The 19 Best Family Christmas Movies the Whole Gang Can Watch Together
Considering we’ve already begun listening to Christmas music (mainly “All I Want for Christmas Is You”), we feel it’s only appropriate to start watching some of our most beloved family Christmas movies as well.
And since there are so many—everything from classics to last year’s releases—we’ve put together a list of some of our favorites. Here, 19 family Christmas movies the whole gang can watch together.
1. ‘Santa Claus Is Coming to Town’ (1970)
Who’s in it? Fred Astaire, Mickey Rooney, Keenan Wynn (voices)
What’s it about? Through the narration of a mailman, this film tells the story of how Santa Claus and several Claus-related Christmas traditions came to be. He tells the tale of a small baby named Kris who was left on the doorstep of the Kringle family (yes, those Kringles). When Kris grows up, he wants to deliver toys to the children of Sombertown, but is faced with obstacles that make the task (almost) impossible.
Where to watch: Amazon Prime Video
2. ‘Home Alone’ (1990)
Who’s in it? Macaulay Culkin, Joe Pesci, Daniel Stern, John Heard, Catherine O'Hara
What’s it about? After 8-year-old Kevin acts out the night before a family vacation to Paris, his mother makes him sleep in the attic. When he’s accidentally left (you guessed it) home alone by his family the next day, he’s happy to have the house to himself. However, it’s not long before he must protect his family’s house from a pair of evil (and clumsy) burglars.
Where to watch: Amazon Prime Video
3. ‘THE POLAR EXPRESS’ (2004)
Who’s in it? Tom Hanks, Leslie Zemeckis, Eddie Deezen, Nona Gaye (voices)
What’s it about? Based on the beloved children's book by Chris Van Allsburg, a doubting young boy takes an extraordinary train ride (on the Polar Express) to the North Pole and embarks on a journey of self-discovery. He learns that the wonder and magic of life never fade for those who continue to believe.
Where to watch: Amazon Prime Video
4. ‘HOW THE GRINCH STOLE CHRISTMAS’ (2000)
Who’s in it? Jim Carrey, Molly Shannon, Anthony Hopkins
What’s it about? Dr. Seuss’s Christmas tale comes to life with an all-star cast, special effects and laugh-out-loud comedy. A bitter and hateful Grinch becomes increasingly irritated at the thought of the nearby village planning their big Christmas celebrations. To ruin their holiday, he disguises himself as Santa Claus (and his dog to look like a reindeer) and travels to the village to raid it of all of the presents, trees and decorations.
Where to watch: Amazon Prime Video
5. ‘RUDOLPH THE RED-NOSED REINDEER’ (1964)
Who’s in it? Burl Ives, Billie Mae Richards, Stan Francis, Janis Orenstein (voices)
What’s it about? Sam the Snowman narrates a tale of a young red-nosed reindeer who, after being cast out for being different, teams up with Hermey (an elf who wants to be a dentist), to look for a place that will accept them. After a scary encounter with the Abominable Snowman, they stumble upon a whole island of misfit toys and need to ask Santa for help.
Where to watch: Amazon DVD
6. ‘JACK FROST’ (1998)
Who’s in it? Michael Keaton, Kelly Preston, Joseph Cross, Mark Addy
What’s it about? A father who can't keep his promises to his son dies in a car accident. But one year later, he's back as, um, a snowman. Now that they can do all the things they've missed when Jack was human, can he make things right with his son before he's gone forever?
Where to watch: Amazon Prime Video
7. ‘CHRISTMAS WITH THE KRANKS’ (2004)
Who’s in it? Tim Allen, Jamie Lee Curtis, Dan Aykroyd
What’s it about? With their daughter away, the Krank family decides to opt out of Christmas altogether (to their neighbor’s dismay). But when she decides to come home, chaos ensues as they try to figure out how to celebrate the holiday at the last minute.
Where to watch: Amazon Prime Video
8. ‘ELF’ (2003)
Who’s in it? Will Ferrell, James Caan, Bob Newhart, Zooey Deschanel
What’s it about? As a toddler, Buddy was mysteriously transported to the North Pole and raised by Santa’s elves. Now, he’s on a mission to find his real dad—Walter Hobbs—in New York City. (Did we mention Walter is on the naughty list?) As you can imagine, things don’t go well.
Where to watch: Amazon Prime Video
9. ‘THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS’ (1993)
Who’s in it? Danny Elfman, Chris Sarandon, Catherine O'Hara, William Hickey (voices)
What’s it about? Jack Skellington, the pumpkin king of Halloween Town, has become bored with Halloween. One day he stumbles into Christmas Town (!), and is so taken with the idea of Christmas that he tries to get his resident bats, ghouls, and goblins to help him celebrate his own version. However, (due to obvious confusion) things don’t go exactly as planned.
Where to watch: Amazon Prime Video
10. ‘THE SANTA CLAUSE’ (1994)
Who’s in it? Tim Allen, Judge Reinhold, Wendy Crewson, Eric Lloyd
What’s it about? It’s Tim Allen (again) at his finest. When he accidentally kills a man in a Santa suit, he’s transported to the North Pole to assume the role before the following Christmas arrives, much to the delight of his son.
Where to watch: Amazon Prime Video
11. ‘MIRACLE ON 34TH STREET’ (1947)
Who’s in it? Maureen O'Hara, John Payne, Edmund Gwenn, Gene Lockhart
What’s it about? Kris Kringle steps in to replace a drunken Santa Claus in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade and people love him—that is, until he starts going around town claiming to be the real deal. Once institutionalized as insane, a young lawyer decides to defend him by arguing in court that he is, in fact, real.
Where to watch: Amazon Prime Video
12. ‘WHITE CHRISTMAS’ (1954)
Who’s in it? Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, Rosemary Clooney, Vera-Ellen
What’s it about? For a real-deal Christmas classic, look no further than the one filmed specifically around Bing Crosby’s hall-of-fame holiday tune. It’s about a song-and-dance duo that takes their show on the road to Vermont. Plus, it stars George Clooney’s aunt.
Where to watch: Amazon Prime Video
13. ‘A CHRISTMAS STORY’ (1983)
Who’s in it? Melinda Dillon, Darren McGavin, Peter Billingsley
What’s it about? A young boy named Ralphie attempts (and fails numerous times) to convince his parents, his teacher and Santa that a Red Ryder BB gun really is the perfect Christmas gift. There’s a reason TBS plays this film commercial-free for 24 hours straight every Christmas.
Where to watch: Amazon Prime Video
14. ‘A CHRISTMAS CAROL’ (2009)
Who’s in it? Jim Carrey, Steve Valentine, Daryl Sabara (voices)
What’s it about? When a grumpy Ebenezer Scrooge is awakened on Christmas Eve by spirits who reveal to him his own miserable existence—by taking him through his past—he must decide what his own future will hold: death or redemption.
Where to watch: Amazon Prime Video
15. ‘Jingle All the Way’ (1996)
Who’s in it? Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sinbad, Phil Hartman, Rita Wilson
What’s it about? A father vows to get his son a Turbo Man action figure for Christmas. However, every store is sold out of them (of course), and he must travel all over town and compete with everybody else in order to find one. A friendly reminder to get your shopping done early.
Where to watch: Amazon Prime Video
16. ‘The Nutcracker and the Four Realms’ (2018)
Who’s in it? Mackenzie Foy, Morgan Freeman, Kiera Knightly, Helen Mirren
What’s it about? In the newest version of The Nutcracker, Clara is transported into a magical world of gingerbread soldiers and an army of mice. This thrilling adventure follows Clara as she tries to defend the Land of Sweets from the evil Mother Ginger.
Where to watch: Amazon Prime Video
17. ‘ARTHUR CHRISTMAS’ (2011)
Who’s in it? James McAvoy, Hugh Laurie, Bill Nighy, Jim Broadbent (voices)
What’s it about? Just how does Santa deliver presents to every child in the world? With a very high-tech operation beneath the North Pole, of course. But when the unthinkable happens, and Santa misses one child out of hundreds of millions, his clumsy son Arthur (yes, Santa has a son) has to save the day.
Where to watch: Amazon Prime Video
18. ‘The Muppet Christmas Carol’ (1992)
Who’s in it? Michael Caine, Dave Goelz, Steve Whitmire (voices)
What’s it about? Another adaptation of A Christmas Carol reimagined by a set of beloved characters—aka the Muppets. This feature-length film also includes original songs, so you bet they’ll be stuck in your (and your family’s) head all day.
Where to watch: Amazon Prime Video
19. ‘The Snowman’ (1982)
Who’s in it? Raymond Briggs (voice)
What’s it about? No, Frosty isn’t the only snowman in town. This gentle adventure tale is based on the book by Raymond Briggs, and follows a boy who builds a snowman—that comes to life—after the family pet passes away. This one has very little dialogue and a short running time, which makes it ideal to watch with the younger kiddies.
Where to watch: Amazon Prime Video
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