‘Diary of a Wimpy Kid Christmas: Cabin Fever’
Watch it on Disney+.
The most recent installment in the “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” series by Jeff Kinney, “Cabin Fever” is an animated holiday story centering on middle schooler Greg Heffley (voiced by Wesley Kimmel from “The Mandalorian”) as he gets stuck in his house with his family due to a blizzard. There’s enough humor, tension, and relatable family dynamics to entertain both “Wimpy Kid” fans and newcomers to the franchise. Luke Cormican directed and Kinney wrote the screenplay.
‘Merry Little Batman’
Watch it on Amazon Prime.
Director Mike Roth brings a punk rock aesthetic to “Merry Little Batman,” an animated tale featuring a young Damian Wayne (voiced by Yonas Kibreab) who aspires to be a superhero like his father, Batman. With Batman being a bearded, flannel-wearing, overprotective hipster dad, the film is a superhero holiday movie that kids will enjoy.
Eddie Garrick (Chris Bridges aka Ludacris) stars as a Scrooge of a dad in this silly, predictable tale about a family’s Christmas Eve. The film may not become a holiday classic, but it has enough over-the-top goofiness to entertain school-age kids. Tim Story directs the film from a script by Scott Rosenberg.
‘The Velveteen Rabbit’
Watch it on AppleTV+.
A special holiday content offering for children, “The Velveteen Rabbit” combines live action and animation to bring Margery Williams’s classic 1922 story to a new generation. It’s the perfect holiday-season viewing.
The small, fictional town of Pleasant Bay, Ore., is thrown into disarray when Santa’s magical golden sleigh bells go missing. A young boy found the bells a century before, and since then, they’ve been on display in the local museum, believed to bring peace and luck to the town. The story, writing, and performances are a bit hokey, but that shouldn’t stop youngsters from enjoying the quest to save the day.