Backstreet Holiday”
2023 Prime Video Holiday Specials
“Merry Little Batman” (Dec. 8)
“Christmas Cartoons: 14 Christmas Cartoon Classics – 2 Hours of Holiday Favorites”
“Click, Clack, Moo: Christmas at the Farm”
“Do, Re & Mi Holiday Special: Merry Nestivus”
“Emmett Otter’s Jug-Band Christmas”
“If You Give a Mouse a Christmas Cookie”
“Mariah Carey’s All I Want for Christmas is You”
The Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot About Christmas”
The Kacey Musgraves Holiday Show”
2023 Apple TV+ Holiday Specials
“Frog and Toad — Christmas Eve” (Dec. 1)
Advertisement:
“Shape Island — The Winter Blues” (Dec. 1)
“The Snoopy Show — Happiness is Holiday Traditions” (Dec. 1)
“Sago Mini Friends — New Year’s Steve” (Dec. 22)
“The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse”
“Charlie Brown’s Christmas Tales”
“A Charlie Brown Christmas”
“A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving”
“Fraggle Rock: Back to the Rock — Night of the Lights”
“Hannah Waddingham: Home for Christmas”
“Happy New Year, Charlie Brown”
“I Want a Dog for Christmas, Charlie Brown”
“It’s Christmastime Again, Charlie Brown”
“Mariah Carey’s Magical Christmas Special”
“Mariah’s Christmas: The Magic Continues”
Peanuts Original Holiday Special: “For Auld Lang Syne”
2023 HBO Max Holiday Specials
“Elmo & Tango Holiday Helpers” (Dec. 7)
“Batwheels Holiday Special: Holidays on Ice”
“Bugs Bunny Builders Holiday Special: Looneyburg Lights”
“Elmo Saves Christmas”
“Looney Tunes Cartoons aka Bugs Bunny’s 24 Carrot Holiday Special”
“My Gift: A Christmas Special from Carrie Underwood”
“Once Upon a Sesame Street Christmas”
“Sesame Street: Holiday at Hooper’s”
“Sesame Street’s The Nutcracker”
2023 Paramount+ Holiday Specials
“SpongeBob’s Twas The Night Before Spongemas” (Dec. 1)
“National Christmas Tree Lighting” (Dec. 15)
“Baby Shark’s Big Fishmas Special”
“The Loud House Thanksgiving Special”
“Mariah Carey: Merry Christmas to All!”
“Matt Rogers’ Have You Heard of Christmas”
“One Last Time: An Evening with Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga”
“Reindeer in Here”
“Reno 911!: It’s A Wonderful Heist”
“RuPaul’s Drag Race Holi-slay Spectacular”
“Santa Stole Our Dog”
2023 Peacock Holiday Specials
“Christmas In Rockefeller Center” (Nov. 29)
“Christmas at Graceland” (Nov. 29)
“Blake Shelton’s Holiday Bartacular Featuring Ice T” (Dec. 5)
“Christmas at the Opry” (Dec. 8)
Advertisement:
“Barry Manilow’s a Very Barry Christmas” (Dec. 12)
“A Saturday Night Live Christmas Special” (Dec. 15)
“Casper’s Haunted Christmas”
“The Legend of Frosty the Snowman”
“The Little Drummer Boy”
“O’ Christmas Tree”
Conversation
This discussion has ended. Please join elsewhere on Boston.com