Fans of Rankin/Bass Christmas specials know that it’s tough to find them on streaming services. This year is somewhat easier to find them on major platforms. The 1970 ABC special Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town is among the selections streaming this year.
The beloved stop-motion special is available on Hulu. It joins hello holiday staples Frosty the Snowman and The Little Drummer Boy on the service.
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If you aren’t a streaming service kind of TV watcher, have no fear. While it’s too late to catch Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town on ABC (which showed it on Dec. 3), cable subscribers can catch it several more times. Disney-owned cable channel Freeform will air the stop-motion special several more times throughout the holiday season:
- Dec. 8, 4:30 p.m. ET
- Dec. 16, 10:25 p.m. ET
- Dec. 17, 6:15 p.m. ET
- Dec. 21, 4:35 p.m. ET
- Dec. 22, 1:20 p.m. ET
About Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town
Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town debuted on Dec. 13, 1970, and retold the origins of Saint Nicholas. Mickey Rooney voiced the titular character, with Fred Astaire, Keenan Wynn, Robie Lester, Paul Frees and Joan Gardner also voicing characters. As the title would suggest, it heavily features the J. Fred Coots and Haven Gillespie composition “Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town.” Rankin/Bass Productions artfully crafted the stop-moton special as their fourth Christmas special, following 1964’s Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, 1967’s The Cricket on the Hearth, 1968’s The Little Drummer Boy, and the traditionally animated Frosty the Snowman.