Christmas Movies You Have to See

One of the ways that you and your family can live into the Christmas season, is of course, to cozy up and watch a Christmas movie. Many of the movies on this list are Christmas classics, fit for the whole fam and a few of them are best kept for the grownups after the kids are in bed. 🙂

This list isn’t small so matter how many you get to, we hope it adds just a bit of Christmas cheer to your Holiday szn.

A Christmas Movie “Must-See” List

White Christmas: A classic. Between the singing, the dancing, the old timey sets and costumes, I can’t get enough. This is typically one of the first Christmas movies we’ll watch.

National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation: To me, the best version of this is the edited one they play on TV. I love the glimpse into Christmas back in the 80s and Clark Griswold’s Christmas antics keep us rolling most of the movie. 

Home Alone 1 & 2: Macaulay Culkin at his best, am I right? Also, who doesn’t love a Christmas movie about a kid trying to outwit some burglars? 😉 

Christmas with the Cranks: Super cheesy, I know, but I’m a sucker for cheesy. And also Tim Allen. This one will leave you feeling good and also feeling thankful that your parents aren’t quite as crazy as the Cranks.  

Deck the Halls: Another quite cheesy Christmas movie, but regardless, this epic holiday lights battle between neighbors is one I definitely want to watch every year. 

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer: You gotta love that claymation from our childhood and Christmas songs by the wonderful Burl Ives. I also feel like this story sets the stage for many of the other claymation Christmas flicks, making it a must-see. 

Frosty the Snowman: Jimmy Durante sings throughout this 30 minute classic, and because it’s only half an hour, even the toddlers can enjoy it without losing interest.

Santa Claus is Coming to Town: I’ve got two words for you: Burgermeister Meisterburger. Classic characters, classic songs and yes please to more claymation.

The Year Without a Santa Claus: Heat Miser + Snow Miser are definitely highlights of this classic. I once made a movie with my college small group of us lip syncing to the heat miser/snow miser song. Just don’t look it up on my Facebook. 😉

The Holiday: Christmas love, British accents and England in the winter-countryside. Need I say more? 

The Mistletones: An ABC Family (now FreeForm) original movie complete with battling Christmas singing groups and cheesy holiday romance.

The Santa Clause: Again, Tim Allen :). I don’t know what more there is to say about this except that its pretty much a classic. 

Elf: Hilarious, quotable and ideal for a family, Christmas movie night.

A Christmas Story: not my favorite Christmas movie, but feels like it was one of the first Christmas flicks and thus makes the list. They usually run this for 24 hours straight around Dec. 25th so be on the lookout.

Miracle on 34th Street: The newer version with Mara Wilson is our fave. 

Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas: cartoon version or the Jim Carey version are both acceptable, though I’m privy to the modern rendition. 

Four Christmases: Reese Witherspoon and Vince Vaughn make this cheesy, holiday movie fun. 

The Family Stone: A dysfunctional family celebrating Christmas with lots of laughter and chaos along the way.

Sleepless in Seattle: This one might seem odd to put on the list, but a good portion of the movie takes place at Christmas and Meg Ryan singing Sleigh Ride gives me strong Christmas vibes, so on the list it goes.

Die Hard: I actually have never seen this one, but Matt says its a Christmas classic, so it is making our “must see” list this year.

While you were Sleeping: Not your typical Christmas movie, but Sandra Bullock and Bill Pullman at Christmas time give me all the feels.

A Charlie Brown Christmas: ABC normally plays this during the Christmas season so be on the lookout. This movie has some of the best Christmas music and one of the most genuine explanations of Christmas given by Linus. 

So that’s our list! Very Christmasy, quite cheesy and mostly classic. Any Christmas favorites you’d add?