Disney, ESPN, NBA Set To Dunk the Halls With Animated Alt-Cast of Spurs-Knicks Christmas Day Game The production marks ESPN's latest real-time animated-broadcast effort By Jason Dachman, Editorial Director, U.S.
Wednesday, November 20, 2024 - 3:29 pm
Print This Story | Subscribe
Story Highlights
Mickey and Minnie Mouse are set to hit the hardcourt. Disney, ESPN, and the NBA are teaming up to present Dunk the Halls, a real-time animated broadcast of the San Antonio Spurs and New York Knicks matchup on Christmas Day. The virtual, live re-creation of the game will leverage Sony's Beyond Sports technology. Set on iconic Main Street, USA in Magic Kingdom Park, Dunk the Halls will be presented on ESPN2, Disney , and ESPN . The special alt-cast marks the first animated presentation of an NBA game and the first NBA game to stream on Disney .
Each Spurs and Knicks player will appear as a motion-enabled, animated player for the special Christmas matchup. Real-time visualization technology enabled by Sony's Beyond Sports, combined with Sony's Hawk-Eye Innovations' optical tracking, will enable fans watching Dunk the Halls to see all the action from the game at Madison Square Garden as it happens.
Shooting Hoops at the Magic Kingdom
The Dunk the Halls storyline begins with Mickey's Christmas wish for Santa Claus to bring the NBA players to Main Street, USA at Magic Kingdom Park at Walt Disney World Resort to play the first animated NBA game on Christmas Day. Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck, Pluto, Goofy, and Chip and Dale will cheer from the sidelines, and shots of Main Street, USA and other Magic Kingdom Park landmarks, including Cinderella's Castle, will be regularly shown.
More production highlights:
At halftime of the Spurs vs. Knicks game, the Disney characters, led by Mickey Mouse, will compete in a special slam-dunk contest.
Santa's elves will operate the cameras for the game while Santa himself operates ESPN's Skycam during the game.
The Disney characters will deliver pregame and halftime speeches to the players and decorate a large Christmas tree during the game.
Fans will also find out if it will snow on Main Street, USA and see how many churros Goofy can eat.
Drew Carter will serve as play-by-play commentator alongside ESPN basketball analyst Monica McNutt. The duo will be joined by a very special guest: Daisy Duck will serve as sideline reporter. Carter and McNutt will be animated in the style of the telecast and don ESPN Edge Innovation Partner Meta Quest Pro headsets to experience the game from Main Street, USA, thanks to VR technology and Sony's Beyond Sports Virtual Commentator Technology.
The Rise of Real-Time Animated Broadcasts Dunk the Halls is the latest chapter in Disney and ESPN's real-time animated-broadcast effort. ESPN recently announced that, on Dec. 9, it will produce an animated, real-time alt-cast, titled The Simpsons Funday Football and streaming on Disney and ESPN , for Monday Night Football. Other animated alt-casts include Toy Story Funday Football in September 2023 and editions of the NHL Big City Greens Classic in both March 2023 and March 2024.
Dunk the Halls also continues ESPN and the NBA's history of alt-cast executions using IP from The Walt Disney Co. In 2021, ESPN and the NBA teamed up with Marvel for Marvel's Arena of Heroes, an alt-cast of an NBA regular-season game.
The five NBA games on Dec. 25 will be available on ABC, ESPN, Disney , and ESPN . Talent for the traditional broadcast of the Spurs-Knicks game will be play-caller Ryan Ruocco, analyst Cory Alexander, and reporter Cassidy Hubbarth.
Stay tuned to SVG in the coming weeks for more in-depth coverage of the Dunk the Halls and The Simpsons Funday Football productions.
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
01/06/2026
January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026
Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...
30/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
30/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
30/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
30/05/2026
Zero in on one that says yes (and no)
Andy Marken May 29, 2026
0 Comments
Hero image courtesy of Deposit Photos
For content creators the most difficu...
29/05/2026
With InfoComm 2026 just weeks away, NDI is giving attendees plenty of reasons to...
29/05/2026
Reaffirming a partnership that has defined Canadian sports broadcasting since 19...
29/05/2026
Mobile/tablet is No. 2 device for watching TV, suggesting that the sports-production industry needs to take another look at the format
Ring Digital's Sprin...
29/05/2026
Berliner Ensemble, one of Berlin's five major theater companies, has expande...
29/05/2026
Solid State Logic will showcase its new compact, fly-away TCA Tour audio product...
29/05/2026
Gerald (Jerry) Pierce, a pioneering technologist who helped shape the digital transformation of the motion picture industry, passed away last month on April 12 ...
29/05/2026
Paramount+ will be the English-language U.S. home for Barclays Women's Super...
29/05/2026
Further strengthening its virtualisation strategy to fully support broadcasters ...
29/05/2026
Swiss broadcaster Canal Alpha has deployed Harmonic's award-winning, software-based XOS Advanced Media Processor to modernize playout operations across cant...
29/05/2026
PTZOptics will showcase a new generation of intelligent video workflows at InfoComm 2026, June 17-19, Las Vegas. Visitors to booth N8227 will see how PTZOptics ...
29/05/2026
Arizona's Family has launched the Arizona's Family Sports (AZFS) streaming app, a new direct-to-consumer destination for live, local sports. The app is ...
29/05/2026
Starting in 2027, DAZN will be the exclusive home of The Canadian Football Leagu...
29/05/2026
Comcast Business has detailed the advanced network infrastructure it has deploye...
29/05/2026
In two-day event, leaders from academia and industry explored solutions to chall...
29/05/2026
The Basketball Tournament (TBT), now entering their 13th year of competition, ha...
29/05/2026
Roku has launched FOX One as a Premium Subscription on The Roku Channel in the U.S. Roku customers can now subscribe to FOX One using their Roku account for liv...
29/05/2026
In its sixth year, the broadcaster's coverage has become a global brand and ...
29/05/2026
Ratings Roundup is a rundown of recent ratings news and is derived from press re...
29/05/2026
The days are getting longer, the temperatures are rising, and playlists are filling up for the season. With summer around the corner, Spotify's global edito...
29/05/2026
New retro-inspired MPC announced
There are few devices that have gained the status held by Akai Pro's MPC range, and in recent years, the company have s...
29/05/2026
Save up to 30 on acclaimed titles
Following a successful launch at Superbooth 2026, Bjooks have revealed that they will be continuing the Kickstarter campa...
29/05/2026
Binaural monitoring application improved
Genelec have just released an update that brings some powerful new features to their HRTF-based binaural headphone ...
29/05/2026
6 June 2026 at SAE Institute, London, UK
IMSTA FESTA 2026 is almost upon us, with some of the biggest names in pro-audio set to descend upon SAE Institute i...
29/05/2026
Gerald (Jerry) Pierce, a pioneering technologist who helped shape the digital transformation of the motion picture industry, died April 12, 2026, at his home in...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Comparing 5 AI Video Enhancers for Restoring Old Video Quality
Kate Luvis May 29, 2026
0 Comments
Digitizing VHS, MiniDV, and other legacy formats doe...
29/05/2026
Studio Hamburg Builds New Post Pipeline with DaVinci Resolve Studio
Brie Clayton May 29, 2026
0 Comments
Workflow replaces a patchwork of legacy tools...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
At the Intersection of Music and Dance, an Epic Collaboration Boston Conservatory musicians and dancers found creative parallels in their recent performance o...
29/05/2026
Back to All News
Latino Film Institute Fellows Screen Their Short Films at the Egyptian Theatre
The Inclusion Fellowship and Spark Animation Grant uplifts 15 ...
29/05/2026
GLOOKAST LAUNCHES CINNAFILM TACHYON PLUGIN FOR MEDIA PRODUCER AND MEDIA SERVICES
This release first appeared here.
Visit our Tachyon product page or contact...
29/05/2026
May 29 2026, 09:00 (PDT) Dolby and rednote Bring More Immersive Storytelling to...
29/05/2026
Something fundamental has shifted in how people consume media. Audiences aren't abandoning television or radio content; they're just expanding how, wher...
29/05/2026
Youtube exclusive special drops today
Watch now
UKTV today announces another e...
29/05/2026
Back to All News
The Official Trailer of Physical 100 Italy, on Netflix From Se...
Disney, ESPN, NBA Set To Dunk the Halls With Animated Alt-Cast of Spurs-Knicks Christmas Day Game The production marks ESPN's latest real-time animated-broadcast effort By Jason Dachman, Editorial Director, U.S. 
