It’s not even summer yet, but execs at the major studios already have visions of sugar plumbs dancing in their heads. Or at least, killer DVD sales figures.

Late yesterday, Warner Home Video announced that one of the first major releases of the holiday selling season will be the Robert Zemeckis, Tom Hanks vehicle The Polar Express. It’ll be in the stores November 22nd, three days before what is usually the busiest shopping day of the year, the day after Thanksgiving Thursday. The mo-cap, animated film grossed nearly $163 million at the box-office during its domestic theatrical run last holiday season, despite a very slow start out of the gate.

The Polar Express DVD release will have a full menu of holiday treats–a two-disc "special edition" that will include, among other items, a Smokey and Steamer song not in the film, a Polar Express challenge for kids, the now-standard-for-DVD releases featurette on the technology used to create the film, a documentary on the characters voiced by Hanks and a performance of the film’s Oscar-nominated song, Believe by best-selling male vocalist, Josh Groban.

Also on tap (or likely to be) for the 2005 Christmas/Hanukkah holidays: Robots, Star Wars: Episode III–Revenge of the Sith, Madagascar, The Longest Yard, Mr. & Mrs. Smith and, probably, Batman Begins.