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Credit: Inside the MagicWhen discussing holiday classics, most people immediately think of things like Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (1964), A Christmas Story (1983), and the dozens and dozens of versions of A Christmas Carol, but some fans don’t even consider it Christmas until Detective John McClane sends Hans Gruber over the edge of Nakatomi Plaza in Die Hard (1988).
One of the hottest debates around the holiday season isn’t the existence of Santa Claus, what constitutes an ugly Christmas sweater, or whether to have ham, turkey, or pizza at Christmas dinner, but whether or not this ’80s action movie icon is actually a Christmas movie. Although Bruce Willis himself has stated that it is indeed not, the Walt Disney Company had something else to say.
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Die Hard is easily one of the most recognizable action films from 20th Century Fox, and it checks many boxes for what many consider a typical Hollywood blockbuster. It’s exceptionally violent, profanely quotable, and considered one of the unsung classics of the Christmas season. So why does Disney want to celebrate it?
Disney Sings Ode to Die Hard
When it comes to Disney Christmas classics, a mountain of vintage cartoons and Silly Symphonies immediately spring to our screens. Mickey Mouse, Goofy, Stitch, and even Winnie the Pooh have all donned Santa costumes and snow gear to spread holiday magic to viewers everywhere for years. A machine-gun-toting, one-liner-spewing, terrorist-killing John McClane spending a chaotic Christmas Eve in New York City doesn’t exactly fit that model.
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While the Disney-Hulu merger has brought an enormous assortment of R-rated material mixed in with upgraded Disney+ plans, the fact that Disney itself would officially endorse a notoriously R-rated action movie feels completely out of left field, but that’s not nearly as weird as how the studio promoted it.
@therealalfieboe Is Die Hard a Christmas movie? 🎬🍿 I was honoured to get the chance to work with the wonderful @Disney+ team and help settle the age-old debate of whether Die Hard is a Christmas movie, once and for all. Take a listen to our festive retake of Beethoven’s classic ‘Ode to Joy’, which I recorded alongside the fabulous Kingdom Choir. Hopefully ‘Ode To Die Hard’ can convince you of the film’s Christmas credentials – Yippee-Ki-Yay! 🎅🏻🎄 #DisneyPlusUK #OdeToDieHard #DieHardDebate #DieHardIsAChristmasMovie #DieHard #AD
In order to settle the great Die Hard debate, Disney+ partnered with Alfie Boe and the Kingdom Choir to make this marvelous musical rendition of Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy” that distinctly points out every festive element in the classic action film. As over-the-top as the film that inspired it, this certainly feels worthy of a Disney cartoon.
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Disney has done some pretty strange things in order to market some of its classic films, such as the great Pinocchio disaster, but orchestrating a symphonic tribute to a notoriously violent action movie was far from what this Disney fan could have ever expected from the house of mouse. That being said, having the Walt Disney company on your side is a quick way to settle any debate.
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While this doesn’t exactly fit the standard Disney model, it does make for an incredibly interesting and delightfully surreal Disney marketing cheese. It’s certainly one way to settle a decades-old debate.
Do you still think Die Hard isn’t a Christmas film? Let Inside the Magic know in the comments down below!