If there is one thing people need to know about me during the holiday season, it’s that I don’t love to celebrate the holidays until the week before Christmas. Despite this, I am a sucker for a classic holiday show like any Charlie Brown special, the classic Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Frosty the Snowman and the original Grinch from 1966.
Those shows and my favorite Christmas movie of all time — which appears on this list — are about the extent of my must-see holiday movies. So I employed some friends and family to flesh out this list. My parents and five closest friends all gave me their No. 1 must-see movie of the holiday season, and here they are.
‘The Year Without A Santa Claus’ (1974)
This stop-motion movie is, in my opinion, easily the best Christmas movie of all time. “The Year Without A Santa Claus” was created by Rankin/Bass Productions, which produced films like “Rudolph,” “The Little Drummer Boy,” “Frosty the Snowman,” “Santa Claus is Comin’ To Town” and their sequels.
They are the ideal Christmas movie studio. This movie is based on a concept that people don’t consider: Santa Claus is tired to the point of sickness, and people don’t have the Christmas spirit anymore, so he may as well just take a break. Christmas spirit is restored, and Christmas returns to normal by the end of the movie, but the means of getting to that resolution are very fun to watch. Also, when there are characters in a movie like Heatmiser and Snowmiser, there’s no way to go wrong.
‘National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation’ (1989)
Christmas Vacation is a classic comedy that can be watched by children and adults at the same time. Some holiday movies are too childish for adults, while other holiday movies are too grown up for children, but Christmas Vacation found the perfect balance between these two things. It is one of the first films that people recommend when they’re asked for a Christmas movie — hence why both my mother and my friend Morgan told me I “must” include it on this list.
If you like comedy and family-driven plots, this movie is for you. If you haven’t seen this movie yet, what are you doing? It’s on Hulu and Max.
‘Four Christmases’ (2008)
“Four Christmases” is the recommendation of my friend Grace. It’s a fun rom-com holiday movie. The main couple, played by Vince Vaughn and Reese Witherspoon, have to visit all four of their divorced parents’ homes on Christmas. In doing so, they learn so much about each other, a lot of which they were hiding from the other person. The cast is star-studded, and the movie is almost trashy but in the best way.
The movie is available on Amazon Prime Video.
‘How The Grinch Stole Christmas’ (2000)
Jim Carrey’s Grinch is one of those characters that a person never forgets. Whether they watched the movie when they were too young and were afraid of the character or they watched it at an appropriate time and were delighted by his quips and costume design, Carrey puts on the performance of a lifetime in this film.
It’s hilarious in an adult way and overshadows the original 1966 cartoon with its comedy, but the story remains the same. My other friend Grace recommended this one, but promptly followed the recommendation with “Fred Claus,” also starring Vaughn, as her other favorite holiday movie, so she may not be entirely reliable.
‘The Santa Clause’ (1994)
The first movie in the Santa Clause franchise was incredibly original for its time. In the sequels, the idea was beaten to death, but it was fresh to watch a common man overtake Santa Claus’ duties and find that it was his true calling all along.
The film is funny and perfectly suitable for children. In my opinion, it’s the “Night at the Museum” of holiday movies. The cast of this movie is also surprisingly star-studded. This film was the second choice of my friend Grace, but I wasn’t going to let three people rave about Christmas Vacation.
This film can be found on Disney+.
‘It’s a Wonderful Life’ (1946)
Picture this: It’s Christmas Eve. It’s 8 p.m. On the TV guide, there it is: three hours blocked out just so families everywhere can watch “It’s A Wonderful Life” and recall just how lucky they all are to be alive and around each other in the holiday season.
My father and I watch this movie together every year, and it always feels about four hours longer than every other movie on this list, but that’s because it is so well made with incredible detail. There’s a reason it is still shown on TV almost 80 years after its original release. It’s just that good.
This movie can be found on Amazon Prime Video and Hulu with a subscription. Plus, it will be on cable this holiday season.
