Disney’s Holiday Short The Invisible Horse, From Dougal Wilson, Is Out Now

Courtesy of Disney

Disney launched its Make the Holidays Magic campaign on Nov. 9 with a new short, A Disney Holiday Short: The Invisible Horse, directed by Dougal Wilson. It is on Disney+ and on the official Disney YouTube channel (The Walt Disney Company).

The featured image is an official still from the short: the boy at the center of the story, Jack, riding a saddle that appears to float on its own.

The Lowdown

This is a campaign kickoff, not a theatrical premiere. Disney is using a three-minute live-action short to open a season-long push across parks, streaming, television and giving programs. Wilson is best known lately for Paddington in Peru; for Disney, he is stepping into a holiday-short slot that Taika Waititi held for the previous two years, according to The Hollywood Reporter and Campaign. The film is already easy to watch without a subscription, because Disney posted the official short on YouTube the same day.

Key Takeaways

Disney released A Disney Holiday Short: The Invisible Horse on Nov. 9, the first day of its Make the Holidays Magic campaign (The Walt Disney Company).
Dougal Wilson directed the short. Disney+ lists the running time as three minutes.
The official short is on the Disney YouTube channel and on Disney+.
The official synopsis follows Jack, a boy who thinks he has outgrown the season, after a mysterious invisible creature turns up at Christmas.
The Hollywood Reporter says the live-action short includes cameos from Toy Story’s Woody and Frozen’s Elsa. Campaign reports the film was made by Adam & Eve\TBWA and Blink Production, and that it uses Roger Miller’s “Oo-De-Lally” from Robin Hood.

A Disney Holiday Short: The Invisible Horse

The Full Story

Disney’s company announcement, dated Nov. 9, frames the short as the start of Make the Holidays Magic, a global campaign that also covers parks and experiences, television, consumer products and charity work with groups including Make-A-Wish. The same post puts the short on Disney+ and online. The official upload, titled A Disney Holiday Short: The Invisible Horse, is on the Disney YouTube channel. ABC7 also reported the campaign launch and the short’s arrival that day.

Disney’s own write-up is brief about the plot. Jack has decided he is past the point of holiday wonder. A mysterious invisible creature shows up at Christmas, pulls him into an adventure, and, in the company’s telling, helps him find that sense of wonder again and get closer to his family. Disney+ repeats that setup and clocks the short at three minutes. We are not reviewing the film here; that is the official description.

Official key art for Disney’s holiday short The Invisible Horse, with a boy in a winter coat tipping a hat while riding a saddle that appears to float over a snowy valley at dusk — Official key art for *A Disney Holiday Short: The Invisible Horse*. Courtesy of Disney

The Hollywood Reporter adds a few details the company post leaves out. Wilson also directed Paddington in Peru. The new short is live-action, and THR says Woody from Toy Story and Elsa from Frozen appear in it. THR and Campaign both note that Waititi directed the last two entries in this holiday-short run, The Boy & The Octopus in 2024 and Best Christmas Ever in 2025. Campaign reports that Adam & Eve\TBWA created the new film, that Wilson directed it through Blink Production, and that it is set to Roger Miller’s “Oo-De-Lally,” from Disney’s Robin Hood.

Asad Ayaz, Disney’s chief marketing and brand officer, said in the announcement, “Disney has long been part of the traditions, memories, and moments that make the holiday season so special for families around the world.” He described the campaign as a way to give families “more ways to make the holidays magic,” including a trip, something new to watch, a gift, and, for children and families who need it most, “a wish come true.” Lee Jury, senior vice president of marketing for Disney in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, called the short “emotionally rich, visually inventive and full of warmth” at a preview screening, according to Campaign and THR.

For more Disney viewing on the site, see the streamer’s renewal of the short-form series Coven Academy, and the rest of Movies & Hollywood.