Two holiday Treats on HBO, Fox

Beauty, soulfulness, humor and great music: The holiday special “‘Twas the Night” (not to be confused with the Disney Channel’s recent charmless movie of the same name) is special indeed (7:30 p.m., HBO).

Created by the team behind HBO’s Emmy and Peabody Award-winning “Goodnight Moon and Other Sleepytime Tales,” it’s a lovingly made tapestry of playful live action and dreamlike, animated holiday songs sung by greats from Doris Day to Frank Sinatra.

Touching and hilarious kids talk about the meaning of holidays, and Louis Armstrong’s recording of Clement Moore’s “A Visit From St. Nicholas” is matched by the storybook nostalgia of illustrations by Grandma Moses.

“Santa Baby!,” the song that Eartha Kitt made memorable in her deliciously naughty 1953 recording, is, surprisingly, the basis for another sparkling new family special tonight (8 p.m., Fox).

Rankin/Bass Productions’ animation doesn’t break new ground, but the story’s heart and warmth truly celebrate the spirit of the season, and the music sings, along with the terrific voice cast: Kitt, Gregory Hines, Patti LaBelle and Vanessa Williams.

In Peter Bakalian and Suzanne Collins’ nicely written tale, a little girl uses her wish from a magical partridge (LaBelle) to help her dad over his songwriting slump by forcing him to help others. Soon he and his gentle daughter galvanize the community; even Santa gets a helping hand.

Emmy-winning composer Glen Roven’s “The Heart and Soul of Christmas,” sung by Hines, deserves to be an annual offering, and the title song, in two versions--one by Kitt with her signature sexy growl, and the other with Kitt, Williams and LaBelle as a trio--is gold.