Is The North American ENCORE Concept Any Sillier?

Jeremy Stahl: Nordic quack

Posted: December 24, 2009, 11:00 AM by NP Editor

Three years ago, I went to Sweden with my then-girlfriend (now-wife), to meet her family and celebrate my first Christmas. As an only partially-lapsed Jew, I was not well-versed in Christmas traditions and I was completely ignorant of Swedish customs and culture. So I was prepared for surprises. I was not prepared for this: Every year on Dec. 24 at 3 p.m., half of Sweden sits down in front of the television for a family viewing of the 1958 Walt Disney Presents Christmas special, From All of Us to All of You. Or, as it is known in Sverige, Kalle Anka och hans vanner onskar God Jul: “Donald Duck and his friends wish you a Merry Christmas.”

Kalle Anka, for short, has been airing without commercial interruption at the same time on Sweden’s main public-television channel, TV1, on Christmas Eve (when Swedes traditionally celebrate the holiday) since 1959. The show consists of Jiminy Cricket presenting about a dozen Disney cartoons from the ‘30s, ‘40s, ‘50s and ‘60s, only a couple of which have anything to do with Christmas. There are clips from films like Cinderella and The Jungle Book and “Silly Symphonies” shorts. The special is pretty much the same every year, except for the live introduction by a host who plays the role of Walt Disney (from the original Walt Disney Presents series) and the annual addition of one new snippet from the latest Disney-produced movie, which TV1’s parent network, SVT, is contractually obligated by Disney to air.

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