It wouldn’t be the Christmas season without an Alfonso Cuarón-backed holiday short film directed by a prominent director arriving on Disney+. Following Alice Rohrwacher’s Oscar-nominated short Le pupille a few years ago, David Lowery has now helmed An Almost Christmas Story, a 21-minute short he co-wrote with Cuarón and Jack Thorne. Ahead of streaming on Disney+ beginning November 16, the first trailer has arrived for the animated film featuring the voices of John C. Reilly, Alex Ross Perry, Natasha Lyonne, Mamoudou Athie, Jim Gaffigan, and more.
Here’s the synopsis: “Moon, a curious young owl who unexpectedly finds himself stuck in a Christmas tree destined for Rockefeller Plaza. In his attempts to escape the bustling city, Moon befriends a lost little girl named Luna. Together, they embark on a heartwarming adventure, discovering the magic of the holiday season and forming an unlikely bond as they journey back home to their parents. “An Almost Christmas Story” is inspired by the true events of a tiny owl, Rocky – short for Rockefeller – found and rescued from the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree in 2020.”
Lowery, who can also briefly be seen in Queer next month, will return next year with his new feature Mother Mary starring Michaela Coel, Anne Hathaway, and Hunter Schafer. “I’m in the edit right now and I have been wondering, ‘what is this movie?,’” Lowery recently told IndieWire. “I know what I set out to make and that is indeed what I’ve made, but it is so wild. It is a movie I am sure will provoke a lot of strong feelings, in every possible direction. It feels very true to who I am, and very close to me, but it is also consistently surprising me in ways that I did not anticipate. What I’ve got on my computer now is probably pretty much what it’s going to be, it will just get cleaned up.”
See the trailer below.
