David Lowery Explains His Love of Christmas & New Disney Special with Alfonso Cuarón (2025)

There is a pantheon of Christmas classics that seem canonical, with few if any titles able to penetrate its hallowed borders. There are the Rankin/Bass specials, the classic black-and-white dramas, the brightly colored musicals, The Grinch, Charlie Brown, Mickey Mouse, etc. Not many modern titles infiltrate the canon, but Disney and the great filmmaker Alfonso Cuarón (Children of Men, Gravity) are changing that with a series of beautiful Christmas shorts. Cuarón produces and works with different directors on each; the first was the Oscar-nominated Le Pupille in 2022, followed by 2023's The Shepherd. Now comes 2024's An Almost Christmas Story, the first animated title of the bunch, directed by the kind auteur David Lowery (Pete's Dragon, A Ghost Story, The Green Knight).

An Almost Christmas Story began as a live-action short like the previous ones, but slowly became animated in a gorgeous, handmade-style stop-motion fashion. The film, loosely based on the story of Rocky, a lost owl rescued from Rockefeller Center, follows an owl whose tree is taken and sent to Rockefeller Center. The lost animal befriends a lost girl, and the two bond amid the beauty of Christmastime in New York. The short features the voices of Cary Christopher, Estella Madrigal, Jim Gaffigan, Mamoudou Athie, Alex Ross Perry, Phil Rosenthal, Natasha Lyonne, and John C. Reilly.

"The script was sent to me right after Christmas in 2021, like right at the end of the year," Lowery told MovieWeb in a recent interview for the Disney+ short, premiering Nov. 15, 2024. "I was finishing up Peter Pan and Wendy at that point for Disney. And that had been huge, you know, it felt like we'd spent five years making that movie — which, in fact, we had. And the idea of getting to make something small was really appealing, getting to just make something small and contained." Lowery continued:

"And it had all these elements that I liked in it, which was, you know, Christmas, talking animals, Christmas in New York, specifically. And then, it was written by Alfonso Cuarón and Jack Thorne. And Alfonso, of course, is a legend. He's someone who I've looked up to my entire life. And to be sent a script that he had written and to be invited to make it my own, to rewrite his words, was really an honor to me, and the idea of collaborating with him was great."

"I also loved what he was doing at Disney, which was creating a new set of perennial classics," added Lowery. "I grew up, so many of us did, watching Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, watching The Grinch. We had the Charlie Brown Christmas special. We had all these short holiday films that we would always watch. The Mickey Mouse Christmas Carol was another one that I always watched every year. And I love the idea of there being more of those. And I love that Alfonso was able to get a bunch of them made at Disney — that felt like a really good thing to put out into the world. So being asked to participate in that, it was an easy yes."

David Lowery Loves Christmas

Just like Shane Black, Lowery has a special affection for Christmas; there is something uniquely cinematic about the holiday, after all, what with its colored lights, gently falling snow, and litany of familiar carols. "I love Christmas. It kind of comes down to just being one of my favorite times of year, and as someone who loves the holidays, I naturally also love holiday films, and I have the ones that I turn to every year," explained Lowery, adding:

"Certainly, when I made The Green Knight, that was one version of a Christmas movie for me. But what no one else knows is that so many of my movies over the years have been written to be set at the holidays, and then for one reason or another, I have to rewrite them and remove that. So, Ain't Them Body Saints, my very first film, it was a Christmas movie, and the actors were only available in the summer. So I was like, 'Okay, I'll change it.'"

"But a lot of the imagery from [Ain't Them Bodies Saints] that was, again, meant to be set during the holiday season, I then just took it and put it into An Almost Christmas Story," said Lowery, who certainly does love Christmas movies. When he spoke with MovieWeb, he was excited to see a new movie that very evening, Tyler Taormina's Christmas Eve in Miller's Point.

"I can't speak to whether it's good or not, because I haven't seen it, but I am really excited about it," explained Lowery. "I think it's going to be great, because I've loved his other films, and the vibe that he's after with this one, I'm very excited about. So that's going to be my first Christmas movie season this year, and it's playing at 6:15 tonight, and I will be there and ready. I'll put a Christmas sweater on." You don't need a sweater to be warmed by the kindness and beauty of An Almost Christmas Story, coming to Disney+ on Nov. 15, 2024.

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5/5

An Almost Christmas Story

Animation

Adventure

Fantasy

An Almost Christmas Story follows Moon, a curious young owl, who accidentally ends up in a Christmas tree bound for Rockefeller Plaza. The film chronicles his enchanting journey home, highlighting themes of magic and unexpected friendships amidst his adventurous quest.

Release Date

October 14, 2024

Director

David Lowery

Cast

Cary Christopher , Jim Gaffigan , Mamoudou Athie , Alex Ross Perry , Phil Rosenthal , Natasha Lyonne , John C. Reilly

Runtime

21 minutes

Producers

Alfonso Cuarón

Character(s)

Moon (voice) , Papa Owl (voice) , Pelly (voice) , Dave The Dog (voice) , Punt (voice) , Pat (voice) , The Folk Singer (voice)