Mickey Mouse Ball: NBA Animated Xmas Game Brings Knicks-Spurs To Disney World

By Barry Janoff

November 20, 2024: The NBA has animated the action on its already colorful Xmas Day lineup.

The league, Disney and ESPN are joining for an animated alternate broadcast of the New York Knicks hosting the San Antonio Spurs, the leadoff game for a five-game national schedule on Dec. 25.

The virtual, live re-creation of the Spurs-Knicks game — “Dunk the Halls” — will be set on “Main Street, USA” in Magic Kingdom Park.

As the teams play, Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck, Pluto, Goofy and Chip and Dale cheer them on. Shots of “Main Street, USA” and other famous landmarks within Magic Kingdom Park, including Cinderella’s Castle, will be regularly shown.

"Dunk the Halls" will be presented on ESPN2, Disney+ and ESPN+. The traditional broadcast will air on ESPN and ABC, as will each of the NBA's five-game national Xmas Day schedule.

The special alt-cast is the first animated presentation of an NBA game and the first NBA game to stream on Disney+.

ESPN will produce an animated, real-time alt-cast for Monday Night Football on Dec. 9, “The Simpsons Funday Football,” streaming on Disney+ and ESPN+.

The NFL has also worked with Nickelodeon to present slime-and-animated-character-filled alt-versions for games, including an upcoming Wild Card game on CBS.

The NBA’s Xmas games, all on EXPN and ABC, also include the Minnesota Timberwolves at Dallas Mavericks, Philadelphia 76ers at Boston Celtics, Los Angeles Lakers at Golden State Warriors and Denver Nuggets at Phoenix Suns.

For “Dunk the Halls,” each Spurs and Knicks player will appear as a motion-enabled, animated player through real-time visualization technology enabled by Sony’s Beyond Sports, combined with Sony’s Hawk-Eye Innovations’ optical tracking.

Among those scheduled to play and be animated are Knicks Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns and Spurs Victor Wembanyama and Chris Paul.

People watching “Dunk the Halls” will see “every three-pointer, dunk, layup, pass and more from the real-life Spurs vs. Knicks game at Madison Square Garden in New York as it happens.”

A supporting spot, “NBA Dunk The Halls,” shows Mickey Mouse sitting in his holiday-adorned living room writing a letter.

A voiceover offers, “Mickey wants only one thing for Christmas — for Santa to bring the NBA to Main Street USA at Walt Disney World" as Mickey gets into the action with a dunking move.

“It’s time to Dunk the Halls: Spurs-Knicks with Mickey and Friends, Christmas Day Noon on ESPN 2, ESPN+ and Disney Plus.”

Drew Carter will serve as the play-by-play commentator alongside ESPN basketball analyst Monica McNutt.

They will be joined by special guest Daisy Duck, who will serve as the sideline reporter.

Carter and McNutt will be animated in the style of the telecast and on ESPN Edge Innovation Partner’s 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 traditional broadcast of the Spurs vs. Knicks game will be called by Ryan Ruocco, analyst Cory Alexander, and reporter Cassidy Hubbarth.

Among the 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 will operate 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

• Viewers will find out if it will snow on “Main Street, USA” and see how many churros Goofy can eat.

In 2021, ESPN and the NBA teamed with Marvel for “Marvel’s Arena of Heroes,” an alt-cast of an NBA regular-season game.

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