Animated Christmas Card for Family: Short, Merry, and Actually Watched

Every December the same thing happens. You buy a box of cards, write four of them with love, eleven with fading enthusiasm, and the last nine say "Merry Christmas, love from us" in handwriting that looks like a ransom note. An animated Christmas card is the other way to do it: one small film, made once, sent to everyone, and it moves.

This page is about the family version: the one that goes to grandparents, cousins, the aunt in another time zone and the family group chat. If you are sending a card from a company, the holiday video card for clients guide is the one you want.

What is an animated Christmas card for family?

It is a very short drawn film, usually 10 to 20 seconds, that does the job of a printed card. It shows your family name, says one greeting in your own words, and adds music, a voice and a bit of movement: snow falling, a door opening, a dog stealing the turkey. You send it as a video file in a message.

The good ones are not clever. They are warm, quick and clearly from you. Think "a card that waves", not "a movie about your year".

What should a family Christmas card video say?

One greeting line, your family name, and optionally one small true detail from your year. That is it. People watch a Christmas card in the middle of a busy week, often on a phone in a kitchen, so the words need to land in one read. Here are lines you can copy and bend:

• "Merry Christmas from the Parkers. Still loud. Still love you."
• "From our slightly chaotic house to your hopefully calmer one: Merry Christmas."
• "Merry Christmas from the Okafors, now with one more kid and one less night of sleep."
• "Wishing you a warm, slow, cookie-heavy Christmas. Love, Nan and Grandpa."
• "Merry Christmas from all four of us, and the cat, who did not agree to this card."
• "We moved, we unpacked, we found the tree lights. Merry Christmas from the new address."

If you want more lines, including ones for people you miss, the Christmas video greeting ideas page has a long list sorted by who you are sending to.

One line, one name, one bit of snow. Everything else is decoration.

Animated Christmas card ideas for families

Pick one idea. Two ideas in 15 seconds is how you end up with a card that looks like a snow globe in a washing machine.

• The year in three scenes A move, a new puppy, a broken leg that healed. Three quick drawn scenes, then the greeting. Works best as a script, one short paragraph per scene.
• The pet signs off The whole card is "from" the dog. "Merry Christmas. I ate a sock this year. Love, Biscuit." Everyone forwards this one.
• The kid narrates Record your seven-year-old saying the greeting, stumbles included. The film runs as long as they talk, and grandparents will play it nine times.
• The front door A drawn front door with your name on it, a wreath, the door opens, warm light, the greeting. Classic and calm.
• Everyone gets one word Each family member says one word of the greeting in a voice recording: "Merry. Christmas. From. Us." The baby says nothing. That is the joke.
• The far-away card For family you will not see this year: a drawn map, a little line from your house to theirs, and "Wish we were at your table."

How long should an animated Christmas card be?

Between 10 and 20 seconds for most families. Long enough for a greeting and a moment of music, short enough that nobody reaches for the skip button. If you are telling a small story about your year, 20 to 30 seconds is the ceiling.

How do you make a family Christmas card video?

You write the words, pick a shape, make the film, then send it. Most of the effort is in the first step, and it takes about as long as writing one paper card properly.

1. Step 1

   Write the greeting. One line, read aloud once. If you stumble saying it, cut words until you do not.

2. Step 2

   Decide who it is "from". "The Garcias", "Mom, Dad and the twins", or the dog. Spell every name the way the family spells it.

3. Step 3

   Pick one idea. Front door, year in scenes, the kid narrating. Just one.

4. Step 4

   Choose the shape. Tall (9:16) fills a phone screen, which is where almost everyone will watch it.

5. Step 5

   Watch it on your phone, sound off, then sound on. The greeting should make sense either way.

6. Step 6

   Send it with a line of text. "Our Christmas card this year, sound on!" so nobody thinks it is spam.

When should you send a Christmas card video?

Send it between about the 15th and the 22nd of December. Earlier and it gets buried under Black Friday leftovers; on the 24th and 25th it lands in a flood of other messages and gets watched on the 27th. For family abroad, check their time zone so it does not arrive at 3 a.m.

If you are worried about grandparents who do not open videos, read how to send a video card by text for the practical bits, and be honest with yourself: for some people a paper card is still the right call. We wrote a fair video card vs paper card comparison, and paper does win sometimes.

The quick way: a family Christmas card in Nine

Nine makes short drawn films with a voice, music and sound effects. For a family card, the easiest start is a template: type your family name and one line, and you get a card that holds still long enough to read, with snow and music doing the rest. Want the year in scenes? Use a script, and each paragraph becomes a scene. Want your kid to narrate? Upload a voice recording and the film runs as long as they talk.

You watch it being made, and you change things in plain words: "warmer colors", "slower snow", "make the dog bigger". You get a video file in tall, wide and square, and you send it yourself. Nine never sends anything to anyone. No photograph needed. Plans start at $29 a month for films up to 20 seconds, which fits a Christmas card nicely. See pricing or try it. For more on the family and company versions side by side, read a Christmas card as a film.