Bing Crosby, Chuck Berry, Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra get animated for Christmas

UMe partners with legendary artists and estates to create first-ever videos for Christmas classics

This holiday season, musical legends Bing Crosby, Chuck Berry, Ella Fitzgerald and Frank Sinatra are returning in animated form with first-ever official music videos from UMe for some of the most iconic and beloved songs in the Christmas canon. In the beautifully hand drawn and painted videos created by Fantoons Animation Studios, Crosby brings joy to a down in the dumps town with his trusty Bing-O-Matic in “Winter Wonderland” and croons over a multigenerational military family’s holiday gatherings in “White Christmas,” guitar-clad Berry helps Santa with his Christmas rounds in vintage comic book style in “Run Rudolph Run,” Fitzgerald and Frosty delight in a winter wonderland storybook setting in “Frosty The Snowman” and Sinatra delivers mid-century style, glitz and grace as only he can in the holiday classics, “The Christmas Waltz” and “Mistletoe and Holly.”

“UMe is incredibly honored and excited to partner with these legendary artists and estates to celebrate their iconic holiday songs and give them official videos,” says Bruce Resnikoff, President and CEO of UMe, the global catalog company of UMG. “Last year was the first time we created holiday videos and we had such a tremendous response that we’ve gone all in again this year and our content team and Fantoons have really outdone themselves. These songs are some of the most popular year to year and we hope these videos brighten up fans holidays as well as attract new audiences across the digital platforms they inhabit. Similar to before, the video assets and creative will be deployed across UMe’s holiday marketing and advertising campaigns for a cohesive look and feel and to achieve greater engagement across a broader audience.”

These videos are just some of the many ways that UMe is celebrating its unmatched Christmas catalog and helping to turn up the joy this holiday season. In addition to the new animated videos, a variety of “Christmas With…” collections for artists including The Beach Boys, Bing Crosby, Brenda Lee, Burl Ives, Chuck Berry, Dean Martin, Ella Fitzgerald, The Jackson 5 and Nat King Cole are available to stream on your favorite DSP and there’s of course the annual Christmas Music playlist which features some of the most popular songs and artists across the holiday music canon, pairing timeless classics with contemporary favorites. The hours-long –and ever-expanding – playlist is available to stream now across all digital outlets.

uDiscover Music is also getting into the spirit with their just launched holiday hub which will feature a variety of gift guides for all types of music lovers, eclectic playlists and the memorable stories behind classic holiday tunes.

For those looking for more holiday entertainment, The Ed Sullivan Show’s official YouTube channel is celebrating the season with a music-and laughter-filled holiday playlist. Classics include “White Christmas” by Bing Crosby, “Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer” by Gene Autry, “Jingle Bells” by Paul Anka, and more. Festive fun lights up things with “Mrs. Claus Interview” by Stiller & Meara, “Deck The Halls” by the Baird Puppets and holiday cheer with The Muppets.

Buddy Iahn
Buddy Iahn

Buddy Iahn founded The Music Universe when he decided to juxtapose his love of web design and music. As a lifelong drummer, he decided to take a hiatus from playing music to report it. The website began as a fun project in 2013 to one of the top independent news sites. Email: info@themusicuniverse.com