For many, Disney is synonymous with Christmas celebrations, with festive films and holiday parades bringing the magic of the season to life.
The family-focused entertainment giant released its Christmas advert for 2022 earlier this month, marking the start of the season with the third and final instalment of its ‘From Our Family To Yours’ campaign.
The campaign, which has been running for three years, features a series of festive holiday adverts revisiting a family and seeing the changes that take place over the years. The first two – ‘Lola’ in 2020 and ‘The Stepdad’ in 2021 – accumulated more than 184m views between them.
“We have been so grateful for the amazing positive response and incredible support we have had from audiences” said Disney Consumer Products VP marketing and communication Sarah Fox, who spoke to Marketing Beat about the celebratory campaign.
What message is Disney hoping to convey with this year’s campaign?
“It is really important to hit the right note with Christmas adverts and we like to spend time speaking to families to help us to understand what the holiday season means to them. They told us that Christmas is all about spending time together with loved ones, making memories and deepening family bonds – all because of how it made them feel and the positive contribution it makes to their overall wellbeing.
“We took that into our ‘From Our Family To Yours’ trilogy and looked to tell relatable stories of modern families – be that inter-generational relationships, a step-parent, or a new sibling.
“We approach our holiday adverts like a three-minute short film. We want to take viewers on a journey and experience the emotion that Disney stories are known for. This means that sometimes there is some trepidation, but ultimately the viewer is left feeling joy and optimism.”
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What comes first with a strong Christmas campaign – the message or the product?
“At its heart, ‘From Our Family To Yours’ is all about family togetherness and the bonds that we create with our loved ones. The story does not exist without that thread.
“We are thoughtful when we add product into the campaign – in 2020 the focus was on the Mickey Mouse Lola shared with her family and was ‘patched up’ in the end; in 2021 with ‘The Stepdad’ the family connected with the magic coming from a special book, and this year we have the prized Glow In The Dark Mickey Mouse which Ella gifts to her new sibling.
“Throughout the ads people might spot other products or ‘Easter Eggs’ – some exist and are able to be purchased, others are items that our animators bring to life –a great example would be the Frozen bauble from this year’s campaign – that is pure creative inspiration. Even though we now all want one!”
How long did it take to put this year’s Disney campaign together?
“We started the initial planning for ‘From Our Family To Yours’ back in 2019. That began with conversations with families about the importance of time together. This sentiment became all the more pertinent as the pandemic forced us to stay at home.
“The key to the campaign is collaboration. We spend more than a year on each advert – the third one took 15 months to create, with approximately 4,880 hours of animation time. So that’s a lot of calls, meetings and fine-tuning.
“Over the three years of the campaign, 58 artists in New Zealand amassed 6,100 studio hours to model 13 characters, 126 items of clothing, 275 props and 14 pieces of bespoke artwork. Alongside them, we have had teams of UK-based writers, global researchers and multiple teams of consultants from different countries, producers, sound engineers, LA-based song-writers who have written three amazing songs, sung of course by three very talented singers. It really is a massive team effort!
How important is it that the campaign retains the unique Disney tone of voice?
“As with the previous two years, the 2022 animation is developed and produced by Disney’s EMEA in-house team, led by brand and creative marketing director, Angela Affinita, in partnership with Flux Animation Studios.
“Since we started this project families have told us the same thing – the holiday season is a chance to strengthen family bonds, connect over shared traditions and make new memories. As we have developed this campaign, we have always wanted to centre on a family who would resonate globally.
“In terms of the format, the trilogy allowed us to explore our characters and tell interconnected stories, as well as enabling us to develop the animation each year, with more texture, more detailed sets, cosier lighting. We have also been able to evolve our characters, bringing more of their backstory to our audience and finding ways to ensure the threads remain between each story.”
Will this be the final instalment of the story, or is there more to come?
“Yes, this is the third and final instalment of the ‘From Our Family To Yours’ animated trilogy – but we do know how much fans have loved these characters, so never say never!”
