Amazon Studios Launches Original Kids Holiday Specials on November 25 on Prime Video in the US and UK
Brand-new specials include If You Give a Mouse a Christmas Cookie,
The Snowy Day, and An American Girl Story—Maryellen 1955:
Extraordinary Christmas and feature notable talent, including
Laurence Fishburne, Regina King, Jamie-Lynn Sigler, Angela Bassett, Boyz
II Men, Lisa Loeb, and Bethany Cosentino
SEATTLE–(BUSINESS WIRE)–(NASDAQ: AMZN)—Amazon Studios today announced its original kids holiday
programming is scheduled to premiere on Friday, November 25 on Prime
Video in the US and UK. Brand-new Amazon Original Specials include If
You Give a Mouse a Christmas Cookie, Ezra Jack Keats’ The
Snowy Day, and An American Girl Story—Maryellen 1955:
Extraordinary Christmas as well as existing holiday episodes from Creative
Galaxy and Tumble Leaf.
“We are so excited to bring our customers our first-ever holiday line-up
of specials this season, with If You Give a Mouse a Christmas
Cookie and The Snowy Day based on beloved children’s books
that highlight strong bonds between friends and families. It’s what the
holidays are all about,” said Tara Sorensen, Head of Kids Programming at
Amazon Studios. “The American Girl Maryellen special is an
inspiring feel-good story that will surely become a holiday family
favorite for our customers.”
If You Give a Mouse a Christmas Cookie
If You Give a Mouse a Christmas Cookie is an animated holiday
special based on the classic If You Give a Mouse a Cookie book
series written by Laura Numeroff and illustrated by Felicia Bond. In
this special, it’s holiday time and in Mouse’s house that means
Christmas cookies (including a special one for Santa, of course),
caroling with friends…and one nearly-destroyed holiday pageant. Can
Mouse and his animal friends save the show, without getting utterly
distracted along the way? It’s a wild ride as Mouse and his friends work
together to solve a problem in a fun and creative way. The special is
written and produced by Ken
Scarborough (Doug, Curious George, Martha Speaks, Arthur, and
Saturday Night Live); stars Mason
Mahay (voice of Oliver), Roger
Craig Smith (Avengers Assemble and Wreck-It Ralph), Jessica
DiCiccio (Over the Hedge), Jeff
Bennett (Futurama), and Lara
Jill Miller (The Loud House, Henry Hugglemonster, and Doc
McStuffins). The special also features an original song “Christmas
Cookie Song” by Lisa Loeb, available exclusively on Amazon Music to
download and stream November 25. If You Give a Mouse a Cookie was
part of Amazon’s 2015 fall pilot season rated 4.7 stars by customers
with 82% 5-star reviews; season one will premiere on Amazon Prime Video
next year.
Ezra Jack Keats’ The Snowy Day
The Snowy Day is an animated holiday special based on the
award-winning book by Ezra
Jack Keats. The book is well-known as one of the first picture books
to feature an African-American protagonist, has won many awards,
including the Caldecott medal—one of the highest honors in children’s
literature, and was included in the Library of Congress’ list of “Books
that Shaped America.” The special follows Peter, a young boy in a red
snowsuit, as his mother sends him on an adventure to Nana’s house to
retrieve their traditional Christmas mac and cheese dinner. Enjoying the
snowy day along the way, Peter encounters friends from the neighborhood,
including storekeepers and bakers to the older boys he admires—and a
group of a capella singers voiced by Boyz II Men. After arriving at
Nana’s and retrieving the mac and cheese—and his most coveted gift, a
brand-new red sled—Nana helps Peter team up with the older boys for an
epic snowball fight, resulting in the destruction of the special holiday
dinner and his sled. When the neighborhood comes together to celebrate
new traditions with Peter and his family, Peter realizes that the true
meaning of the holiday is who you spend it with. Narrated by Laurence
Fishburne (Black-ish, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice,
and The Matrix) and featuring voice talent by Regina
King (American Crime and The Leftovers), Jamie-Lynn
Sigler (The Sopranos), and Angela
Bassett (American Horror Story and BoJack Horseman), The
Snowy Day features an original song “Snowy Day” by Boyz II Men,
available exclusively on Amazon Music to download and stream November
25. Executive produced by Laurence
Fishburne and Helen
Sugland (Akeelah and the Bee) as well as Ann
Austen, Irene
Sherman, and Deborah
Pope (Ezra
Jack Keats Foundation).
An American Girl Story—Maryellen 1955: Extraordinary Christmas
An American Girl Story—Maryellen 1955: Extraordinary Christmas is
the second collaboration between American Girl and Amazon and is based
on American Girl’s previously launched BeForever character Maryellen
Larkin. The special is set during Christmas in 1955 in Daytona Beach,
Florida, where middle child Maryellen (Alyvia
Alyn Lind) longs to stand out amidst
the hustle and bustle of her big, busy family. A boisterous and artistic
girl, Maryellen’s adventurous spirit is sometimes at odds with the era
she’s living in: when conformity was valued above individuality. When
Benji (Samuel
Faraci), a family friend afflicted with polio comes to stay with
them and visit Daytona Beach’s hospital for care, Maryellen is inspired
to help the polio patients have the best Christmas ever. But her first
attempts fall flat, followed by a fight with her best friend Davy (Maxwell
Acee Donovan). With guidance and advice from Maryellen’s wise and
sympathetic mother (Mary
McCormack), Maryellen learns the key to helping others is through
listening. Through her gift of drawing, Maryellen helps give the
children an extraordinary Christmas they’ll never forget. Executive
produced by Jane
Startz (Ella Enchanted). An American Girl Story—Maryellen
1955: Extraordinary Christmas features an original song “Christmas
and Everyday” by Best Coast, available exclusively on Amazon Music to
download and stream November 25.
These specials are part of Prime Video’s growing line-up of
award-winning and critically acclaimed Originals for kids and
families—to see more originals available exclusively for Prime members
visit www.amazon.com/originals.
About Amazon Video
Amazon Video is a premium on-demand entertainment service that offers
customers the greatest choice in what to watch, and how to watch it.
Amazon Video is the only service that provides all of the following:
-
Prime Video: Thousands of movies and TV shows, including
popular licensed content plus critically acclaimed and award-winning
Amazon Original Series and Movies from Amazon Studios like Transparent,
The Man in the High Castle, Love & Friendship and kids series Tumble
Leaf, available for unlimited streaming as part of an Amazon Prime
membership -
Add-on Subscriptions: Dozens of subscriptions to networks like
SHOWTIME, STARZ and more, available to Amazon Prime members as add-ons
to their membership -
Rent or Own: Hundreds of thousands of titles, including
new-release movies and current TV shows available for on-demand rental
or purchase for all Amazon customers -
Instant Access: Instantly watch anytime, anywhere through the
Amazon Video app on TVs, mobile devices, Amazon Fire TV, Fire TV
Stick, and Fire tablets, or online. For a list of all compatible
devices visit www.amazon.com/howtostream -
Premium Features: Top features like 4K Ultra HD, High Dynamic
Range (HDR) and mobile downloads for offline viewing of select content
In addition to Prime Video, the Prime membership includes unlimited Free
Two-Day Shipping on millions of items across all categories, more than
one million songs and thousands of playlists and stations with Prime
Music, early access to select Lightning Deals all year long, free
secure, unlimited photo storage in Amazon Cloud Drive with Prime Photos,
access to borrow books with the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library, and
more. To sign-up for Prime or to find out more visit: www.amazon.com/prime.
About Amazon
Amazon is guided by four principles: customer obsession rather than
competitor focus, passion for invention, commitment to operational
excellence, and long-term thinking. Customer reviews, 1-Click shopping,
personalized recommendations, Prime, Fulfillment by Amazon, AWS, Kindle
Direct Publishing, Kindle, Fire tablets, Fire TV, Amazon Echo, and Alexa
are some of the products and services pioneered by Amazon. For more
information, visit www.amazon.com/about.
Contacts
Amazon.com,
Inc.
Media Hotline: 206-266-7180
www.amazon.com/pr
