We watch a lot of Christmas movies and television specials every year, usually starting on the Friday after Thanksgiving. I frequently make posts to Facebook when we watch some of these. Some of my friends asked me to post a list of our Christmas movies and this is a response to that request. This is not intended to be an all-inclusive list of Christmas movies. There are many other Christmas movies and shows worth watching but are not on our radar.
We have some of these on Blu-Ray, DVD or digital copies. Others we regularly seek out on TCM or streaming services. Some of these get watched multiple times each year, others will only get watched once, while others may not get watched every year. Some of these shows are viewed at specific times of the season. I’ve taken all these categories into consideration in the groupings that are listed below.
We have copies of the following movies, and we watch them multiple times every year:
- Christmas in Connecticut
- Holiday Inn
- A Christmas Carol (1938 version)
We have copies of these movies but usually only watch once each season:
- The Bells of St. Mary’s
- A Christmas Story
- National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation
- It’s A Wonderful Life
- Female Trouble (because it’s not a traditional Christmas movie, it gets watched at other times of the year)
We have copies of these but don’t consider them “have-to-see” movies:
- White Christmas (We received this one as a gift)
- Elf
- How The Grinch Stole Christmas (2000)
- The Nightmare Before Christmas (Sometimes this one gets watched around Halloween, other years it gets overlooked during both holidays)
Our copies of these TV Specials get watched while the house gets decorated. They get additional viewings throughout the season:
- Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer
- Frosty the Snowman
- A Charlie Brown Christmas
- Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town
- How The Grinch Stole Christmas (1966)
- The Year Without a Santa Claus
- Rudolph and Frosty’s Christmas in July
- Rudolph’s Shiny New Year
We also have copies of these Christmas Specials but they aren’t watched as often:
- The Little Drummer Boy
- Mr. Magoo’s Christmas Carol
- Cricket on the Hearth
- Frosty Returns
These two are played while decorating and later in the season:
- Peewee’s Playhouse Christmas Special
- The Muppet Christmas Carol
We catch these films on streaming services and TCM each year at least once:
- The Bishop’s Wife
- The Shop Around the Corner
- Holiday Affair
- It Happened on 5th Avenue
- The Man Who Came to Dinner
- Remember the Night
These movies that are also watched on TCM or streaming but are not must-see every year:
- Meet John Doe
- Room for One More
- Meet Me in St. Louis
- In the Good Old Summertime
We watch our copy of the MST3K version of this movie every year on Christmas Eve:
- Stanta Claus Conquers the Martians
Here are 0ther MST3K Christmas episodes we have that are sometimes watched during the holiday season:
- Santa Claus (1959)
- The Christmas that Almost Wasn’t
- The Christmas Dragon