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THE Billboard Family Hits of the Week brings together what's new and worth your family's time in music, movies, TV, books, games and more. Forget annoying scrolling and searching for “what to watch for family movie night”… again. The best family entertainment every week is all in one place in this handy guide. Not satisfying to cross something off your bucket list?
With winter break coming up, you might be looking for ideas on how to keep your kids entertained while they're away from school. If the shiny new gifts and holiday cheer start to lose their luster as the days go by, let Billboard Family come in with suggestions of what to check out together in mid-late December.
Do you want to leave the house together? On Friday, December 20, Disney's Mufasa: The Lion King opens in theaters, with a superstar mother-daughter duo on the cast list. Among the voices lending their talents to the film is 12-year-old Blue Ivy Carter as Kiara, the daughter of Simba and Nala. Blue Ivy is the real-life daughter of parents Jay-Z and Beyoncé, reprising her role as Nala in the franchise's latest film release.
Would you rather stay in? Gather up some holiday treats (you might want to try baking Taylor Swift's Chai Sugar Cookies with Cinnamon Eggnog Frosting) and cozy up on the couch for the Inside Out spin-off Dream Productionsa miniseries now streaming on Disney+. At just four 20-minute episodes, it's about the length of a typical family movie.
We're always looking for candidates to add to our holiday playlist, and Lady Gaga's new rock cover of “Santa Claus Is Coming to Town” puts a fun twist on a classic.
Always here with a Swiftie concert in your house, I'll say that if you haven't seen them yet, it's worth tuning in with this series of behind-the-scenes clips (just uploaded to YouTube on Swift's birthday). fans of all ages. They give a look at the work the singer puts in offstage and behind the camera, in the less glamorous but equally creative role of director.
Learn more about this week's top picks in Billboard's Family Hits of the Week:
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Stream Pixar's 'Dream Productions' on Disney+
Full disclosure: I have yet to fully watch Pixar Animation Dream Productions. However, I was in the same room as my 9 year old as she watched it Inside Out spin-off in its entirety, twice. “Or like three times,” he corrected me just now. I couldn't get much feedback from her other than “that was good” and that her favorite part is “Riley's cake dress”, but a repeat watch is a good sign. (I'll definitely watch them all when I have the time – I loved both movies. If you and your family did too, it's obvious that this miniseries exists.)
Dream Productionswhich premiered a few days ago and can be found on Disney+, takes place in the time between Inside Out 1 and Inside Out 2 and written in mock style. You'll be introduced to the studio that runs the dreams inside Riley's mind, with Paula Pell and Maya Ruldoph among the familiar names voicing the series' characters.
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Go behind the scenes of Taylor Swift's music videos
While Swift didn't post about her birthday on Friday (Dec. 13), that day Taylor Nation, her official online group, directed fans to the singer's Eras archive on its website. The archive contains many clips from the making of her latest music videos previously unavailable online.
If you saw The Eras Tour, these videos are a cool look at the off-stage, unrehearsed version of Swift and her style as a director, which can inspire your own young creators. (The multi-talented now directs her own music videos, in addition to her short film, Very very good. She will make her upcoming feature directorial debut with Searchlight Pictures.)
Check out some snaps above and below — like Swift painting herself a silver statue for “Karma,” swimming on set with a piano for “Cardigan” and directing a trio of ghosts for “Anti-Hero” – then see them all here. There are a total of nine recently uploaded behind-the-scenes videos.
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Listen to “Santa Claus Is Coming to Town” by Lady Gaga
Overnight, Lady Gaga's version of the Christmas standard 'Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town' made its rounds on the internet. The unexpected (and delightful) constant holiday surprise follows the many, many covers of Haven Gillespie and J. Fred Coots' song that have been released since the original was written 90 years ago. Making a playlist of them all and picking a favorite could be a fun little activity and music history lesson for a music-loving family.
Let's start this list for you: “Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town” (1946) by Perry Como, “Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town” by Frank Sinatra (1947), “Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town” by Beach Boys' (1964), Burl Ives' 'Santa Claus Is Coming to Town' (1965), The Jackson 5's 'Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town' (1970), 'Santa Claus Is Fred Astaire's Comin' to Town (1970, from the stop-motion television tribute of the same name), The Carpenters' Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town (1974), Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town by Bruce Springsteen (a 1975 live recording first released in 1981), Pointer Sisters' “Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town” (1987), “Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town” by Mariah Carey (1994), the Spanish-language “Santa” by Luis Miguel Claus Llegó a La Ciudad” (2006), Justin Bieber's “Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town” (2011), the Michael Bublé's “Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town” (2011) and, of course, Gaga's most recent rendition of “Santa Claus Is Coming to Town” (2024). This is not extensive list of recording artists who have covered the holiday piece, but it's definitely somewhere to start.
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See “Mufasa: The Lion King” in theaters
Right at the start of most school's winter break comes a major theatrical release intended for family audiences, Disney's “photorealistic” animations. Mufasa: The Lion King. The film features the familiar character of Rafiki (voiced by John Kani) — with the help of Timon (Billy Eichner) and Pumbaa (Seth Rogan) — who shares the myth of the great King of the Pride Lands with the lioness Kiara (Blue Ivy Carter). who is the daughter of adult Simba (Donald Glover) and adult Nala (Beyoncé). Director Barry Jenkins explained that the newest King of Lions The film is both a prequel and a sequel to what we've already seen: “It exists in parallel timelines,” he said.
The original 1994 story The Lion King from Disney is something that is nostalgic for many of us who are now parents and it is a pleasure to share it with a new generation. If you plan to see Mufasaconsider doing a family marathon of the franchise's previously released feature films before screening the new film. You have the standard cartoons The Lion King (1994), The Lion King II: Simba's Pride (1998) and The Lion King 1½ (2004), plus the photorealistic The Lion King (2019).
Mufasa: The Lion King opens in theaters on December 20.
