The Simpsons’ New Christmas Special Is Going to Be Bigger Than Expected

The Simpsons is hitting Disney+ later this year with a new Christmas special airing 35 years after the very first episode premiered, and this new streaming special is going to be much bigger than fans could have expected. The Simpsons is currently in the midst of an exciting new era. The long running animated sitcom has officially kicked off the milestone Season 36 of its run with new episodes airing Sunday nights on Fox, and it’s going to be officially celebrating 35 years from its original broadcast. But at the same time, The Simpsons is clearly open to experimenting with each of its new episodes.

Commemorating the 35th anniversary of its premiere episode, “Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire,” back on December 17th, 1989, The Simpsons is coming to Disney+ with a brand new Christmas special titled “O C’mon All Ye Faithful” on December 17th. Detailing more of this new special as part of The Simpsons‘ panel at New York Comic Con 2024 weekend, the cast and crew for the series revealed that this new special is going to be a “double sized” episode that will be bringing in some notable guest stars when it streams later this year.

What to Know for The Simpsons Disney+ Christmas Special

“O C’mon All Ye Faithful” will begin streaming with Disney+ on December 17th, and it will be a “double-sized x-tra large x-mas” episode as teased by The Simpsons showrunner Matt Selman on social media. The special length of the episode makes a lot of sense as it will be release outside of the usual time and scheduling restraints of the standard season, but the story details revealed during the New York Comic Con 2024 for the special also seem to indicate they’ll need all that time to explore everything going down.

The new special is teased to feature guest stars such as Pentatonix, Patti LaBelle, and mentalist Darren Brown. Brown’s actually going to play a key role in the plot as he apparently hypnotize Homer to raise his spirits during the holidays, only for it to backfire and Homer to think he’s an elf instead. It’s likely going to lead to all sorts of shenanigans over the course of the nearly hourly long Christmas special. And since it’s celebrating its 35th anniversary, The Simpsons is likely planning all sorts of other surprises and hidden gifts.

What’s Next for The Simpsons?

Even after 35 years and 36 seasons of the animated series, The Simpsons is showing no signs of slowing down anytime soon. The Simpsons even alluded to this during the Season 36 premiere, “Bart’s Birthday.” The season premiere surprised fans with the fact that it was actually going to be the “series finale” as various characters started moving on with their lives…only to then have Homer and Bart break out of this and revert to their status quo. It was almost a way for those behind the scenes to reaffirm that it’s not going anywhere despite how long it’s been.

It’s part of a trend that longtime fans have been appreciating with the last few seasons of The Simpsons. It’s begun to experiment with its stories and fans aren’t really sure of what to expect with each new episode. There have been releases that have sparked major conversations online for how much they change things, and this Christmas special is a more light hearted and fun result of these experiments as it’s going to be expanding the holiday joy in a fun new way. If this is the future of The Simpsons, it’s certainly a bright one.

HT – What’s On Disney Plus