List of Christmas films

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The following is a list of Christmas films.

Contents

[edit] Introduction

Christmas films are important for study because the canon contains some of the most influential and beloved ever made. In more recent times, filmmakers have used Christmas stories to highlight, parody, satirize and comment on society. Additionally, watching films during the holidays, particular in the days leading up to (as well as on the holiday) is a well-established tradition in Western nations, particularly in the United States and the United Kingdom.

Christmas movies are lucrative, particularly in the United States, as Christmas sees perhaps the largest cinema audience of any day of the year.

[edit] Categorization

Christmas films can be divided into two categories:

  1. Films entirely, or in large part, about the Christmas holiday. Films in this category always feature important references to the holiday's symbols, such as family gatherings, trees and decorations, the Christ child or Santa Claus. A Christmas Story (1983) is perhaps the most successful example.
  2. Films in which Christmas is incidental to the plot. The holiday may be important to the story, but as in Meet Me in St. Louis (1944), it is not central.

[edit] Category 1 Christmas movies

Category 1

[edit] Made for TV Christmas Movies

Note this section is for made-for-TV Christmas films only. See here for Christmas television specials.

  • The Best Christmas Pageant Ever (1983) -- A church Christmas pageant touches the hearts of a family of jeuvenile deliquents.
  • A Boyfriend for Christmas (2004) -- Santa plays matchmaker and sets up a young couple for the holidays.
  • Casper's Haunted Christmas (2000) --
  • A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965) -- a 28-minute film in which Charlie Brown searches for the true meaning of Christmas, by directing a Christmas play while shunning the hyper-commercialization of Christmas.
  • A Chance of Snow (1998) -- A divorced couple get snowed in at Christmastime.
  • Chasing Christmas (2005) --
  • The Christmas Box (1995) -- Based on the bestselling book of the same name, a couple and their daughter move in with a widow and discover a box containing the answer to the first gift of Christmas.
  • Christmas Caper (2007)
  • A Christmas Carol (1984) -- Staring George C. Scott as Ebenezer Scrooge, an old miser who makes excuses for his uncaring nature learns real compassion when 3 ghosts visit him on Christmas Eve.
  • A Christmas Carol (1999) -- A Hallmark Channel adaptation of the famous novel by Charles Dickens. Starring Patrick Stewart as Mr. Ebenezer Scrooge and Richard E. Grant as Bob Cratchit.
  • The Christmas Gift (1986) A widowed architect and his daughter visit a town where everyone believes in Santa Claus.
  • Christmas in Boston (2005) --
  • The Christmas Secret (2000) -- A scientist sets out to prove that reindeer can fly and along the way discovers the true meaning of faith, family and Christmas.
  • The Christmas Star (1986) -- Two kids befriend an escaped convict who they believe is Santa Claus.
  • A Christmas Too Many (2007) --
  • A Christmas Visitor (2002) --
  • A Grandpa for Christmas (2007) --
  • It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie (2002) -- In this Muppet take on It's a Wonderful Life, Kurmit gets to see what the world would be like if he was never born.
  • Home for Christmas (1990) -- A thief befriends a young boy at Christmas.
  • The House Without a Christmas Tree (1972) -- A widower, still grieving from his wife's death, refuses to allow a Christmas tree in the home, to the dismay of his young daughter.
  • Dr. Seuss's How the Grinch Stole Christmas (1966) -- Furry green creature wants to ruin the holidays.
  • Like Father, Like Santa (1998) -- Greedy businessman travels to the North Pole to take over Santa's workshop.
  • A Muppet Family Christmas (1988) -- Kermit and his friends spend Christmas staging a surprise visit to Fozzie Bear's mother's farm.
  • Meet the Santas (2005) -- Seqeual to "Single Santa Seeks Mrs. Claus".
  • Mr. St. Nick (2002) --
  • Mrs. Santa Claus (1996) -- Santa's wife ends up in New York in the early 1900s near Christmastime.
  • The Night They Saved Christmas (1984) -- An RHI Entertainment Christmas film, originally developed for ABC. The film is about an oil company dynamiting in the North Pole in search of an oil field, unaware that they are endangering Santa Claus. The movie stars Jaclyn Smith and Art Carney.
  • Olive, the Other Reindeer (1999) -- A Dog called Olive wants to be a reindeer at Christmastime.
  • Red Boots for Christmas (2004) --
  • Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (1964) Claymation adaptation of the popular song where Rudolph, and Hermey the Misfit Elf, overcome rejection for their differences and help Santa Claus make his Christmas Eve trip.
  • Rudolph's Shiny New Year (1976)
  • Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July (1979)
  • Santa Baby -- Mary Class is a highly successful business executive - who just happens to be the daughter of Santa Claus. But when her father falls ill, Mary returns to the North Pole and the life she left behind to take over for her dad and implement her innovative ideas for running Christmas.
  • A Season for Miracles (1999) -- A homeless woman and her niece and nephew attempt to outrun the authorities during the holiday season.
  • Snow (2004) -- Nick Snowden, heir to a certain Arctic toy business, must work hard to save Christmas after someone steals Buddy the reindeer and brings him to a California zoo.
  • Stealing Christmas (2003) -- A criminal hides in a small town and takes a job as a Santa.
  • Santa Jr. (2002) -- Santa's son, mistaken for the 'Christmas Bandit,' is held under house arrest two days before Christmas.
  • Shrek the Halls (2007) --
  • Single Santa Seeks Mrs. Claus (2004) -- Starring Steve Guttenberg as Nick, a man claiming to be Santa's son. Nick must find a wife before Christmas as for his father wants to retire.
  • The Year Without a Santa Claus (1974) -- Claymation story of Santa deciding to take a holiday one year, so Mrs. Claus corrals Heat Miser and Snow Miser, along with children of the world to show Santa people still believe in him.
  • Yes, Virginia, There is a Santa Claus (1974) -- An animated account of young Virginia O'Hanlon's letter to the editor inquiring on the truth of Santa Claus.
  • CBC's The True Meaning of Christmas Specials (2002) -- Hosted by David Foley, this parody of Christmas specials and many classic Christmas stories follows David and friends as he seeks to learn the meaning of Christmas Specials, beyond selling knick-nacks for $49.99.

[edit] Category 2 Movies -- Related to Christmas

Category 2
  • The Associate (1996) -- Whoopi Goldberg stars in this comedy about a woman making it on Wall Street by creating a pretend male partner.
  • Babe (1995) -- The segment "Pork is a Nice Sweet Meat" takes place on Christmas day.
  • Batman Returns (1992) -- Batman battles the Penguin, Catwoman, and a corrupt industrialist during the Christmas holiday.
  • Black Christmas (1974, remade 2006) -- A stranger terrorizes sorority girls during the holiday break.
  • Brazil (1985) -- At the start of the film, Brian Miller is apprehended by soldiers during the holidays when he is mistaken for a terrorist. Near the end, the imprisoned Jonathan Pryce is visited by Peter Vaughan; Vaughan's character is dressed like Santa Claus on his way to a charity event.
  • Bush Christmas (1947, remade 1983) -- Aussie children quest for stolen horses at Christmas time.
  • Cast Away (2000) -- A FedEx plane crashes near an uninhabited island on Christmas night. Where the only survivor must live for the next 4 years.
  • Die Hard (1988) -- on Christmas Eve, terrorists seize control of an LA skyscrapper.
  • Die Hard 2 (1990) -- Terrorists take over an airport on Christmas Eve.
  • Enemy of the State (1998) -- A man (Will Smith) is pursued by rogue agents after he unknowingly obtains incriminating evidence on them while shopping for Christmas gifts for his family.
  • The Family Man (2000) -- Starring Nicolas Cage in this modern take on It's a Wonderful Life, where he plays a man who is given the chance to see what his life would have been like if he'd stayed with his college girlfriend.
  • Funny Farm (1988) - A couple buys their dream farmhouse in the country, but end up divorcing. They attempt to sell their farmhouse by bribing the local townspeople to create the perfect fantasy Christmas to impress prospective buyers.
  • Futurama: Bender's Big Score (2007) -- Nudist aliens take over the world and the Planet Express crew are made homeless at Christmas. Also, Santa Claus helps in the final battle.
  • The Godfather (1972) -- Features a scene where Don Vito Corleone is shot down whilst Christmas shopping.
  • Gremlins (1984) -- Bad things happen when Christmas gift gets wet.
  • Holiday Affair (1949) -- Romance blooms between a young widow and a sales clerk at Christmastime.
  • The Holiday (2005) -- Two women swap homes for the holidays and meet up with their dream men.
  • Home Alone (1990) -- A little boy is accidentally left at home alone over Christmas, and protects his house against two burglars.
  • Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992) -- The same boy is left alone over Christmas, this time in New York, where he encounters the same burglars.
  • The Ice Harvest (2005) -- A seemingly perfect crime on Christmas Eve spirals out of control.
  • In the Good Old Summertime Musical remake of The Shop Around the Corner.
  • Jack Frost (1996) -- Dead serial killer comes back as snowman.
  • Jack Frost (1998) -- Dad gets second chance as snowman.
  • Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005) -- A crook poses as an actor and gets tangled up in a crime during a Christmas setting.
  • Lethal Weapon (1987) -- A young suicidal cop is partnered with a veteran officer to solve a murder during the holidays.
  • Love Actually (2003) -- Britons, including the prime minister, seek love as Christmas approaches.
  • The Man Who Came to Dinner (1942) -- Hobbled New York wit makes Christmas Eve broadcast from Ohio.
  • Mean Girls (2004) -- Teenage schoolgirls sing and dance to 'Jingle Bell Rock'.
  • Meet John Doe -- A newspaper reporter turns a bum into a national hero, but the man threatens suicide by leaping from the town hall on Christmas Eve after he's exposed as a fraud.
  • Meet Me in St. Louis (1944) -- In one chapter, Missouri family has itself a merry little Christmas.
  • The Night of the hunter (1955) -- The final scenes of the film have the children enjoying Christmas since the capture of their pursuer.
  • Rabbit Test (1978) -- Billy Crystal gets pregnant and spoofs the Nativity.
  • The Ref (1994) -- Burglar mediates bickering family at Christmastime.
  • The Shop Around the Corner (1940) -- Bickering store clerks pine for pen pals as holidays approach.
  • Silent Night, Deadly Night (1984) - The controversial slasher film about a murderous Santa Claus. It was followed by four sequels.
  • Soldier (1998) -- Includes a Christmas party among the settlers before Todd's exile.
  • Stalag 17 (1953) -- American POWs fight among themselves a few days before Christmas.
  • 3 Godfathers (1948) -- At Christmastime in the Old West, three cowhands John Wayne, Harry Carey Jr., and Pedro Armendariz find a woman dying in childbirth, and deliver the baby to civilization in a parody of the Biblical story of the Magi directed by John Ford. Two different animated films were variations on Ford's classic: Ice Age (2002), in which a mammoth, a sloth, and a saber-toothed tiger return a human infant to its tribe, and Tokyo Godfathers (2003), written and directed by Satoshi Kon, in which a homeless trio (an alcoholic ex-athlete, a teenaged runaway, and an aging drag queen) are redeemed when they discover an abandoned infant at Christmas.
  • Serendipity (2001) -- Opening scene set to Cool Yule at Bloomingdale's during the Christmas rush. John and Sara meet when they both reach for the same pair of gloves, which they are buying to be Christmas presents.
  • Tales from the Crypt -- the first segment in the film is about a woman who kills her husband in their house on Christmas and is thus unable to call the police when a madman in a Santa costume is outside of the house.
  • Trading Places (1983) -- The rich Dan Aykroyd and the poor Eddie Murphy switch classes as part of Don Ameche and Ralph Bellamy's social experiment through the holiday season.
  • While You Were Sleeping (1995) -- After a lonely transit worker saves a man on Christmas Day, she spends the holidays with his family and pretends to be his fiancee while he lies in a coma.

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

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