Animed23: cartoon TV specials, from Charlie Brown and Garfield to the Flintstones, Pooh and the cartoon channels, and where to watch them

Why TV specials

TV specials have a charm all their own. They are short, usually half an hour, so they fit easily into an evening. They are often tied to a holiday, which makes watching them a tradition. And they were made with great care by some of the finest artists in animation, from the Peanuts team of Charles Schulz, Bill Melendez and Lee Mendelson to Phil Roman's Garfield specials and Disney's Pooh featurettes.

Many viewers have watched the same specials every year since childhood, and sharing them with children and grandchildren is a joy. At the same time, new specials keep arriving, from the Peanuts specials made for streaming to Mickey's seasonal adventures, so each generation finds its own favourites. Animed23 brings old and new together on the same shelves.

The Animed23 design

Animed23 has a dark, cinema-like look. The page is almost black, with a slim header holding a menu button, the purple and white wordmark, a large rounded search pill, the main shelves and a purple My List button. Below it, the page divides into two columns. The main column opens with a rounded hero slider: each slide shows a still from a featured special, a small purple Special pill, a large white title, a short synopsis, a purple Watch now button and round arrow buttons to move between slides.

Below the hero, each section has a heading and a small View all button, followed by a grid of posters five across. At the foot of each poster, two blue badges show the year and the running time, and the title sits beneath. The sidebar holds a Popular box with three tabs and a numbered list of the best-loved specials, each with a thumbnail, its genres, a small row of gold stars and its score. On a phone, the sidebar moves below the main column, the grid drops to two columns and the menu folds into the button at the top left.

How to use Animed23

The quickest way to a special is the search pill: type a character such as Charlie Brown, Garfield or Scooby, or part of a title, and every matching special appears. The Browse page lists the whole collection from A to Z, and the Popular list in the sidebar is a fine place to start if you are unsure.

The shelves group the specials by studio, by channel, by character and by holiday: Peanuts, Garfield, Hanna-Barbera, Disney, Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network, Looney Tunes and Warner, Christmas, Halloween, the Classics from 1960 to 1989 and the specials since 2000. Save anything you like with Add to My List, which stays in your browser and can be exported to another device. When you are ready to watch, choose your country and press Watch now: JustWatch lists the services that carry the special there. Holiday specials often move between services and free television from year to year, so the button always shows the current offers.

A short history of the TV special

The animated TV special was born in the 1960s. In 1962, Mister Magoo's Christmas Carol showed that a cartoon could fill an hour of prime-time television, and in 1964 Rankin/Bass's Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer became a holiday institution. In 1965, A Charlie Brown Christmas, made by Bill Melendez and Lee Mendelson with Charles Schulz and the jazz pianist Vince Guaraldi, proved that a quiet, thoughtful cartoon could charm the whole nation. Its success launched a long series of Peanuts specials, many of which you can find on Animed23.

The 1970s and 1980s were the golden age of the format. Dr. Seuss specials, Garfield specials, Flintstones holiday specials and dozens of seasonal cartoons filled the television schedule, and some won Emmy awards. Studios such as Hanna-Barbera, Rankin/Bass, DePatie-Freleng, Bill Melendez Productions and Film Roman made specials for every holiday on the calendar.

From the 1990s, cable channels such as Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network and the Disney Channel made their own specials and television films for their favourite series. Today, streaming services commission new specials, such as the Snoopy Presents series and Mickey's seasonal adventures, keeping the tradition alive for a new generation. Animed23 gathers specials from every one of these chapters.

The Peanuts specials

Charlie Brown, Snoopy and their friends are the characters most closely linked to the TV special. Charles Schulz's Peanuts comic strip ran from 1950 to 2000, and the animated specials made with Bill Melendez and Lee Mendelson brought it to life with simple drawings, real children's voices and Vince Guaraldi's jazz. The Peanuts shelf gathers thirty-six of them.

The first Peanuts feature, A Boy Named Charlie Brown, from 1969, follows Charlie Brown from his neighbourhood to the national spelling bee in New York, a story of hope and disappointment told with great warmth. Among the earliest specials are Charlie Brown's All-Stars!, about the hapless baseball team, He's Your Dog, Charlie Brown, It Was a Short Summer, Charlie Brown and Play It Again, Charlie Brown, in which Schroeder gets a chance to play his beloved Beethoven.

The holiday specials are especially loved: It's the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown, Be My Valentine, Charlie Brown, It's Arbor Day, Charlie Brown and A Charlie Brown Valentine. Others follow the gang through school, sport and summer: You're a Good Sport, Charlie Brown, It's Your First Kiss, Charlie Brown, It's Magic, Charlie Brown, Someday You'll Find Her, Charlie Brown and It's Flashbeagle, Charlie Brown, in which Snoopy becomes a dancing star. Snoopy's Getting Married, Charlie Brown and Snoopy's Reunion explore Snoopy's family, and You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown adapts the stage musical.

Some specials tackle serious subjects with great tenderness. Why, Charlie Brown, Why? helps children understand a friend's illness, and He's a Bully, Charlie Brown shows Charlie Brown standing up for a younger camper. The newer Snoopy Presents specials, such as Snoopy Presents: It's the Small Things, Charlie Brown and Snoopy Presents: One-of-a-Kind Marcie, continue the tradition with the same warmth.

Garfield

Jim Davis's Garfield, the lasagne-loving, Monday-hating cat, starred in a celebrated series of TV specials in the 1980s and early 1990s, directed by Phil Roman with Lorenzo Music as the voice of Garfield. Several won Emmy awards. Garfield on the Town sends Garfield into the city, where he discovers his family of alley cats; Garfield in the Rough takes the household camping; and Garfield's Halloween Adventure, a favourite of many viewers, sends Garfield and Odie trick-or-treating to a spooky island.

A Garfield Christmas takes Jon, Garfield and Odie to Jon's family farm for a warm, funny holiday, and remains one of the best-loved Christmas specials ever made. Garfield Goes Hollywood, Garfield: His 9 Lives, Garfield's Feline Fantasies and Garfield Gets a Life complete the classic series, and Garfield's Fun Fest, from 2008, brings the cat into computer animation. The Garfield shelf gathers them all.

Hanna-Barbera

William Hanna and Joseph Barbera created many of television's most famous cartoon characters, and their studio made specials and short features for decades. Hey There, It's Yogi Bear!, from 1964, was the studio's first feature for cinemas, following Yogi on an adventure away from Jellystone Park. Yogi's Ark Lark brings Yogi together with other Hanna-Barbera heroes.

The Flintstones, the modern Stone Age family of Bedrock, appear in many specials: A Flintstone Christmas, in which Fred stands in for Santa, A Flintstones Christmas Carol, Flintstone Family Christmas, The Flintstones Meet Rockula and Frankenstone, The Flintstones: Hollyrock a Bye Baby, The Flintstones' New Neighbors, The Flintstones: Wind-Up Wilma, The Flintstones: Little Big League and The Flintstones: On the Rocks. Top Cat and the Beverly Hills Cats brings back the alley cat and his gang, and Scooby-Doo appears in Scooby-Doo's A Nutcracker Scoob, Scooby-Doo Meets The Addams Family, Scooby-Doo! and the Spooky Scarecrow and Scooby-Doo! and the Beach Beastie. The Hanna-Barbera shelf gathers these with the Smurfs and Casper.

Dr. Seuss

Theodor Geisel, known as Dr. Seuss, worked with animators to bring his rhyming books to television. Halloween Is Grinch Night, from 1977, finds the Grinch on a windy night when the sour-sweet wind blows, and won an Emmy award. The Grinch Grinches the Cat in the Hat, from 1982, sets the two famous characters against each other and also won an Emmy. Dr. Seuss on the Loose gathers three stories, including the Sneetches, and Dr. Seuss's The Sneetches, from 2025, retells that tale of star-bellied and plain-bellied creatures with modern animation. Seuss's wordplay and wisdom make these specials perfect for reading aloud afterwards.

Winnie the Pooh featurettes

Before Disney's Winnie the Pooh became a feature film, he starred in three short featurettes, each about twenty-five minutes long. Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree, from 1966, introduces Pooh, Christopher Robin and the Hundred Acre Wood, and follows Pooh's attempts to reach the honey of a bees' nest. Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day, from 1968, sweeps Pooh and Piglet into a great wind and a flood, introduces Tigger and won the Oscar for best animated short. Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too, from 1974, follows the bouncy Tigger, whose friends try to un-bounce him.

These three featurettes were later combined into The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, but each stands perfectly on its own, and they are ideal for very young children. Later Pooh specials include Winnie the Pooh: Un-Valentine's Day, a television special for Valentine's Day.

Mickey and Disney

Mickey Mouse has his own long line of specials. Mickey's 60th Birthday, from 1988, celebrated the character's anniversary with a mix of animation and live action, and the recent Disney+ seasonal specials, The Wonderful Spring of Mickey Mouse, The Wonderful Summer of Mickey Mouse, The Wonderful Autumn of Mickey Mouse and The Wonderful Winter of Mickey Mouse, follow Mickey, Minnie, Donald and Goofy through the year in a lively modern style. Mickey Saves Christmas, a stop-motion special from 2022, and Mickey and the Very Many Christmases are newer holiday favourites.

Donald and Goofy appear in classic compilations such as This Is Your Life Donald Duck, Down and Out with Donald Duck, Goofy's Freeway Troubles and Sport Goofy in Soccermania. The Disney Channel's The Proud Family Movie and Recess: All Growed Down bring television favourites to longer form. The Disney shelf gathers them all.

Nickelodeon

Nickelodeon's cartoons of the 1990s and 2000s produced many specials and television films. The Rugrats, the babies who see the world from knee height, appear in A Rugrats Passover, A Rugrats Vacation, A Rugrats Kwanzaa, Rugrats: All Growed Up, which imagines the babies as preteens, and Rugrats: Still Babies After All These Years. The Wild Thornberrys: The Origin of Donnie explains how the wild boy joined the family.

The Fairly OddParents: Channel Chasers sends Timmy Turner on a chase through television worlds, and the Jimmy Timmy Power Hour specials bring Timmy together with the boy genius Jimmy Neutron. CatDog and the Great Parent Mystery, The Casagrandes Movie and Big City Greens the Movie: Spacecation add more recent adventures, and The Tidal Zone: SpongeBob Universe Special gathers SpongeBob and his friends. The Nickelodeon shelf gathers these specials.

Cartoon Network

Cartoon Network's original cartoons of the 1990s and 2000s are among the most inventive in television history. Dexter's Laboratory, the 1995 pilot, introduces the boy genius and his sister Dee Dee, and Dexter's Laboratory: Chicken Scratch is a later special. The Powerpuff Girls Rule!!! celebrates the tenth anniversary of the crime-fighting sisters, and The Powerpuff Girls: Dance Pantsed is a musical special.

Foster's Home For Imaginary Friends: House of Bloo's introduces the home where imaginary friends live after their children outgrow them, and Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends: Destination Imagination won an Emmy. The Grim Adventures of the Kids Next Door brings together two series, Billy & Mandy: Wrath of the Spider Queen is a comic horror special, and Samurai Jack: The Premiere Movie introduces Genndy Tartakovsky's wandering samurai in a stunning, cinematic style. Codename: Kids Next Door: Operation I.N.T.E.R.V.I.E.W.S. concludes the adventures of the kids who fight grown-up tyranny. The Cartoon Network shelf gathers them all.

Looney Tunes and Warner

Warner Bros. assembled many of its classic Looney Tunes into television specials, often with new linking animation. Bugs Bunny's Easter Funnies, How Bugs Bunny Won the West, Bugs Bunny's Lunar Tunes and Bugs Bunny's Creature Features are the perfect way to meet Bugs, Daffy, Porky, Elmer, Tweety and Sylvester. Looney Tunes: Rabbits Run and Taz: Quest for Burger are newer films, and Baby Looney Tunes: Eggs-traordinary Adventure is made for the youngest viewers.

Steven Spielberg's Tiny Toon Adventures, about young cartoon characters at Acme Looniversity, produced Tiny Toon Spring Break and Tiny Toon Night Ghoulery, a Halloween anthology of spooky parodies. Tom and Jerry Santa's Little Helpers and Tom & Jerry's 50th Birthday Bash celebrate the cat and mouse. The Looney Tunes and Warner shelf gathers them.

Christmas specials

Christmas is the high point of the TV special year, and the Christmas shelf gathers more than twenty. Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July, a Rankin/Bass feature from 1979, brings the two famous holiday characters together, and The Legend of Frosty the Snowman tells a new story of the jolly snowman. A Garfield Christmas, A Flintstone Christmas and A Flintstones Christmas Carol are classics, I Want a Dog for Christmas, Charlie Brown and Charlie Brown's Christmas Tales bring the Peanuts gang to the season, and A Chipmunk Christmas has Alvin give away his harmonica to a sick boy.

Newer favourites include Mickey Saves Christmas, Tom and Jerry Santa's Little Helpers, Inspector Gadget Saves Christmas, Casper's First Christmas, Felix the Cat Saves Christmas, Recess Christmas: Miracle On Third Street and Ed, Edd n Eddy’s Jingle Jingle Jangle. Watching one special each evening of Advent is a lovely family tradition, and many families have their own favourite that marks the start of the season.

Halloween specials

Halloween has its own classic specials, collected on the Halloween shelf. Garfield's Halloween Adventure and Halloween Is Grinch Night are among the best, The Flintstones Meet Rockula and Frankenstone sends the Flintstones to a spooky castle, Casper's Halloween Special follows the friendly ghost, and Tiny Toon Night Ghoulery parodies famous horror stories for children. Scooby-Doo! and the Spooky Scarecrow, Bugs Bunny's Creature Features and Ed, Edd n Eddy's Boo Haw Haw add laughs to the season. These specials are spooky in the gentlest way and ideal for young trick-or-treaters before they head out for the night.

The classics

The Classics shelf gathers the specials made from 1960 to 1989, the golden age of the format. Alongside Peanuts, Garfield, the Flintstones and Pooh, it holds Babar: The Movie, from Nelvana in 1989, in which the elephant king tells his children how he saved his kingdom as a boy; Felix the Cat: The Movie; The Romance of Betty Boop; Mighty Mouse in the Great Space Chase; and the Looney Tunes compilations. These films are a fascinating window into the history of television animation.

A year of specials

The TV special follows the calendar, and Animed23 makes it easy to plan a whole year. In February, there are Valentine's Day specials from Charlie Brown and Pooh. Around Easter, the Easter Beagle and Bugs Bunny's Easter Funnies bring spring to the screen, and Arbor Day has its own Peanuts special. Summer brings Charlie Brown's camp adventures, Mickey's summer and the Rugrats' vacation.

Autumn begins with back-to-school specials and builds towards Halloween, the second great season of specials, with Garfield, the Grinch, the Flintstones and Casper. In November, Pooh's Thanksgiving and the Peanuts gang get the family together, and December belongs to Christmas, with dozens of specials to choose from. Planning the year in My List gives the family something to look forward to each month.

The tradition of watching together

The magic of the TV special has always been watching together. In the days before video, a special aired only once a year, and families planned their evenings around it. Children would talk at school the next day about the Great Pumpkin or the Grinch, and the shared experience became part of the season.

Today, specials can be watched at any time, but many families keep the tradition of a special night. Choose a date, dim the lights, make a snack that fits the season, and watch together. Afterwards, talk about the story: what did Charlie Brown learn, why did the Grinch change his mind, which character was the funniest? These small rituals turn a half-hour cartoon into a memory.

The art of the half hour

Making a good half-hour special is an art in itself. The story must be simple enough to tell in twenty-five minutes, yet rich enough to leave something behind. The best specials, such as the Peanuts films, find a small, true feeling, a wish to be liked, the joy of a holiday, the sadness of a lost friend, and build the whole story around it.

The animation of the classic specials was often simple, made quickly on modest budgets, but the artists made up for it with strong design, memorable music and excellent voice acting. Real children voiced the Peanuts gang, comedians voiced Garfield and his friends, and great character actors brought the Flintstones and Yogi Bear to life. Watching closely, you can see how much craft went into every frame.

Music in the specials

Music is at the heart of many specials. Vince Guaraldi's jazz trio gave the Peanuts specials their unmistakable sound, from the gentle piano of the holiday specials to the bouncing theme that follows Snoopy. The Garfield specials featured original songs written for the shows, the Rankin/Bass specials are full of holiday tunes, and the Chipmunks sing in every one of their films.

Listening to the music of a favourite special is a lovely way to bring the season into the home. Many families play the soundtrack of a Christmas special while decorating, or hum the Peanuts theme on a long car journey. The songs help children remember the stories, and they become part of the family's own traditions.

Through the eras

The Classics shelf covers the specials from 1960 to 1989, the golden age of network television: the Peanuts specials, Garfield, the Flintstones holidays, Dr. Seuss, the Pooh featurettes and Yogi Bear. The 1990s brought the specials of the cable cartoon channels, and the Since 2000 shelf gathers the newer specials, from Foster's and the Powerpuff Girls to the Snoopy Presents series, the Disney+ Mickey specials and the newest Nickelodeon films. Moving from one shelf to another shows how the format has grown while keeping its charm.

Choosing by age

TV specials suit almost every age. For the youngest viewers, the Pooh featurettes, the Mickey specials, Baby Looney Tunes and the gentler Peanuts specials are ideal: short, warm and easy to follow. For children from about six, Garfield, the Flintstones, Scooby-Doo, the Rugrats and the Christmas classics are perfect, with plenty of jokes and a little adventure.

Older children enjoy the sharp comedy of the Cartoon Network specials, from Dexter's Laboratory to Billy and Mandy, and the bold style of Samurai Jack. Some Peanuts specials, such as Why, Charlie Brown, Why?, deal gently with serious subjects and are best watched together, with time to talk afterwards. Each title page lists the running time and the genres, and services usually show an age rating for your country.

Routes through the collection

New to the world of TV specials? Try one of these routes. For a first evening, watch A Boy Named Charlie Brown and Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day. For a Garfield marathon, pick Garfield on the Town, Garfield in the Rough and A Garfield Christmas. For a Hanna-Barbera evening, choose Hey There, It's Yogi Bear! and A Flintstone Christmas.

For cable-channel nostalgia, try Dexter's Laboratory, The Fairly OddParents: Channel Chasers and Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends: Destination Imagination. For Halloween, pick Halloween Is Grinch Night, Garfield's Halloween Adventure and Tiny Toon Night Ghoulery. Each route mixes styles and eras, so you will see the variety of the format.

Studios to know

A handful of studios made most of the specials on Animed23. Bill Melendez Productions, working with Lee Mendelson and Charles Schulz, made the Peanuts specials for more than thirty years. Hanna-Barbera made the Flintstones, Yogi Bear and Scooby-Doo specials, and Film Roman, founded by Phil Roman, made the Garfield specials. DePatie-Freleng Enterprises worked on several Dr. Seuss specials, and Rankin/Bass made holiday classics such as Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July.

From the 1990s, the cartoon channels built their own studios: Nickelodeon Animation made the Rugrats and Fairly OddParents specials, Cartoon Network Studios made Dexter, the Powerpuff Girls, Foster's and Samurai Jack, and Disney Television Animation made the newer Pooh and Mickey specials. Nelvana in Toronto made Babar and many other family favourites. Following a studio is a fine way to discover new specials.

Activities for a special night

A special night can be more than watching. Before a Peanuts special, children can draw their own comic strip in Schulz's simple style; before a Garfield special, they can make a paper Garfield mask; before a Dr. Seuss special, they can invent their own rhyming creature. After a Christmas special, decorating a paper tree or writing a card to a friend keeps the warm feeling going.

Simple seasonal snacks, such as popcorn for the Peanuts, a small lasagne for Garfield or pumpkin biscuits for Halloween, make the evening feel like an event. These little touches cost very little and create memories that children carry for years.

The voices of the specials

The voices of the TV specials are part of their magic. The Peanuts specials famously used real children rather than adult actors, which gave Charlie Brown, Linus and Lucy their natural, slightly hesitant way of speaking; many different children voiced the characters over the decades as each generation grew up. Adults in the Peanuts world are heard only as the muffled sound of a trombone, a clever idea that keeps the story firmly in the children's world.

Garfield was voiced by Lorenzo Music, whose relaxed, dry delivery became inseparable from the lazy cat. The Flintstones were brought to life by Alan Reed and Mel Blanc, and later by Henry Corden, and Mel Blanc also voiced Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig and dozens of other Looney Tunes characters. Daws Butler voiced Yogi Bear, and Sterling Holloway gave Winnie the Pooh his gentle, honey-sweet voice. Listening closely to these performers is one of the pleasures of the classic specials.

Specials across generations

TV specials are among the few things that grandparents, parents and children have all watched. A grandparent who saw the first Peanuts specials in the 1960s, a parent who grew up with Garfield and the Rugrats in the 1980s and 1990s, and a child who loves the new Mickey specials can all sit down together and find something familiar. That shared history makes the specials a natural bridge between generations.

Ask the oldest person in the family which special they remember best and why. Often the answer comes with a story about the evening they first saw it, the house they lived in or the friends they talked to the next day. Watching that special together, and then a new one chosen by the youngest, is a lovely way to spend an evening.

Stop-motion and other techniques

Most of the specials on Animed23 are drawn by hand, but some use other techniques. Rankin/Bass made many of its holiday classics with stop-motion puppets, and the recent Mickey Saves Christmas returns to that technique with charming puppet sets. Mickey's 60th Birthday mixes animation with live action, and Garfield's Fun Fest uses computer animation. It's the Girl in the Red Truck, Charlie Brown even places Snoopy's brother Spike in real desert landscapes.

Comparing these techniques is a good way to introduce children to how animation is made. A flip book shows how drawings create movement, and a few photos of a toy moved slightly between each picture show the basis of stop-motion. Many children love trying both after watching a special.

Specials for today's children

Children today have more to watch than ever, yet the classic specials still win them over. Their short running times suit young attention spans, their simple stories are easy to follow and their humour has aged remarkably well. Many children who start with a new Mickey or Snoopy Presents special go on to discover the older ones, and soon ask for the Great Pumpkin, the Grinch or Garfield's Halloween every year.

Parents often find that the classics are a gentle alternative to faster, louder cartoons. The calm pacing, the music and the warmth of the characters create a peaceful mood that suits the evening, and the stories leave plenty of room for questions and conversation. Mixing old and new specials on the same evening is a fine way to show children how animation has changed while the heart of a good story stays the same.

A good rule of thumb is to pair one classic with one newer special each evening. Children enjoy the contrast, parents enjoy the memories, and over a season the whole family builds a shared library of favourites that will be watched again for years to come.

Little lessons, big hearts

The best specials carry gentle lessons with a light touch. Charlie Brown keeps trying, whether he is kicking a football, flying a kite or leading a baseball team, and his friends remind us that kindness matters more than winning. The Grinch's change of heart shows that anyone can choose to be generous. Garfield, for all his laziness, always ends up caring for Jon and Odie, and the Rugrats show the courage of small children in a big world.

These messages make the specials a good starting point for family conversations. After a special, ask your child what the hero learned, or what they would have done in the same place. Simple questions like these help children think about friendship, honesty and generosity, and they make the evening more than just watching.

Collecting the specials

Many fans enjoy collecting the specials of a favourite character, and Animed23 makes it easy to follow a single family across the years. The Peanuts specials alone span more than half a century, from the 1960s to the streaming specials of today, and watching them in order shows how the characters and the animation changed over time. The Garfield specials, the Flintstones holidays and the Rugrats specials each make a satisfying collection of their own.

Use My List to keep track of which specials you have watched and which are still to come. Searching a character's name lists every special with that character, and the shelves group them by studio and channel. For many fans, completing a collection becomes a pleasant project for the long winter evenings.

Learning English with specials

TV specials are a friendly way to practise English. They are short, the dialogue is clear and the pictures help viewers follow the story. The Pooh featurettes and the Mickey specials are perfect for beginners, with simple sentences and gentle pacing, while the Peanuts and Garfield specials offer everyday conversation and lots of humour.

A good method is to watch a special first with subtitles in your own language, then with English subtitles and finally with English audio alone. Because the specials are so short, it is easy to watch the same one several times, and familiar holiday stories are especially easy to follow. Many services also offer Spanish and Latin American dubs, listed on the Watch now page.

Specials around the world

American TV specials travelled far beyond the United States. Dubbed into Spanish, Portuguese, French, German, Italian, Japanese and many other languages, Charlie Brown, Garfield, the Flintstones and Pooh became part of childhood in dozens of countries. In Spain and Latin America, generations of children grew up with the Latin American and Castilian versions of these characters, voiced by beloved local actors.

Holiday specials also adapted to local traditions. A special about Thanksgiving or Arbor Day might be a curiosity in some countries, while Christmas, Halloween and Easter specials found a home almost everywhere. Watching a special in the language of your own childhood can be a moving experience, and the Watch now page shows which language versions each service offers in your country.

Making your own list of favourites

Every family has its own favourite specials, and building a personal list is part of the fun. Start with the specials you remember from childhood, add the ones your children ask for again and again, and leave room for a few new discoveries each season. My List keeps everything in one place, and exporting it lets you share the list with family members on other devices.

Some families make a ranking each December, voting on the best special of the year, or keep a notebook of which specials they watched each holiday. Over time, these lists become a record of family life, and looking back at them years later brings a smile. The Popular box in the sidebar and the Top rated shelf can help when you are looking for something new to add.

However you build your list, the important thing is the time spent together. A half hour with Charlie Brown, Garfield or Pooh is a small gift, and the specials on Animed23 are ready whenever your family is.

Specials also make thoughtful gifts. A short list of favourite specials, written on a card with a promise of a film evening together, is a simple present that grandparents and children alike treasure.

Friends and neighbours of the specials

Some of the most charming specials on Animed23 come from characters outside the big studios. Babar, the elephant king created by Jean and Laurent de Brunhoff, appears in Babar: The Movie and Babar: King of the Elephants, gentle stories of a kingdom of elephants. Madeline, Ludwig Bemelmans's brave little girl from Paris, stars in Madeline: Lost in Paris and Madeline: My Fair Madeline. Felix the Cat, one of the first cartoon stars of the silent era, returns in Felix the Cat: The Movie and Felix the Cat Saves Christmas.

Casper the Friendly Ghost appears in Casper's First Christmas, Casper's Halloween Special and Casper's Scare School, and Inspector Gadget, the bumbling detective with gadgets in his hat, saves the holidays in Inspector Gadget Saves Christmas. These characters come from picture books, comic strips and early cinema, and they add variety and history to the shelves.

Quiet evenings

Some evenings call for something short. Often a short special is exactly right: a half hour of warmth at the end of a busy day, a gentle story before bed or a quick laugh after homework. TV specials were made for this kind of evening, and their short running times make them easy to fit in.

Many families keep a small list of comfort specials, favourites they return to whenever someone needs cheering up. A Peanuts special, a Pooh featurette or a Garfield holiday special can lift the mood of the whole household, and the familiar characters feel like old friends dropping by for a visit.

Sharing specials with friends

Specials are perfect for gatherings. A Halloween party can open with a spooky special before the costume parade, a Christmas get-together can pause for a half hour of Charlie Brown or the Flintstones, and a sleepover can end with a Garfield marathon. Because the specials are short, they fit neatly between games, meals and conversation.

For a party, choose specials that suit the youngest guests, set out cushions and a few snacks, and let the children vote on what to watch next. A shared special gives everyone something to laugh about together, and it often becomes the moment children remember most.

How a special was made

Making a classic TV special took months of work by a small team. Writers and storyboard artists planned the story scene by scene, voice actors recorded their lines, and animators drew thousands of pictures by hand, which were then traced onto clear sheets of celluloid, painted and photographed over painted backgrounds. Composers wrote the music, and sound editors added every footstep and bark.

Because budgets were modest and schedules tight, the artists learned to tell stories with great economy: a single expressive pose, a well-timed pause or a simple background could say as much as elaborate animation. That economy is part of the charm of the specials, and it explains why so many still feel fresh decades later. Today's specials are often made with digital tools, but the same care for story and character remains at their heart.

New specials

The TV special is very much alive. Streaming services commission new holiday and seasonal specials every year, studios revive classic characters for new audiences and the cartoon channels mark anniversaries with reunion specials. The Snoopy Presents series, the Disney+ Mickey specials and the newest Nickelodeon films show that the format still delights children, and the Since 2000 shelf gathers these newer titles. Come back each season to see what has been added.

Whatever the season, there is a special waiting on these shelves. Pick one tonight, settle in with the people you love and enjoy a little cartoon magic together.

All the shelves

Animed23 has thirteen shelves. All specials holds the whole collection. Peanuts and Garfield gather two great families of specials, Hanna-Barbera, Disney, Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network and Looney Tunes and Warner follow the studios and channels, Christmas and Halloween follow the holidays, Classics and Since 2000 follow the eras and Top rated lists the specials viewers rate most highly.

Each shelf shows its specials as posters with blue badges for the year and running time, the same as the home page, so moving between shelves feels familiar.

The help pages

Fifteen help pages answer the common questions. How to watch explains the steps from the special to the screen. The Peanuts specials, Holiday specials, Hanna-Barbera, The cartoon channels and Disney specials introduce the collection. Languages and dubs, Finding a special and My List cover everyday use, while Apps and devices, Free cartoon specials, Where Animed23 specials stream, Streaming safely, Is Animed23 working? and The official Animed23 site handle the practical side.

How the collection is chosen

Every special on Animed23 is chosen by hand. The editors start from animated television specials and short features, read each story and keep the collection focused on specials that families can enjoy together. Advertising specials and documentary anniversary programmes are left to other places. The collection is also designed to complement the other guides in the same family, so it gathers specials those guides leave free.

Information on each page comes from TMDB, the community database of film and television, and grows as contributors add details, posters and cast lists.

Watching today

TV specials reach viewers through many routes. Streaming services tied to the studios carry many of the Peanuts, Disney, Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network specials; digital stores sell specials individually and in collections; and many holiday specials return to free television every year. Libraries lend discs of the classic specials.

Rights are agreed country by country, so the services in Spain or Mexico may differ from those in the United States or the United Kingdom. Choose your country, press Watch now and JustWatch shows the offers there. Watching on official services supports the studios and artists who keep these specials alive.

Welcome

Thank you for visiting Animed23. Whether you are looking for the Christmas special of your childhood, a Halloween classic or a half hour of cartoon fun before bedtime, there is a special here for you. Search a character, follow a shelf, keep your plans in My List and come back whenever the season calls for a special.

Questions