10 Best Christmas Movies
Christmas is just around the corner. While some of you may be out this Friday trying to get some awesome deals on your Christmas gifts, I’ll most likely be enjoying some of these Christmas classics at home. To me, the deals aren’t worth the crowds. So for my list of the ten best Christmas movies of all time, I pick a lot of classics.
These are in no particular order. It was just too hard for me to pick a favorite.
A Charlie Brown Christmas
Charlie Brown Christmas has to go on this list. Remember that sick little Christmas tree? Charlie Brown is assigned to direct the school Christmas pageant. Lucy tells him that he needs to get a Christmas tree and that he should get one of those nice fake trees. Charlie Brown doesn’t really like that idea and sets out to get a real Christmas tree with Linus. They end up getting that sickly little tree, and everyone else makes fun of it. One of the things I remember most about this Christmas class is the piano playing.
A Christmas Story
A Christmas Story may actually be my favorite all-time Christmas movie. I couldn’t really decide so I didn’t put the list in any order. It is the film adaptation of the book In God We Trust, All Others Pay Cash. Probably one of the most amazing things about this movie is that it didn’t do well at all in the theaters when it first came out. However, over the years, TV has made it a true holiday classic. Remember the leg lamp and the Red Rider BB gun? This is a movie that both adults and children can enjoy.
How the Grinch Stole Christmas
How the Grinch Stole Christmas is another holiday classic cartoon. Even though there was a Jim Carrey remake of this holiday classic, it didn’t make the list because I found that the Grinch was a little bit too scary looking for young kids. The cartoon version doesn’t have as much realism to the creature. Two of the things that I remember most about this movie are the people singing in Whoville even after the Grinch stole all there presents and the Grinch’s little dog that had to pull the sled.
National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation
While making this list, I’ve changed my mind about my favorite all-time Christmas movie at least three times. National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation is one of the few movies on this list not geared toward children. This is probably my favorite “Vacation” movie as well. I liked the first “Vacation” movie, of course, but this is actually a sequel as good as the original. Chevy Chase’s Clark Griswold is always running into trouble. He bring a lot of it on himself. This movie would be okay with just Clark’s antics, but what really makes this movie shine is cousin Eddie. I read that Randy Quaid was recently in some trouble with the law, so the character of Eddie may not have been too much of a stretch for him.
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
Of course, no Christmas movie list can be complete without Rudolph. As a kid I used to sing along with Burl Ives to Silver and Gold and the title song. The songs of Christmas are one of the major things I remember about my childhood and Burl Ives was THE voice of Christmas. We were so poor when I was a kid that I wished I had just a toy from the Island of Misfit Toys.
Frosty the Snowman
Frosty was another movie that featured the vocals of Burl Ives. The theme song was Burl. I watched most of these movies for the first time during the 80′s. Back then they were classics. I just now realized that this movie is from 1969. I often wonder if the song or the movie came first. Does the song tell the entire story of the movie, or does the movie bring the song to life? I’m pretty sure that the song Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer is much older than the movie, but I’ve never been sure about Frosty.
It’s a Wonderful Life
I’m pretty sure that I’ve never seen a James Stewart movie that I don’t like, and this is no exception. Writing this list has made me want to go buy all these movies, because my kids have never seen some of them. This is one I definitely need to add to my collection. In It’s a Wonderful Life Stewart’s character George is about to commit suicide on Christmas Eve. Instead he ends up rescuing his guardian angel who shows George what his little town would be like if he’d never existed. This seems to be a running theme with Christmas stories.
Mickey’s Christmas Carol
The theme of supernatural beings taking the main character of the story through different parts of their life probably originated with Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. While there have been MANY different versions of this story put into film, including the most recent Jim Carrey version of Scrooge, my absolute favorite version is the cartoon Mickey’s Christmas Carol. The rest are good as well, but this one stands out for some reason. Perhaps it’s Tiny Tim, or it could be that Uncle Scrooge is playing Ebenezer.
Twas the Night Before Christmas
This is one that many people may have forgotten. This is the tale of some mice and how Santa saved Christmas for a small town. The story starts out with a reading of the poem by the same name. When the “not even a mouse” part comes up, the father mouse takes over. Now you remember it, don’t you? It also has some memorable songs in it. If you’ve not seen this one in a long time, or ever, put it on your list or “must see holiday classics”.
A Miracle on 34th Street
Finally our list will only be complete if we include A Miracle on 34th Street. This movie is possibly the oldest movie on the list. It has been around since 1947. The overall plot of the film is that Santa Claus is trying to convince everyone that he is, in fact, Santa Claus. Edmund Gwenn, who plays Santa in the film, did such a great job that the little girl, actress Natalie Wood, actually thought that he was the real Santa.
There are plenty of other great holiday classics. These just happen to be my favorite. If I could remember to do so, I would make it a point to watch all of these movies with my children every holiday season. Unfortunately, I rarely have the opportunity. I will probably get to see at least four of these 10 before Christmas. HOPEFULLY!