Angel has officially announced a partnership with the newly formed indie animation outfit Butch Hartman Studios to distribute a new animated feature for this holiday season. Titled The Christmas King! A Garden Cartoon Holiday Movie!, the film is slated to premiere on the Angel streaming platforms on December 11th.
Based on the press announcement, the film targets a family demographic with a focus on values-driven storytelling. The plot follows two protagonists, Lenny the Lion and Lucy the Lamb, who discover the first snowflake of Christmas. The narrative centers on their race against time to deliver the snowflake to “The Christmas King” before it melts, with the stakes being the cancellation of Christmas itself. The thematic core of the story reportedly emphasizes friendship as the ultimate gift.
Butch Hartman, best known as the creator of Nickelodeon’s The Fairly OddParents and Danny Phantom, serves as the creator, executive producer, and director of the project. Notably, Hartman also wrote all of the songs featured in the movie. The casting for The Christmas King! features a reunion of sorts for fans of Star Wars: The Clone Wars. Matt Lanter (Anakin Skywalker) voices The Christmas King, while James Arnold Taylor (Obi-Wan Kenobi) joins the cast in a supporting role. The ensemble also includes Cristina M. Medina (The Casagrandes), Brian Stivale (David, Return), and Hillary Phillips (The Big Blue Book).
This collaboration marks a significant acquisition for Angel, a media company largely guided by its “Angel Guild” of 1.6 million members who vote on content. David Fischer, Director of Acquisitions and Business Affairs for Angel, noted that the company is actively seeking projects that “instill positive values.” Fischer stated that the film is “a perfect way for families to come together and celebrate the Christmas season.” For Hartman, the move to an independent, values-centric distributor aligns with his studio’s current mandate to provide “quality and safe programming that sparks the imagination.”
Butch Hartman Studios, a full-service production company with a crew of over 40 animators, is positioning itself as a hub for impactful kids programming. While Hartman is an Animation Magazine Hall of Fame inductee with a decades-long tenure at Nickelodeon, his new studio is developing a fresh slate of original IP. In addition to The Christmas King!, the studio is currently developing several series, including Little Harps (about a Guardian Angel school), Dragon Drive-Thru, and Family Fusion.