We're almost halfway through December, so you know what's almost upon us? That's right, it's nearly time for Christmas Day Sonic the Hedgehog 3's theatrical release!

Before the blue blur arrives on the big screen for the third time on 20th December, Paramount Pictures is filling the holiday season with festive tie-ins, including the above promo, 'A Very Sonic Christmas'.

This seasonal short (and it really is short at only two minutes in length) sees Sonic, Tails and Knuckles forced to save Christmas after ol' Santa Claus hurts his ankle. Sure, it's sweet enough and we fear that the original song playing in the background is going to be stuck in our heads for the rest of the day, but the real gift here is how it's all animated like a classic Rankin/Bass movie. Stop-motion Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer-meets-Sonic? Oh, go on then.

As if that wasn't enough festive cheer, Paramount has also released a series of new 'Sonic 3' posters inspired by classic Christmas movie designs. Shared on Twitter by CinemaBlend, the official Sonic the Hedgehog account, Fandango, IGN, Cinemark Theatres, IMDb, Regal, Cinépolis and DiscussingFilm, the exclusive posters parody everything from National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, to Love Actually, to Scrooged. We've put together a gallery of the festive designs below:

Sonic the Hedgehog 3 Christmas Poster
Image: Paramount Pictures / DiscussingFilm

And finally (finally) Paramount also announced that it was giving away a special 'Ugly Sonic Sweater' just in time for Christmas. While the giveaway has now ended, the studio did share the following video showcasing the sweater in all its *ahem* glory. Probably for the best that we missed this one, to be honest.

Sonic the Hedgehog 3 will be racing into cinemas worldwide from 20th December. You can check out the first impressions from a recent pre-screening in our round-up below.

Will you be heading to the cinema to check out Sonic the Hedgehog 3 this month? What do you make of all this festive promotion? Let us know in the comments.

[source youtube.com]