Neil Patrick Harris, Jennifer Love Hewitt in 'Yes, Virginia' Friday, Dec. 11

By April MacIntyre Dec 2, 2009, 0:59 GMT

Merry Christmas - Neil Patrick Harris and David Burtka - 30th Anniversary MOCA Gala - Arrivals - MOCA Grand Avenue - Los Angeles, CA. USA © Albert L. Ortega / PR Photos

Neil Patrick Harris, Jennifer Love Hewitt and Alfred Molina are among those who voice key characters for the new half-hour animated Christmas special, "Yes, Virginia," which will premiere Friday, Dec. 11 (8:00-8:30 PM, ET/PT), on the CBS Television Network.

From CBS:

The new Christmas classic tells the story of 8-year-old Virginia O’Hanlon (Beatrice Miller) a young girl growing up in late 1800s New York City who always loved Christmas, until the playground bully, Charlotte (Julian Franco) tells her and the other children that Santa Claus doesn’t exist. 

Not sure what to believe, Virginia and her friend, Ollie (Kieran Patrick Campbell), venture into the streets of New York City to uncover the truth. 

Along the way, they encounter a Scraggly Santa (Michael Buscemi) who is trying to raise money for the less fortunate (he admits he’s not the real deal, but someone who sort of works for Santa Claus), an over-eager librarian with a shelf full of Christmas books, and interesting advice from Virginia’s quirky scientist father (Neil Patrick Harris) and understanding mother (Jennifer Love Hewitt). 

Unable to find the answer, Virginia decides to write a letter to the New York Sun newspaper, knowing that their reputation for reporting the facts is cemented by their motto “If you see it in The Sun, it’s so!” 

Virginia’s letter makes its way to the curmudgeonly editor, Francis Church (Alfred Molina) who feels he has better things to do than respond to a little girl’s question.  But, with Virginia’s determination, and a little help from Scraggly Santa, Mr. Church is persuaded to write the answer that became the most famous newspaper editorial of all time:  “Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus!”