Ah, December, time for all the die-hard holiday fans to get their viewing fix, whether it's campy Christmas specials or cliché mistletoe romance movies. And while a good holiday program can round out the perfect winter evening, sometimes those end up a little like eggnog -- awesome at first, then quickly too sweet and overpowering. Thankfully, December's animated line-up gifts viewers a reprieve from usual.

Not to worry, all the streaming services packed themselves with holiday favorites, but since many of those are perennial offerings, they belong on a different list. Instead, this month's brand-new animation offerings showcase a different type of escapism for the long nights creeping up on the solstice. December has all the flavors and feels, from family offerings and adult humor to thought-provoking programs. Here are five options for new animation to unwrap this month.

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The Boss Baby: Christmas Bonus Offers a New Take on Finding Christmas Spirit

In 2017, DreamWorks introduced viewers to Baby, Tim's new brother with a bent for business in The Boss Baby. Anyone who's spent time around a baby knows they are indeed the boss of their family. Those tiny tyrants dictate the household arrangements from the moment they arrive. DreamWorks simply put this phenomenon into hysterical perspective as an organized business. Returning to work with DreamWorks, Alec Baldwin makes Baby's hostile takeover of the Templeton family casual and smooth.

Now the misanthropic Baby gets tangled with Santa, rearranging his North Pole organization for efficiency and productivity while missing the whole point of Christmas. The Boss Baby: Christmas Bonus follows the familiar path to finding the Christmas spirit, but it's spiced up with the magic of childhood, a concept Baby struggles with throughout each of The Boss Baby movies. The humor of the franchise and those Christmas themes ought to make an interesting blend.

Catch The Boss Baby: Christmas Bonus on Netflix Dec 6.

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Lookism Explores the Ugly Side of Beauty and Popularity

Few people make it through life without feeling the sting of one bias or another. Most engaging entertainment offerings tap into some aspect of the collective human experience, such as bias. This relatability is one reason Lookism made such a popular webtoon, and now, it's getting a highly anticipated anime adaption on Netflix. The show focuses on public biases against looks, aka lookism.

It follows the story of a plush young man who finds himself with an attractive second body. When one of his two bodies is asleep, he's awake in the other. Seeing an opportunity, he heads to school in the slimmer body and quickly discovers the vast difference in how his peers treat him, despite the boy inside being the same person.

Watch Lookism on Netflix Dec. 8.

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Netflix Brings Another Video Game to Life With Dragon Age: Absolution

The Dragon Age franchise encompasses a set of popular fantasy role-playing video games. In Dragon Age: Absolution, Netflix brings some of the world's characters to life with their anime adaption. Since the whole point of games like Dragon Age is to offer players a chance to be somewhere else for a while, it sets the bar high for adaptions such as this.

If the trailer is any indication, Dragon Age: Absolution is poised to deliver. With thieves and breaking personal shackles, magic and danger, Dragon Age: Absolution has the potential to allow viewers the same sort of escapism that draws fans to the games. Since fans will have to give up the control of being a player, the animation and storyline will need to pick up the slack. At first glance, the storyline appears engaging enough to draw in the uninitiated and perhaps create players out of them. Hopefully, it will be just as entertaining to those already immersed in Dragon Age's world.

Dragon Age: Absolution hits Netflix Dec 9.

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Puss in Boots: The Last Wish Brings the Adorably Lethal Cat Back to the Big Screen

Who could forget Puss in Boots and his heart-melting big eyes? Shrek 2 introduced viewers to the fuzzy assassin voiced by Antonio Banderas, and fans were hooked. This popularity led to Puss getting a full-length feature accompanied by the master thief, Kitty Softpaws, voiced by Salma Hayek. The feline duo held their own, a difficult feat for spin-off characters.

Now the two are back for another adventure in Puss in Boots: The Last Wish. Though this time, Puss' sanguine attitude gets checked when a doctor informs him that he's on the last of his nine lives. His ventures with Kitty take on new meaning as Puss really lives his life. There's something profound about facing one's own mortality and grabbing life by the horns. So, good on Puss.

Puss in Boots: The Last Wish hits theaters Dec 21.

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Chicago Party Aunt Is a Hot Mess With a Heart

Speaking of looking at life in all its glorious messiness, Netflix's Chicago Party Aunt does that with a vengeance. Netflix excels at animated programs for adults, drawing the material from a variety of sources -- webtoons, novels and, in the case of Chicago Party Aunt, a Twitter account. The first season debuted in September 2021, leaving quite the wait for those wanting a second season. But for those who missed it last year, there's time to watch the first season before season two drops.

The plot sees Daniel spend a gap year with his Aunt Diane in Chicago. Despite refusing to grow up, Diane has a huge heart and a need to help those around her. Their misadventures aim to be funny and irreverent yet sweet. During the darkest month of the year, when the line between merriment and stress so easily blurs, an effortless laugh seems like just the thing to unwind.

Season 2 of Chicago Party Aunt debuts on Netflix Dec. 30.