Disney’s holiday short The Invisible Horse premieres Nov. 9

Disney’s 2026 holiday short comes from Paddington in Peru director Dougal Wilson, not Taika Waititi, and the full film lands Monday, Nov. 9, on Disney+ and YouTube.

Disney’s holiday short has a new director this year, and its star is a horse you can’t see.

Disney dropped a teaser Friday, Nov. 6, for A Disney Holiday Short: The Invisible Horse. The full short premieres Monday, Nov. 9, on Disney+ and Disney’s YouTube channel, Laughing Place and WDW News Today reported.

Behind the camera is Dougal Wilson, who directed Paddington in Peru. That’s a switch. Taika Waititi directed Disney’s last two holiday shorts. Radio Times revealed Wilson’s name along with an exclusive first-look poster.

The official synopsis starts, “Just when Jack begins to think he’s too old for Christmas.” From there, Jack makes friends with an invisible creature, and the two try to find the holiday’s magic again, Radio Times reported.

The teaser is short and quiet. Hoofprints show up in the snow outside a yellow farmhouse with no horse in sight. Then a clump of grass gets yanked out of the ground as the creature walks toward a boy on the porch.

The poster shows a grinning boy riding a saddle with nothing under it, waving a cowboy hat over a snowy valley. The teaser promises “a little magic, before the whole story unfolds,” The Main Street Mouse noted. Disney is tagging the campaign #MakeTheHolidaysMagic.

Here’s Disney’s teaser for The Invisible Horse:

When and where can I watch The Invisible Horse?

Monday, Nov. 9. Disney hasn’t announced a time yet.

It’s streaming on Disney+ and YouTube. The poster reads “Watch now on Disney+ and YouTube,” so you won’t need a subscription to see it. Disney put last year’s short on Disney+ and online the same way, and the 2024 short premiered on YouTube.

Who is Dougal Wilson?

He’s a British director who came up making commercials and music videos. Paddington in Peru was his first feature, the Motion Picture Association noted.

Wilson told the MPA he directed commercials for the British store John Lewis, “which sometimes involved a CG character.” The Main Street Mouse pointed out he made the store’s Christmas ads. Christmas ads with CG critters? He’s basically been training for an invisible horse.

He also directed music videos, including a puppet-filled one for Coldplay.

Is there a charity tie-in this year?

Disney didn’t announce one with the teaser.

Last year’s short launched alongside Disney’s Ultimate Toy Drive for Toys for Tots. Fans could donate toys online through Dec. 24, 2025, or drop them off at Disney Stores, Disneyland Resort or Walt Disney World through Dec. 14, 2025. Disney said its work with the Marine Corps program goes back more than 75 years, to Walt Disney himself.

Disney’s 2024 short also launched with the Ultimate Toy Drive.

What were Disney’s past holiday shorts?

Here’s how the last few went:

• The Boy & The Octopus (2024): Waititi’s first premiered on YouTube on Nov. 12, 2024. A boy on a seaside trip finds an octopus stuck to his head, then shows it the holidays. It earned an Emmy nomination.

• Best Christmas Ever (2025): Waititi’s second, released Nov. 10, 2025, on Disney+ and online. Santa mistakes a girl’s unfinished drawing, Doodle, for a Christmas wish. John Goodman voiced Doodle, and animator Eric Goldberg advised on the animation.

• The Invisible Horse (2026): Wilson’s turn, out Nov. 9.

Before Waititi, Disney’s consumer products team made a three-part ad series called From Our Family to Yours: Lola in 2020, The Stepdad in 2021 and The Gift in 2022. That run was tied to Make-A-Wish. In 2022, Disney matched qualifying donations up to $100,000 and said its support had topped $4 million since 2020, LBB Online reported.

Laughing Place summed up the series as stories of “childhood wonder and unexpected friendships.” So far that’s meant an octopus, a doodle and now a horse nobody can see.

Article compiled and written by Kambrea Pratt (editor-in-chief), Derek Gibbs (beat editor) and the Pirates & Princesses newsroom. Pirates & Princesses is part of WebReef Media.

Pirates and Princesses is your destination for Disney news, theme park updates, and the pop culture you love. From Disney cruises and travel tips to Disney fashion, food, collectibles, and movie news, PNP covers it all. Visit us at piratesandprincesses.net for daily coverage. Follow PNP on Facebook and Instagram, and listen to the Pirates & Princesses podcast on Apple Podcasts and YouTube.

Hat Tips:

• Radio Times (Nov. 6, 2026), the first-look poster, director Dougal Wilson and the synopsis

• WDW News Today (Nov. 6, 2026), the teaser details and the Nov. 9 Disney+ and YouTube premiere

• Laughing Place (Nov. 6, 2026), the premiere date, platforms and teaser description

• The Main Street Mouse (Nov. 6, 2026), the teaser line, campaign hashtag and Wilson’s John Lewis Christmas ads

• Motion Picture Association (Feb. 2025), Wilson’s commercial and music video background

• The Walt Disney Company (Nov. 10, 2025), Best Christmas Ever and the Toys for Tots toy drive

• BroadwayWorld (Nov. 10, 2025), Eric Goldberg’s role and the 75-year Toys for Tots history

• The Walt Disney Company (Nov. 12, 2024), The Boy & The Octopus premiere and toy drive

• LBB Online (Nov. 2, 2022), the From Our Family to Yours trilogy and the Make-A-Wish match

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