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SVT regrets: New information about Donald Duck on Christmas Eve

Since 1960, the time of 3pm on Christmas Eve has become sacred in many households.

The popular Christmas-inspired Disney show was then broadcast for the first time on Swedish television – and the tradition has continued over the years.

But now comes a worrying message from SVT, Göteborgs-Posten reports.

This could, if all goes wrong, be the last year for Donald Duck’s birthday.

-We can’t promise anything. “I’m sorry,” Carolina Stallwood, the TV channel’s director of purchasing, told the newspaper when asked what the situation would be like next year.

Cover on

SVT emphasizes that the ambition is for Donald Duck to live on.

But the decision is not in the hands of the TV channel, as the broadcast rights are purchased from Disney – and those negotiations are strictly confidential.

The TV channel cannot even reveal information about the duration of the contract – or how long the broadcast rights will be secured in the future.

Unfortunately, I can’t go into any of these details. Carolina Stallwood says SVT’s agreement with Disney is confidential.

Changed several times

Over the years, Donald Duck’s Christmas has been changed and rebuilt several times.

Among other films, “The Jungle Book” and “Cinderella” disappeared in waves, and in 1998 Robin Hood was missing due to expiring rights.

‘Ferdinand the Bull’ was also replaced at one point and replaced with ‘The Ugly Duckling’ – but SVT was forced to back down after a huge storm of criticism.

The clip has been removed

Many films were also reworked, sometimes because they were too long and sometimes because they were considered violent or dated.

For example, a scene from “Muse Pigg’s Camping” in which Goofy sticks a fork into an electrical outlet was removed.

Much attention was also given to cleaning up old images in “Tomtens verkstad”, when scenes of a blonde girl, a black doll and a dancing Cossack man were removed because they were considered to symbolize stereotypes.

The decision was made by Disney – not by SVT, which was helpless in the matter.

– For Disney, it’s more about self-cleaning, Linda Anderson, SVT’s communications manager for Disney in the Nordics, told the TV channel on a previous occasion.

Interest waned

Last Christmas, interest in Donald Duck’s Christmas fell as the number of people watching the classic film fell by 300,000 compared to the previous year.

In total, just over 3.4 million people watched the program.

This year, Donald Duck faces competition from old clips from Astrid Lindgren films that will be shown on Christmas Eve.

Read more: SVT changes its schedule on Christmas Eve

Photo: Clement M. Recipe Ken Lee

Text: Editors