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The Billboard Family Hits of the Week compiles what’s new and worth your family’s time in music, movies, TV, books, games and more. Forget the mind-numbing scrolling and searching “what to watch for family movie night” … again. The best in family entertainment each week is all in one place, in this handy guide. Isn’t it satisfying to cross something off your list?
Leading up to winter break, you might be looking for ideas on how to entertain your kids while they’re out of school. If shiny new gifts and holiday cheer start losing their shine as the days go on, let Billboard Family step in with suggestions for what to check out together in mid-late December.
Need to get out of the house together? On Friday, Dec. 20, Disney’s Mufasa: The Lion King opens in movie theaters, featuring a superstar mother-daughter duo on the cast list. Among the voices lending their talent to the film is 12-year-old Blue Ivy Carter as Kiara, Simba and Nala’s daughther. Blue Ivy is the real-life daughter of parents Jay-Z and Beyoncé, who reprises her role as Nala in the franchise’s latest theatrical release.
Would you rather stay in? Gather up some holiday treats (maybe you’d like to try baking Taylor Swift‘s chai sugar cookies with cinnamon eggnog icing) and cozy up at the couch for the Inside Out spin-off Dream Productions, a 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 contenders to add to our holiday season 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 rec for the Swiftie in your home, I’ll say that if you haven’t watched them yet, this series of behind-the-scenes clips (just uploaded to YouTube on Swift’s birthday) are worth tuning in to with fans of any age. They give a glimpse at the work the singer puts in off the stage and behind the camera, in the less glamorous but just as creative role of director.
Find out more about this week’s top picks in the Billboard Family Hits of the Week:
Stream Pixar’s ‘Dream Productions’ on Disney+
Full disclosure: I have not yet fully watched Pixar Animation’s Dream Productions. I have, however, been in the same room as my 9-year-old as she was watching the Inside Out spin-off in its entirety, twice. “Or like three times,” she just now corrected me. I couldn’t get much of a review out of her other than “it was good” and that her favorite part is “Riley’s cake dress,” but a repeat watch is a good sign. (I will definitely see it all, when I have the time — I loved both films. If you and your family did, too, this is a heads up that this miniseries exists.)
Dream Productions, which premiered a few days ago and can be found on Disney+, is set in the time period between Inside Out 1 and Inside Out 2 and written in the style of a mockumentary. You’ll be introduced to the studio running the dreams inside Riley’s mind, with Paula Pell and Maya Rudolph among the familiar names voicing characters in the series.
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 team online, directed fans to the singer’s Eras Archive on her website. The archive features several clips from the making of her latest music videos that weren’t previously available online.
If you did see The Eras Tour, these videos are a cool peek into the off-stage, unrehearsed version of Swift, and her style as a director, that might inspire your own young creators. (The multi-hyphenate now directs her own music videos, in addition to her short film, All Too Well. She’ll make her upcoming feature film directorial debut with Searchlight Pictures.)
See a few highlights above and below — like Swift painting herself into a silver statue for “Karma,” swimming on set with a piano for “Cardigan” and directing a trio of ghosts for “Anti-Hero” — then check them all out here. There are nine newly uploaded behind-the-scenes videos in total.
Listen to Lady Gaga’s ‘Santa Claus Is Coming to Town’
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) streaming holiday surprise follows many, many covers of the Haven Gillespie and J. Fred Coots-penned song 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 lesson in the history of music, for a music-loving family.
Let’s get that list started for you: There have been versions by Perry Como (1946), Frank Sinatra (1947), The Beach Boys (1964), Burl Ives (1965), The Jackson 5 (1970), Fred Astaire (1970, from the stop-motion TV special of the same name), The Carpenters (1974), Bruce Springsteen (a 1975 live recording that was first released in 1981), The Pointer Sisters (1987), Mariah Carey (1994), Luis Miguel’s Spanish-language “Santa Claus Llegó a La Ciudad” (2006), Justin Bieber (2011), Michael Bublé (2011) and, of course, Gaga’s newest rendition (2024). That isn’t the definitive list of recording artists who’ve covered the holiday track, but it is certainly somewhere to begin.
See ‘Mufasa: The Lion King’ in Movie Theaters
Right at the start of most schools’ winter breaks comes a big theatrical release meant for the family audience, the “photorealistically” animated Disney’s Mufasa: The Lion King. The film has the familiar character of Rafiki (voiced by John Kani) — with Timon (Billy Eichner) and Pumbaa’s (Seth Rogan) help — sharing the legend of the great King of the Pride Lands with lion cub Kiara (Blue Ivy Carter), who’s the daughter of adult Simba (Donald Glover) and adult Nala (Beyoncé). Director Barry Jenkins has explained that the newest Lion King movie is both a prequel and a sequel to what we’ve already seen: It “exists in parallel timelines,” he said.
The original story of 1994’s The Lion King from Disney is one that’s nostalgic to many of us who are parents now, and enjoyable to share with a new generation. If you’re planning to see Mufasa, consider having a family marathon of the franchise’s previously released feature films ahead of catching the new movie. You’ve got the standard animated films 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 Dec. 20.
