Terror Firmer (1999)

We may all celebrate the holidays differently, but what makes them so special and universal is the magic we feel when our loved ones surround us during the winter holidays. Supporting the Make-A-Wish campaign, Disney’s first Christmas advert, From Our Family to Yours is a trilogy that is told through three stories about a family celebrating Christmas. 

The first short film, Lola (2020), focuses on a grandmother, Lola, and her granddaughter celebrating Christmas while implementing their Filipino traditions. One of these traditions includes making the parol with her granddaughter and passing down a stuffed Mickey Mouse toy that was once given by Lola's parents. The stuffed Mickey Mouse toy represents the universality Disney brings to families from other cultures. As the years passed by, so have the traditions. Once the granddaughter has reached adolescence, she doesn’t feel the magic she once felt in her grandmother’s Christmas traditions; this leads the grandmother to drop the Mickey Mouse toy, for she fears she has lost her granddaughter symbolically. But, as the theme song says, “Love is a Compass”. Once the granddaughter realizes the joy the Christmas traditions gave to the family; she fills the house with parols, for she has not forgotten the magic of the holidays, and has found her way back to her grandmother.

The second and third installments of the trilogy, The Stepdad (2021) and The Gift (2022) focus on the now-adult granddaughter, who has two children and has remarried. These two shorts are about accepting change. In The Stepdad, the two siblings are now adjusting to their new stepdad. In return, we see the children sharing their love for Disney with their stepdad, emphasizing that the one aspect Disney and the holidays have in common is spreading joy to families. However, after the stepdad accidentally destroys the children’s gingerbread house, which is a part of their Christmas tradition, the children are left sad and feel there’s no way of celebrating Christmas the way they used to. But we do not lose all hope when the stepdad rebuilds the gingerbread house and reconciles with the children. 

The last short film, The Gift, turns our attention to the younger sibling, Ella, who is adjusting to her mom’s pregnancy. Since the family's focus is on the new baby coming, Ella feels Christmas won’t be the same, and that the baby will disrupt the traditions she did with her mother during Christmas. Once again, we see a Mickey Mouse toy Ella holds on to throughout the film. In the end, once the baby is born, her older brother reassures Ella that change can be good and that they will always have each other. When Ella first sees the baby, she passes down the Mickey Mouse toy, just as it was passed down to Lola, to the granddaughter, to Ella, and now to the baby. While these films are short, they provide powerful messages of not letting change affect our joy, and remembering the magic the holidays give us. An interesting aspect to note in this short film is the song, “A Little More” which is played throughout the film is sung by Jessica Darrow, who is known for her role as Luisa Madrigal in Encanto (2021). You can watch the From Our Family to Yours trilogy on Disney Plus.

Happy Holidays from all of us at Incluvie!