Jason Kelce, Jordan, Mailata, and Lane Johnson were given the stop-motion animation treatment for a holiday special prior to the release of their album.
PHILADELPHIA, PA — Jason Kelce, Jordan Mailata, and Lane Johnson’s skill sets have expanded to voice acting, as the three (dubbed “The Philly Specials”) developed a stop-motion animated Christmas special ahead of the release of their second holiday benefit record.
“A Philly Special Christmas Special” was released on YouTube at 8 p.m. on Thanksgiving.
The short, created by Philadelphia-based animation studio unPOP, depicts Kelce, Jordan, and Johnson attempting to gather their buddies for a holiday performance and uses songs from “A Philly Special Christmas Special,” which will be available on all digital platforms on December 1.
The film took 5,000 hours to make over five months and featured 20 hand-crafted puppets with hand-sewn costumes as well as 5,000 individual pictures presented at 24 frames per second.
Kelce rides a donkey and sings “Dominick the Donkey,” while Mailata shines in “All I Want for Christmas Is You.”
The Philly Specials have released three singles from the album, including “All I Want for Christmas,” “This Christmas,” and “Fairytale of Philadelphia,” a duet between Jason and Travis Kelce on a reimagining of The Pogues’ classic, which has received over 2 million streams across platforms and reached No. 1 on iTunes.
“A Philly Special Christmas Special” is currently available for preorder on vinyl here, and will be available on all digital platforms on December 1. This year, earnings from vinyl purchases will help the Toy Drive at Children’s Crisis Treatment Center and the Snowflake Station at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.
Following the runaway success of their debut LP, A Philly Special Christmas, Kelce, Johnson, and Mailata have regrouped with producer Charlie Hall and executive producer Connor Barwin (Vera Y Records) to record A Philly Special Christmas Special, their second holiday album. “Santa’s Night,” a collection of ten holiday classics plus an original song by Kelce, was recorded over the NFL offseason. In addition to a limited-edition red vinyl LP, a double disc of A Philly Special Christmas Special and 2022’s A Philly Special Christmas will be published on limited edition gold vinyl, and the album will be accessible online and on all streaming services.
Nick Krill once again recorded and mixed the album, which featured local musicians such as Patti Labelle, Amos Lee, The Hooters’ Eric Bazilian and Rob Hyman, DMHotep (Sun Ra Arkestra), Kevin Hanson (The Fractals, Huffamoose), Luke Carlos O’Reilly, Waxahatchee, members of The War on Drugs, Dr. Dog, mewithoutYou, and The Silver Ages Choir, among others.
“A Philly Special Christmas” was released digitally on December 23, 2022, and its limited vinyl pressing sold out instantly. The album hit four top 10 Billboard Music Chart positions, including No. 1 on the Compilation Albums Chart. A Philly Special Christmas gave more than $1.25 million to local charities, including the Children’s Crisis Treatment Center, and fulfilled the wish lists of Philadelphia School District teachers through Donors Choose.
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