Overview
- Apple announced the Little Santa adaptation on Thursday, June 18, 2026, attaching director Peter Baynton, screenwriter and executive producer Martin Hynes, songwriter and executive producer Bret McKenzie, producer Julia Pistor, and animation partner WildBrain.
- The film is described as an animated musical comedy-adventure that follows a young Santa on an Oz-like trek through the North Pole where he inspires offbeat friends who help create Christmas.
- WildBrain’s House of Cool is handling pre-production and the studio will animate the film, which is currently in early production with no release date, distribution window, or production timeline announced.
- The creative team brings high-profile credits — Baynton won an Oscar for Apple’s short The Boy the Mole, the Fox and the Horse, Hynes co-wrote Toy Story 4, and McKenzie has Grammy and Oscar recognition — giving the project notable pedigree.
- Little Santa joins other Apple family projects such as Snoopy Unleashed and underscores Apple Original Films’ continued use of external animation vendors and established producers as it builds out its kids and family slate, with release plans to be watched closely.