Ahead of its Dunk the Halls animated broadcast featuring the San Antonio Spurs vs. New York Knicks game on Christmas Day, ESPN has released new visual assets, including a first look at Spurs stars Chris Paul and Victor Wembanyama alongside Knicks stars Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns. Disney, ESPN, and the NBA have collaborated to create Dunk the Halls, a live animated broadcast of the Spurs-Knicks game, utilizing Sony’s Beyond Sports technology. Set against the backdrop of the iconic “Main Street, USA” in Magic Kingdom Park, this special presentation will air on ESPN2, Disney+, and ESPN+. Notably, it marks the first-ever animated broadcast of an NBA game and the first NBA game to stream on Disney+.
Dunk the Halls is the latest innovation in Disney and ESPN’s real-time animated broadcasts. On Dec. 9, ESPN will produce another animated alt-cast, titled The Simpsons Funday Football, for Monday Night Football, streaming on Disney+ and ESPN+. Previous animated broadcasts include Toy Story Funday Football in September 2023 and the NHL Big City Greens Classic in March 2023 and March 2024. Unlike previous efforts, Dunk the Halls will be the first animated alt-cast to feature players without helmets, requiring detailed facial animations beyond generic player models.
For the Christmas matchup, each Spurs and Knicks player will be represented as a motion-enabled animated character. Real-time visualization technology powered by Sony’s Beyond Sports, alongside optical tracking from Sony’s Hawk-Eye Innovations, will allow fans to experience the action from Madison Square Garden in real time.
