My Top Ten Favorite Christmas Movies of All Time

The Holidays are upon us and that means its time for our favorite classic Christmas movies. Everyone has a favorite Christmas movie, cartoon, or television show. Maybe it is something that you saw when you were a child. For me it was Rudolph The Red-Nose Reindeer, one of my all time favorites, I've watched it every year for as long as I can remember. It wouldn't be Christmas for me without Rudolph. The following is a list of my all time top ten favorite Christmas movies, enjoy.

1. National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation starring Chevy Chase, Beverly D'Angelo, and Randy Quaid is about Clark W. Griswold and his family. Clark, played by Chevy Chase, is determined to have an old fashioned family Christmas, but no matter how hard he tries nothing turns out right. From the trip to get the family Christmas Tree to the Christmas Eve dinner everything goes terribly wrong with hilarious results. This is one of my favorite Christmas movies because it has a lot of slapstick comedy and I love that. I think its a must see Christmas movie for the whole family, one that will have you rolling with laughter.

2. A Miracle On 34th Street starring Natalie Wood, Maureen O'Hara, John Payne, and Edmund Gwenn is absolutely one of my sentimental Christmas favorites. This movie originally aired in 1947 and I have been watching every year since I was a child. Its about a kindly old man who gets hired by the manager of Macy's to play Santa Claus, but once he gets hired he claims he is the real Kris Kringle. The manager refuses to believe it, but her daughter is starting to believe as do all the children that come to tell him what they want for Christmas. He ends up in a mental institution and a nice lawyer who believes in Santa Claus and is falling in love with the manager and her daughter decides to prove he is Kris Kringle. This is a must see Christmas movie that will have young and old alike believing there is a Santa Claus.

3. The Santa Claus starring Tim Allen and Peter Boyle has quickly become one of my Christmas favorites. Its a great movie with Tim Allen playing a divorced, workaholic father who is spending Christmas Eve with his son, who doesn't seem very happy about it. In the middle of the night they hear something on the roof and Allen's character goes out to investigate. He startles Santa Claus and causes him to fall off the roof and die. Him and his son look through Santa's pockets and find a card telling him to put on the coat because he must become Santa and finish delivering the Christmas presents. This is an awesome Christmas movie full of comedy and feel good moments. Its a must see for all families who love Santa Claus.

4. A Christmas Carol starring Reginald Owen as Ebenezer Scrooge was first released in 1938 and is my favorite version of this Christmas classic. In this classic tale Scrooge is a stingy old man who is visited by three ghosts on Christmas Eve, the Ghost of Christmas Past, the Ghost of Christmas Present, and the Ghost of Christmas Future. These ghosts are sent in an effort to convince Scrooge to change his stingy ways before it is to late and he has to carry the chains of his greed throughout eternity. Its a wonderful story about opening up your heart and mind to help out others who are less fortunate. This is a feel good movie for all ages and there are many versions to choose from this one just happens to be my personal favorite.

5. Tim Burton's Nightmare Before Christmas an animated feature that was groundbreaking when it came out is one of the most unusual Christmas movies I've ever seen which is what makes it so endearing. Its about Jack Skellington, the King of Halloween, who stumbles upon Christmas Town and decides he wants to be Santa Claus. He rushes back to the land of Halloween to prepare for his role as Santa Claus by enlisting the help of everyone in town. He wants to make Christmas special but of course he is the King of Halloween and nothing he does turns out right. Christmas turns into a horrifying night for everyone who receives gifts from Halloween Land. I love this movie because it is a completely different take on the classic Christmas story, and it is definitely one of the favorites of many of the teenagers I know. Its a movie the whole family should see together.

6. Dr. Seuss' How The Grinch Stole Christmas starring Jim Carrey is about a hairy, green man called The Grinch who hates Christmas. He lives high on a mountain and collects the trash of the residents of Whoville. He hates how happy the residents of Whoville are at Christmas, so he hatches a plan to ruin their Christmas. What Grinch doesn't realize is that the Who's Christmas spirit is stronger than their need for Christmas Trees, presents, and food. When he hears them singing on Christmas morning he can't believe his ears and something very strange happens to The Grinch, he becomes filled with Christmas spirit. Jim Carrey is excellent in the role of The Grinch and very funny. The movie is one of my favorites because I have always loved the story, and it is a family favorite. Everyone should see this movie because it will remind them what Christmas is really about.

7. Prancer starring Rebecca Harrel is about a little girl who finds one of Santa's reindeer, Prancer, and saves his life. Her dad and a few others in town are lacking Christmas spirit and don't believe her when she tells them that Santa is missing one of his reindeer which she keeps hidden because her father would not approve. She manages to get a job helping a lonely old woman clean up her house and attic so she can buy feed for Prancer. Eventually she gets caught hiding Prancer, and he is taken away from her and put in a cage in town for everyone to stare at, but she convinces her father to help her save him. This is a heartwarming story that has become one of my favorites of all time. This is a family friendly movie that parents should definitely watch with their children.

8. Trapped In Paradise starring Nicolas Cage, Jon Lovitz, and Dana Carvey is a comedy about three brothers that get themselves in a lot of trouble in a nice town called Paradise. They decide to rob the bank in Paradise on Christmas Eve, and then they can't get out of town. They get themselves into all kinds of trouble and the people of Paradise are so nice to them even though they are strangers that they start to feel guilty about stealing the town's money. Eventually they decide to give the money back, but in the meantime there is a lot of slapstick comedy that will have you laughing and feeling good in no time. I came across this movie a couple of years ago and decided to watch it and I loved it. Give it a try I think you'll really like it.

9. Jack Frost starring Michael Keaton, Kelly Preston, and Mark Addy is in my top ten because this movie has it all. Its about Frost, played by Keaton, who comes back to life as a snowman a year after he dies in a car accident trying to get home to his wife(Preston) and his son(Addy) in a snowstorm on Christmas Eve. His son builds a snowman, dresses it with his dad's things, finds the harmonica Jack gave him the year before and plays it which causes Jack's soul to come to life in the snowman. This is a heartwarming story about a father who comes back to help his son get over his death. This has been one of my favorites since the first time I watched it, and I always cry at the end. This is a wonderful family Christmas movie that everyone should see at least once.

10. A Christmas Story starring Peter Billingsley was a classic as soon as it was released. Billingsley plays an eight year old boy who desperately wants a Red Ryder BB Gun for Christmas. He'll do anything to convince his parents that he is mature enough for the BB gun, but along the way he gets into all kinds of mischief in all kinds of places. He eventually gets what he wants but with consequences and learns that what you want isn't always what you need. This movie is very funny and family friendly.

These are my Top Ten Favorite Christmas movies of all time and I think it is a pretty good list. I've seen so many Christmas movies and have so many favorites it was harder to pick my Top Ten than I thought it would be. I'm sure many of these movies are favorites of yours. If there is a movie here you have never seen before watch it and see if it becomes a Christmas favorite of yours.