10 Must-watch French Christmas Cartoons
French Christmas cartoons capture the magic and wonder of the holiday season, bringing joy to children and adults alike. These animated tales have become a cherished part of Christmas traditions in France.
Check out the following 10 animated films and episodes of cartoons that offer a delightful mix of holiday spirit and French culture.
Contents
- 1. “L’apprenti Père Noël” (“Santa’s Apprentice”)
- 2. “L’Apprenti Père Noël et le flocon magique” (“Santa’s Apprentice: The Magic Snowflake”)
- 3. “L’agenda du Père Noël” (“Santa’s Address Book”)
- 4. “L’Enfant au grelot” (“Charlie’s Christmas”)
- 5. “Le cristal magique du Père Noël” (“Santa Claus’s Magic Crystal”)
- 6. “On a volé les rennes du Père Noël” (“Someone Stole Santa’s Reindeer”)
- 7. “Le Noël Magique De Benjamin” (“Benjamin’s Magical Christmas”)
- 8. “Le Noël de Petit Ours Brun” (“Little Brown Bear’s Christmas”)
- 9. “Le Noël de Mickey” (“Mickey’s Christmas Carol”)
- 10. “T’choupi et le Père Noël” (“T’choupi and Santa Claus”)
- How to Learn French with Christmas Cartoons
- And one more thing...
Download: This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that you can take anywhere. Click here to get a copy. (Download)
1. “L’apprenti Père Noël” (“Santa’s Apprentice”)
This heartwarming film is a must-see holiday classic in France. It tells the story of Santa Claus, who must retire from his post and choose an apprentice to eventually replace him.
A young orphan from Australia is chosen to take his place, but he must learn to believe in himself while Santa must learn to let go of his position. If you like the film, check out the cartoon series adaptation on YouTube.
2. “L’Apprenti Père Noël et le flocon magique” (“Santa’s Apprentice: The Magic Snowflake”)
If you like “L’apprenti Père Noël,” you must check out the sequel. This charming French film continues the story of young Nicholas, the chosen successor to Santa Claus, as he prepares for his new role.
Adding to his challenges, the magic snowflake (crucial to maintaining Christmas magic) begins to melt, threatening the holiday season. With the help of his friends, Nicholas must find a way to restore the magic and save Christmas.
3. “L’agenda du Père Noël” (“Santa’s Address Book”)
In this short film, Christmas is threatened due to declining belief in holdiay magic and Santa Claus. What’s more, Santa accidentally erases all the children’s addresses from his electronic organizer and risks causing even more disbelief.
To save Christmas, he must find a way to bring back holiday spirit among the children. Luckily, he has help from Jasmine, a young girl trying to convince her brother that Santa is real, and a pair of silly elves back at the North Pole.
4. “L’Enfant au grelot” (“Charlie’s Christmas”)
This short film is just under 30 minutes long and features an incredibly charming animation style. After a big winter storm, a kind-hearted mailman finds a baby in a basket and delivers him to the closest orphanage.
There, the child grows up wondering where he comes from and who his family is. Some years later, the boy helps the mailman deliver the children’s letters to Santa. In the process, he discovers many answers to the questions he’s pondered during his childhood.
5. “Le cristal magique du Père Noël” (“Santa Claus’s Magic Crystal”)
This animated film features Santa Claus and a magic crystal that allows him to deliver presents to all the kids around the world. However, when Santa’s evil assistant steals the crystal to enslave children, everything is at stake.
To make things right, Santa teams up with a young boy named Yotan. Together, they undergo many trials and adventures to rescue the kids and restore Christmas.
6. “On a volé les rennes du Père Noël” (“Someone Stole Santa’s Reindeer”)
When Santa Claus goes to get his reindeer ready for Christmas, he finds that they’ve been stolen. He sets off with his friend Rouge Gorge and his magic sleigh to find the culprits.
On the way, he meets a young boy named Simon who offers his help in the quest. They encounter many challenges and mysteries, ending up at a circus run by the cruel Monsieur Forban.
7. “Le Noël Magique De Benjamin” (“Benjamin’s Magical Christmas”)
You might know this turtle as Franklin, but in France, he’s called Benjamin. This Christmas special from the popular cartoon series follows Benjamin as he embarks on a holiday adventure.
As Christmas approaches, Benjamin is eager to celebrate with his family and friends. However, a sudden storm threatens to ruin the festivities. Through challenges and successes, he learns the true spirit of the season and the value of having a sister.
8. “Le Noël de Petit Ours Brun” (“Little Brown Bear’s Christmas”)
“Petit Ours Brun” (Little Brown Bear) is a beloved French children’s series, and this charming holiday episode is a popular favorite. It follows Petit Ours Brun as he eagerly prepares for Christmas with his family.
Alongside his parents, he learns the value of sharing, kindness and the warmth of family traditions. At less than three minutes long and available for free on YouTube, this cartoon will quickly get you in the holiday spirit.
9. “Le Noël de Mickey” (“Mickey’s Christmas Carol”)
Although originally American, this 1983 adaptation of Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol” is very popular in France and has been dubbed in French. It features Scrooge McDuck, a miserly old duck who despises Christmas.
He’s visited by the ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Future, portrayed by familiar Disney characters. Through these encounters, Scrooge learns about the impact of his actions and discovers the true spirit of Christmas.
10. “T’choupi et le Père Noël” (“T’choupi and Santa Claus”)
T’choupi is a popular character in French children’s literature and television. In this special Christmas episode, T’choupi is filled with excitement as he eagerly awaits the arrival of Santa Claus.
He writes a letter to Santa, helps decorate the house and even tries to stay awake to catch a glimpse of Santa delivering presents. Along the way, T’choupi learns about the joy of giving, the importance of family and the magic of Christmas traditions.
How to Learn French with Christmas Cartoons
A great way to prepare for these holiday films and episodes is to brush up on some French Christmas vocabulary beforehand so you’ll better follow the storyline. For this, the language learning program FluentU can help.
It has a library of authentic French videos, including holiday-related content, and each one has interactive subtitles that teach words in context. You can then review them through personalized flashcards and quizzes.
FluentU takes authentic videos—like music videos, movie trailers, news and inspiring talks—and turns them into personalized language learning lessons.
You can try FluentU for free for 2 weeks. Check out the website or download the iOS app or Android app.
P.S. Click here to take advantage of our current sale! (Expires at the end of this month.)
Build up your word bank and then try seeing how many holiday words you can recognize during the films and shows you watch! You can also pair these videos with some French Christmas songs and holiday greetings.
Don’t just stop with these great French cartoons—continue your holiday season binge-fest with some wonderful live-action French Christmas films.
Enjoy the Christmas season and have a joyeux Noël! (Merry Christmas!)
Download: This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that you can take anywhere. Click here to get a copy. (Download)
And one more thing...
If you like learning French on your own time and from the comfort of your smart device, then I'd be remiss to not tell you about FluentU.
FluentU has a wide variety of great content, like interviews, documentary excerpts and web series, as you can see here:
FluentU brings native French videos with reach. With interactive captions, you can tap on any word to see an image, definition and useful examples.
For example, if you tap on the word "crois," you'll see this:
Practice and reinforce all the vocabulary you've learned in a given video with learn mode. Swipe left or right to see more examples for the word you’re learning, and play the mini-games found in our dynamic flashcards, like "fill in the blank."
All throughout, FluentU tracks the vocabulary that you’re learning and uses this information to give you a totally personalized experience. It gives you extra practice with difficult words—and reminds you when it’s time to review what you’ve learned.
Start using the FluentU website on your computer or tablet or, better yet, download the FluentU app from the iTunes or Google Play store. Click here to take advantage of our current sale! (Expires at the end of this month.)
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