“You have such a pretty face, you should be on a Christmas card.”— Buddy
On This Page
Top 20 Best Christmas Movies
Rest of the Best Christmas Movies
List of Rankin Bass Christmas Claymation Movies
Every year I like to watch Christmas movies to find my Christmas spirit or help rekindle it.
For me Christmas is a time for hope, love, and joy, with a bit of Christmas magic thrown in.
I’m a fan of the classic Christmas movies, like It’s a Wonderful Life, the older claymation Christmas movies like Rudolph, the funny stuff like National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, the dark stuff, like Bad Santa, and the modern stuff that pushes the edge like The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special.
After I built my list of the best Christmas movies, the Top 10 didn’t do it justice. So I ended up creating a list of the Top 20 best Christmas movies and then a list of the “rest of the best” Christmas movies of all time.
Top 20 Best Christmas Movies of All Time
If you watch Christmas movies each year, I’m sure you’ll find a lot of your favorites in here, but I’m hoping that I have a few surprises for you.
I know I’m surprised whenever I mention Emett Otter’s Jug Band Christmas, a Jim Henson classic, and somebody hasn’t seen it.
I know for some people, it’s just not Christmas until they’ve seen White Christmas with Bing Crosby and Dean Martin or until they’ve seen Heat Miser and Cold Miser sing their songs. (I knew a guy who had hair like Heat Mizer…it was, too much.)
1. A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965)
Charlie Brown can’t find his Christmas spirit. Christmas has gotten too commercial.
He finds his Christmas spirit among friends and family when he realizes it’s about love and goodwill.
The Peanuts use the magic of the Christmas Spirit to turn a poor, little Christmas tree, into an amazing one.
2. A Christmas Carol (1984)
George C. Scott stars as Ebeneezer Scrooge in this classic Christmas movie.
3. A Flintstone’s Christmas Carol (1995)
Fred hams it up when it plays Scrooge for the local production of “A Christmas Carol”.
Fred gets so into his role as actor, that he forgets and neglects his role as father and almost ruins Christmas.
Luckily, the time the curtain closes, Wilma, Barney, and Pebbles teach Fred the true meaning of Christmas.
4. Bad Santa (2003)
Willie T. Soke (Billie Bob Thornton) and his dwarf assistant Marcus Skidmore (Tony Cox) are professional thieves who pair up for one last heist.
5. Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas (1966)
All the Whos in Whoville love Christmas.
But the Grinch who lived just North of Whoville did not.
So the Grinch disguises himself as Santa Clause and steals Christmas by taking all the toys and Christmas decorations.
6. Elf (2003)
Will Ferrell plays Buddy, the elf, who is actually a human who was raised by Santa’s elves.
7. Emmett Otter’s Jug-band Christmas (1977)
A poor otter family of a widowed otter Mom and son have no money and can barely make ends meet, but want to get each something special for Christmas.
They risk everything for the chance to win the cash prize of a talent contest for Christmas.
8. Frosty the Snowman (1969)
Kids bring a snowman to life when they place a magic hat on his head.
The kids have fun with Frosty until the weather heats up and they have to save him from melting away.
9. It’s a Wonderful Life (1946)
One of the best Christmas classics of all time starring Jimmy Stewart as George Bailey.
George is frustrated, desperate and contemplates suicide.
Prayers from friends and family reach Heaven and an angle is sent down to help George by showing him what life would have been like if he never had existed.
10. Miracle on 34th Street (1947)
This is one of those true Christmas classic movies.
An old man going by the name of Kris Kringle (Edmund Gwenn) fills in for an intoxicated Santa in Macy’s annual Thanksgiving Day parade.
He does such a good job he ends up appearing regularly at the chain’s main store.
But when he claims he really is Satna Claus, it leads to a court case to determine his sanity.
11. Mr. Magoo’s Christmas Carol (1962)
Watch on Daily Motion
This is an animated Christmas classic where Mr. Magoo plays Ebenezer Scrooge in “A Christmas Carol.”
For anybody who has ever watched this, it ends up being a fan favorite.
12. National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation (1989)
Clark Griswold (Chevy Chase) wants to have a perfect family Christmas.
Things don’t go as planned as Clark drives his wife, Ellen (Beverly D’Angelo), and children, crazy with his holiday spirit and attempt to create the perfect holiday.
13. Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (1964)
This is a Rankin/Bass Christmas claymation classic.
An animated Christmas classic movie with a red-nosed reindeer, an elf that wants to be a dentist, an abominable snowman, and an island of misfits.
It’s a story of embracing differences and finding your place in the world.
14. Scrooged (1988)
Frank Cross (Bill Murray) is a modern-day Scrooge, and like A Christmas Carol, he ends up visited by three ghosts from the past, present and future on Christmas Eve.
15. The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special (2022)
Drax (Dave Bautista) and Mantis (Pom Klementieff) pair up to capture Kevin Bacon to give to Peter Quill (Chris Pratt), as known as Star Lord, for Christmas.
16. The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992)
This is a remake of the Christmas classic starring the Muppet cast.
17. The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)
Jack Skellington, the Pumpkin King, wants a change of pace.
He wants to spread the joy of Christmas, but this puts Santa in jeopardy and creates a nightmare for children everywhere.
18. The Nutcracker and the Four Realms (2018)
In Disney’s reimaging of The Nutcracker, a msysterious gift from her mother launches Clara on a journey to four secret relams–where she discover her greatest strength could change the world.
19. The Year Without Santa Claus (1974)
This is a Rankin/Bass Christmas claymation classic.
Santa feels unwanted and unneeded. so he decides to cancel his annual Christmas journey.
Hoping to save Christmas, elves Jingle and Jangle scour the world to find people who still believe in Santa.
This is the animated classic movie with Heat Mizer and Cold Mizer where they sing their famous song.
20. White Christmas (1954)
Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye, play two war buddies that fall for two sisters, and follow them out to a resort in Vermont.
Their former commanding officer owns the resort, but is in danger of losing it.
Can they sing their way out of this one?
The Rest of the Best Christmas Movies of All Time
Here we go with the bigger list of the best Christmas movies now. I know I already covered a lot, but here I really tried to create a list of the best Christmas movies worth watching.
I tried to put some Christmas movies that many of you won’t know, like Pinocchio’s Christmas, or Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer or Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale (Nobody I know has even heard of that one).
I even put Pacman’s Christmas on the list. How many people know there was even a Pacman cartoon, and that he even has his own Christmas special?
A Boy Called Christmas (2021)
A young boy, Nikolas, shows people how to believe in the impossible, when he goes on a quest to find his father, who is searching for a village of elves.
Nikolas is joined on his magical quest by his pet mouse and a reindeer that can fly.
A Christmas Carol (1938)
Reginald Owen stars as Ebenezer Scrooge in this classic Christmas movie.
A Christmas Carol (1951)
Alastair Sim stars as Ebeneezer Scrooge in this classic Christmas movie.
A Christmas Carol (2009)
Jim Cary stars as Ebeneezer Scrooge in this classic Christmas movie.
A Christmas Story (1983)
All Ralphie (Peter Billingsley) wants for Christmas is a Red Ryder B.B. gun. But he has to convince his parents, teachers, and Santa that it’s really the right gift.
A Very Harold and Kumar 3D Christmas (2011)
After years of growing apart, Harold Lee and Kumar Patel are preparing for their respective Christmas celebrations.
Harold’s father-in-law’s prize Christmas tree goes up in smoke, rather than come clean, Harald joins Kumar on a search for the perfect replacement tree.
A Very Murray Christmas (2015)
Set inside New York City’s Carlyle hotel, A Very Murray Christmas opens with Murray preparing to host a live, international holiday broadcast.
After a blizzard shuts down the production, he makes the best of the situation by singing and celebrating with friends, hotel employees and anyone else who drops by.
Arthur Christmas (2011)
Arthur Claus is Santa’s clumsy but well-meaning son of Santa Claus.
When Arthur discovers that Santa failed to deliver one of the presents, he goes on a magical adventure to deliver the final gift to save Christmas.
Babes in Toyland (1934)
Ollie Dee and Stanley Dum try to borrow money from their employer, the toymaker, to pay off the mortgage on Mother Peep’s shoe and keep it and Little Bo Peep from the clutches of the evil Barnaby.
When that fails, they trick Barnaby into marrying Stanley Dum instead of Bo Peep.
Enraged, Barnaby unleashes the bogeymen from their caverns to destroy Toyland.
Christmas Comes to Pac-land
This animated special is based on the Pacman Saturday morning cartoon, that was based on the original arcade game.
It’s a story about how the inhabitants of Pacland help Santa Claus retrieve his toys from the fiendish Ghost Monsters, after he crash-lands his sleight in Pacland.
Christmas Eve on Sesame Street
It’s Christmas Eve on Sesame Street and the gangs all here…Big Bird, Bert and Ernie, Oscar the Grouch, the Count, Grover, Mr. Snuffleupagus, Kermit the Frog and more.
Christmas In Connecticut (1945)
An unmarried city magazine writer pretends to be a farm wife and mother.
When her boss and a returning war hero invite themselves over to dinner, she has to cover up her deception.
Barabra Stanwyck plays the writer, and Dennis Morgan plays the war hero.
Christmas in July (1940)
A workplace practical joke goes awry when an office clerk (Dick Powell), believing he has won a $25,000 prize, takes his girlfriend (Ellen Drew) on an extravagant Christmas shopping spree…in the middle of July!
After they discover it was all a hoax, their spending spree turns into a wild slapstick riot.
Dolly Parton’s Christmas on the Square
Regina Fuller (Christine Baranski) is a small town “Scrooge” attempting to evict the entire town of Fullerville on Christmas Eve.
Regina is visited by an angel (Dolly Parton) who guides her on a musical journey of redemption.
Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000)
Jim Carrey plays the perfect Grinch as Ron Howard directs.
Eloise at Christmastime (2003)
It’s Christmas at The Plaza and Eloise is up to her usual mischief, but this time she’s “helping” with the marriage of the hotel owner’s marriage.
Fred Claus (2007)
Fred Claus (Vince Vaughn) and Nicholas Claus (Paul Giamatti) are two brothers that are polar opposites.
Fred is the troublemaker while Nicholas is the saintly one.
Fred’s criminal ways land him in big trouble and Nicholas bails him out and brings him to the North Pole to work off the debt by making toys.
St. Nick has to deal with the antics of his brother, and an efficiency expert that has come to evaluate Santa’s operations.
Four Christmases (2008)
When vacation plans don’t work out, unmarried couple Brad (Vince Vaughn) and Kate (Reese Witherspoon) must spend Christmas Day at at all four parents family get togethers.
Ghosts of Girlfriend’s Past (2009)
This is a rom-com version of “A Christmas Carol.”
Matthew McConaughey plays a committed bachelor haunted by the “ghosts” of his past (his ex-girlfriends) to inspire him to change his ways.
Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer (2000)
This is an animated, full length movie based on the hit song by the same name.
There’s more to the story in this movie, though.
Grandma owns a shop downtown in the city where they want to buy her building and develop with new sky scrapers.
Grandma does not want to sell out, but cousin Mel, does, and she will do anything to make it happen.
Gremlins (1984)
A father finds a special gift for his son at a store in Chinatown.
The shopkeer reluctantly sells him the “mogwai” but gives him a strong warning to never expose him to bring light, water, or feed him after midnight.
Well, every rule is broken and the result is a gang of Gremlins that tear up the town on Christmas Eve.
Holiday Affair (1949)
Robert Mitchum plays Steve Mason, a seasonal clerk who catches Connie Ennis stealing from the store.
When he learns that Connie is a war widow and single mother, he takes pity on her, but his supervisor then fires him on the spot.
Steve befriends Connie and it complicates her plans to marry boring, nice guy Carl Davis.
Connie played by Janet Leigh and Carl Davis is played by Wendell Corey.
Holiday Inn (1942)
Stars Bing Crosby, Fred Astaire, Walter Abel, Irving Bacon, and Marek Windheim.
Two retiring show people start up a New England country inn with the unique idea of being open on Christmas and achieve instantaneous success.
When they fall for the same woman, conflicts arise.
Home Alone (1990)
The McCallisters leave for a trip to Paris, but forget their son, Kevin (Macaulay Culkin), leaving him home alone for the holidays.
It Happened on 5th Avenue (1947)
A hobo and friends take up residence in a mansion whilst the family is away on Christmas holiday.
Jack Frost (1998)
After a young boy’s father dies, his father is reincarnated as a magical snowman, Jack Frost, played by Michael Keaton.
Jingle All The Way (1996)
A father vows to get his son a Turbo Man action figure for Christmas.
But it turns out that every store is sold out, and he must travel all over town and compete with everybody else in order to find one.
Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey” (2020)
An apprentice (Keegan-Michael Key) betrays a legendary toymaker, Jeronicus Jangle (Forest Whitaker) by stealing his most prized possession.
Decades later, Jangle finds new hope when his inventive young granddaughter (Madalen Mills) appears on his doorstep.
Klaus (2019)
An animated movie where a selfish postman and reclusive toymaker team up to form an unlikely friendship, and deliver joy to a cold, dark town that really needs it.
Krampus (2015)
Legendary Pictures’ Krampus, a darkly festive tale of a yuletide ghoul, reveals an irreverently twisted side to the holiday.
Love Actually (2003)
A classic holiday romantic comedy starring High Grant, Liam Neeson, and Colin Firth. Follows the lives of 9 Londoners as they deal with their love lives during a frantic month before Christmas.
Meet Me in St. Louis (1944)
A musical, comedy, classic movie starring Judy Garland, Margaret O’Brien, and Leon Ames.
Judy Garland sings “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas” to Margaret O’Brien.
Mickey’s Christmas Carol (1983)
This is a great Disney adaption of a Christmas Carol where Mickey and friends play the cast:
Scrooge McDuck plays Ebeenzer Scrooge, Mickey Mouse plays Bob Cratchet, Goofy plays Jacob Marley.
Mickey’s Once Upon A Christmas (1999)
Mickey, Minnie, and their famous friends Goofy, Donald, Daisy, and Pluto gather to reminisce about love, magic, and surprises in 3 stories of Christmas past.
Minnie and Mickey recall the year they both gave up what was most important to them for the sake of the other.
Goofy and Max share their story of a visit from the real Santa.
Donald’s nephews Huey, Dewey, and Louie remember their dream turning into a nightmare, teaching them what true holiday spirit is all about.
Nestor the Long-Eared Christmas Donkey (1977)
This is a Rankin/Bass Christmas claymation classic.
An outcast donkey finds his destiny.
Noelle (2019)
Noelle (Anna Kendrick), Kris Kringle’s daughter, is full of Christmas spirit, but her father wishes she could do something important like her brother Nick.
Nick will take over for their father this Christmas.
But when Nick crumbles under presure, Noelle sets out to find her brother and bring him back in time to save Christmas.
Office Christmas Party (2016)
When the CEO (Jennifer Aniston) threatens to close her brother’s branch, he (T.J. Miller) and his CTO (Jason Bateman) decide to throw the most outrageous holiday party to land a VIP client and save everyone’s jobs.
Pinocchio’s Christmas (1980)
This is a Rankin/Bass Christmas claymation classic.
This is both an origin story of Pinocchio and a musical tale where Pinochio is conned out of money he intended for Papa Gepetto’s Christmas gift.
Prancer (1989)
A little farm girl nurses a wounded reindeer she believes is one of Santa’s.
Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale (2010)
This is a dark comedy where an archeological dig unearths Santa Claus, but not the kind of Santa you want coming to your town.
Remember the Night (1940)
Stars Barbara Stanwyck and Fred MacMurray.
Love blooms between a sympathetic attorney and the comely shoplifter he has taken home for the Christmas holiday.
Santa Claus Is Comin’ To Town (1970)
This is a Rankin/Bass Christmas claymation classic.
This is an animated classic about how Santa Claus and Claus-related Christmas traditions came to be.
Santa Claus: The Movie (1985)
One of Santa’s elves (Dudley Moore) gets mixed up with an evil toy-tycoon (John Lithgow) who wants to take over Christmas.
The Bishop’s Wife (1947)
Cary Grant plays Dudley, an angel who intervenes to help a bishop build a new cathedral and repair his fractured marriage.
The bishop is played by David Niven, and his wife, Julia, is played by Loretta Young.
The Christmas Chronicles (2018)
After a brother and sister accidentally crash Santa’s sleigh, they pull an all-nighter to help Santa save Christmas
Kurt Russell plays an suave Santa.
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (2005)
Four siblings play a game of hide and seek and wind up entering the magical land of Narnia through a wardrobe.
It’s forever winter, but never Christmas.
In Narnia, they discover a world of beasts, dwarfs, and giants and they find themselves in a battle to defeat a witch.
The Great Rupert (1950)
Stars Jimmy Durante, Tom Drake and Terry Moore.
A New York family (led by Durante) who is down on their luck at Christmas time. Shortly before Christmas, they move into a ground floor apartment where Rupert the squirrel lives in the attic rafters.
Just when it seems that the holiday will come and go without so much as a Christmas tree, Rupert acts as the family’s guardian angel, not only saving Christmas, but changing their lives forever.
The Lemon Drop Kid (1951)
Sidney Melbourne (Bob Hope) is known as the Lemon Drop Kid because he likes lemon drops.
But he’s also a con-artist who finds himself in trouble on Christmas Eve.
The Little Drummer Boy (1968)
This is a Rankin/Bass Christmas claymation classic.
The timeless story of a penniless orphan whose only gift to give the baby Jesus is a song on his drum.
The Man Who Invented Christmas (2017)
This is the magical journey of Charles Dickens that led to the creation of Ebeneezer Scrooge, Tiny Tim and other classic characters from A Christmas Carol.
The Polar Express (2004)
A doubting young boy takes an extraordinary ride to the North Pole that teaches him how the wonder of life never fades for those who believe.
The Santa Clause (1994)
Tim Allen plays divorced dad, Scott, who accidentally kills Santa. on Christmas Eve.
He’s then magically transported to the North Pole where an elf explains that Scott must take Santa’s place before the next Christmas.
The Shop Around the Corner (1940)
Jimmy Stewart plays Alfred Kralik and Margaret Sullvan plays Klara Novak, who are employees at Matuschek and Company, a general store in Budapest.
Alfred and Margaret are at odds with each other and constantly bump heads.
They both have pen pals they are enamored with, but what they don’t realize is they are each other’s pen pal.
Trading Places (1983)
Dan Aykroyd plays an upper-class commodities broker and Eddie Murphy plays a poor street hustler.
Two millionaires bet on how each man will perform if their life circumstances were swapped.
While You Were Sleeping (1995)
Sandra Bullock plays Lucy, a hopeless romantic Chicago Transit Authority token collector.
Lucy saves Peter, from an oncoming train, but he ends up in a coma.
To complicate things, Lucy ends up involved with Peter’s brother Jack.
Peter Gallagher plays Peter and Bill Pullman plays Jack.
List of Rankin Bass Christmas Claymation Movies
Arthur Rankin Jr. and Jules Bass are famous for their suite of Christmas claymation movies.
You’ll notice that several of their movies are in the list above, but I thought it would be helpful to give you a simple list of all their Christmas movies in case you really like their style and want to watch the rest of their Christmas collection.
Here is the list of the Rankin Bass claymation movies:
- The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus (1985)
- Leprechaun’s Christmas Gold (1981)
- Pinocchio’s Christmas (1980)
- Rudolph & Frosty’s Christmas in July (1979)
- Jack Frost (1979)
- Nestor the Long-Eared Christmas Donkey (1977)
- Rudolph’s Shiny New Year (1976)
- The First Christmas: The Story of the First Christmas Snow (1975)
- The Year Without a Santa Claus (1974)
- Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town (1970)
- The Little Drummer Boy (1968)
- Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (1964)
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