The Toy Story Christmas Special: When And Where You Can Watch It

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If you’re one of those people whose sole Christmas wish is for more Toy Story, then you’re in luck. We're not getting another feature, sadly, but Pixar is bringing everyone’s favorite CGI playthings back for a Christmas-tinged adventure called Toy Story That Time Forgot. ABC has announced the special will premiere on Tuesday, December 2, at 8:00 p.m. Just in time for…three weeks before Christmas.

This throwback tale takes place during a post-Christmas playdate, when Woody (Tom Hanks), Buzz (Tim Allen), Jessie (Joan Cusack) and the rest find themselves outside of their comfort zones – don’t they always? – when a set of amazing dinosaur action figures (called Battlesaurs) end up proving themselves to be completely dangerous and crazy. At this point, it falls on the horned head of Trixie the triceratops, voiced by Kristen Schaal, to save the toys from certain doom. It’s a wonder why these guys are so keen on sticking together when it’s just one huge life-threatening ordeal after another. Still though, dinosaur action figures are cool.

Everyone is back and reprising their voice roles, including Timothy Dalton as Mr. Pricklepants, Wallace Shawn as Rex, Don Rickles as Mr. Potato Head and more. Grey’s Anatomy star Kevin McKidd will lend his voice to Reptillus Maximus, which I’ll assume is one of the bad guys. Steve Purcell, creator of the outstanding Sam and Max video game series, is also on board to voice a character named Ray-Gon. Here’s the special’s first poster, created by comic book superstar Mike Mignola (Hellboy).

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What’s interesting about Toy Story That Time Forgot is that its story was originally conceived for a holiday special to follow up Pixar’s Tin Toy short, released in 1988. Disney stepped in and turned it from a special into a feature, and thus Toy Story was born. So this is, in a sense, an extremely unique take on an origin story. And unlike comic book origins, we haven’t heard this one ad nauseum.

ABC is banking on this new Toy Story adventure to be at least as popular as last year’s Halloween special Toy Story of Terror, which premiered to solid ratings. In fact, they’re going to rebroadcast the spookily silly special, which involves the gang looking for a missing toy on a road trip, on Wednesday, October 15.

So don’t forget to watch Toy Story That Time Forgot on Tuesday, December 2.

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Nick Venable
Nick Venable
Assistant Managing Editor

Nick is a Cajun Country native and an Assistant Managing Editor with a focus on TV and features. His humble origin story with CinemaBlend began all the way back in the pre-streaming era, circa 2009, as a freelancing DVD reviewer and TV recapper.  Nick leapfrogged over to the small screen to cover more and more television news and interviews, eventually taking over the section for the current era and covering topics like Yellowstone, The Walking Dead and horror. Born in Louisiana and currently living in Texas — Who Dat Nation over America’s Team all day, all night — Nick spent several years in the hospitality industry, and also worked as a 911 operator. If you ever happened to hear his music or read his comics/short stories, you have his sympathy.