Apple’s leaning all the way into handcrafted charm this holiday season. The tech giant’s 2025 holiday film, A Critter Carol, may be one of its warmest (and most delightfully weird) spots yet, pairing thoughtful artistry with a wink of Flight of the Conchords–style musical comedy.
Created by TBWA\Media Arts Lab and directed by Mark Molloy of SMUGGLER, the spot follows a scruffy troupe of forest puppets who gather in a snowy woodland for a full-on musical showstopper. Their song of choice — a cover of “Friends” by Jemaine Clement and Bret McKenzie — is performed with theatrical sincerity… and naturally captured on a “lost” iPhone 17 Pro.
Shot in Prague with production support from Unit+Sofa, the film continues Apple’s streak of in-camera craft — from last year’s Emmy-winning stop-motion Fuzzy Feelings to this fall’s striking glass icon work for Apple TV and Apple Movies. While the world floods with AI-generated content, Apple is doubling down on something refreshingly analog: human creativity. Watch below:
The puppets are designed to be slightly disheveled, imperfect, and irresistibly tactile. Director Mark Molloy says that was the point. “I wanted to embrace the tactile nature of puppetry… I was really keen to go back to craftsmanship,” he explains. The result is a world where seams, stitches, and visible puppeteers only add to the magic.
Even the campaign typography leans into the handmade concept, created through individual woodblock prints rather than digital type.
Apple released a behind-the-scenes film that’s already generating buzz — giving viewers a closer look at puppeteers Tim Cherry-Jones and team as they animate the critters with a mix of precision and chaos. Production designer Andy Keller and DP Joost van Gelder offer insight into how the team grounded the fantastical creatures in real-world texture and lighting. And, yes, the critters fully embrace their diva personas once the cameras roll.
With A Critter Carol, Apple continues its rise as a holiday-season powerhouse — balancing high-end filmmaking with a heartfelt celebration of the human touch. The puppets may steal the show, but the craftsmanship steals the season.
CREDITS:
BRAND: Apple
AGENCY: TBWA\Media Arts Lab – LA
PRODUCTION COMPANY: SMUGGLER
- Director: Mark Molloy
- Director of Photography: Joost Van Gelder
POST / VFX: Trafik
POST/VFX: Untold Studios
EDIT: Work Editorial:
Editor: Stewart Reeves
MUSIC/SOUND:
- Barking Owl
- Racket Club
- Model Citizen Creative
- Composer: Walker
- Music: Flight of the Conchords
REELated:
John Travolta’s Santa channels Danny Zuko for Capital One
