Peek behind the scenes of Apple’s cute festive film, shot on an iPhone 17 Pro
|
By
Trevor Mogg Published November 27, 2025 |
For a bit of festive cheer, Apple has released a short film called A Critter Carol (top) about forest animals having some fun with an iPhone 17 Pro dropped by a hiker.
The light-hearted Critter Carol features the various animals using the iPhone 17 Pro to record a “song of friendship” — inspired by Flight of the Conchords’ Friends — before the hiker returns to pick up his lost phone containing the heartwarming surprise.
But Apple’s flagship’s phone didn’t only feature in the short movie — it was also used to film it.
“The power of the iPhone 17 Pro allowed me to capture the story in a really immersive way,” said the film’s director, Mark Molloy, adding, “That power is in all of our hands now.”
While Molloy’s claim is true to a degree, it’s worth noting that the highly polished and professional piece also utilized a movie crew, a studio set, experienced puppeteers, and some post-production magic, evidence of which you can see in the video below.
Apple CEO Tim Cook also shared the video on his X account, commenting, “Holiday cheer, a little bit of magic, and a whole lot of heart, captured on iPhone 17 Pro by a few handmade puppet friends!”
With each iteration of the iPhone, Apple likes to collaborate with filmmakers to showcase the handset’s latest camera features.
A recent example saw director Danny Boyle use a special rig kitted out with 20 iPhones to create a special effect for 28 Years Later that’s similar to the famous bullet-time sequence in The Matrix.
“There’s an incredible shot in the second half [of the film] where we use the [20-camera rig], and you’ll know it when you see it,” Boyle said prior to the movie’s release in June. “It’s quite graphic but it’s a wonderful shot that uses that technique, and in a startling way that kind of kicks you into a new world rather than thinking you’ve seen it before.”
Another recent Apple-supported effort, this one using the iPhone 16 Pro, starred British music legend Stormzy.
Apple itself also used an iPhone — in this case the iPhone 15 Pro Max — to shoot the entire event for the launch of its flagship laptops in 2023.
Related Posts
Samsung’s Galaxy A57 and A37 are here with new chips and smarter cameras
Both devices stick to a tried-and-tested formula, while also refreshing some aspects like performance, camera improvements, and longevity, rather than any major changes.
The Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra is incredible, until you need to fix it
It brings top-notch performance, one of the best camera systems, and AI features that are quite useful. But iFixit just tore one apart, and the results are equal parts impressive and embarrassing for Samsung.
Meadow is a square phone that ditches distracting apps and I absolutely want one
To cure us of our smartphone obsessions, a new line of devices has emerged that tones down the smartphone experience, giving you access to only essential apps. However, most of those phones are too minimal in my opinion.