The 5 Greatest 90's Christmas Movies of All Time

1. Home Alone (1990):

Kevin McCallister's family (including aunts, uncles, and a whole slew of cousins) fly to Paris for a family holiday getaway, but they forgot one thing...Kevin. While his parents try desperately to get back home to Chicago, he is managing to take care of himself and protect his house from two dim-witted but persistent burglars.

Home Alone is one of my all time favorite movies. I admit it; I find myself quoting it way too often. I love the writing by the brilliant John Hughes. I love cute little Kevin played by Macaulay Culkin. The McCallisters' home is gorgeous and totally decked out for the holidays. Being from Chicago, I also love all of the Chicago places and references. It's the first Christmas movie we watch to ring in the season.

2. The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)

"The Nightmare Before Christmas" is a stop motion film by Henry Selick and Tim Burton. Jack Skellington, a resident of Halloween Town, leads the town's residents in a Halloween celebration every year, but he grows bored and tired of the same old routine. He happens to come across a portal and on the other side, he discovers Christmas Town. The spirit and feeling of Christmas Town appeals to him, so he ends up leading the residents of Halloween Town in a takeover of Christmas Town. As it turns out, Halloween Town residents don't do Christmas the way people imagine it.

I included this one because of the artistry and the music; both were great and made this film an instant classic. Every year since 2006, Disney has reissued it in 3D too.

3. Miracle on 34^th Street (1994)

This is the fourth remake of the classic 1947 film. In it, a little girl, Susan, thinks she already knows the secret about Santa since her mother already told her the truth. Consequently, she doesn't believe that she'll be getting what she wants for Christmas. A special department store Santa gives her hope.

I included this one because it is a version of one of the world's most famous Christmas films (maybe second only to "It's a Wonderful Life") that takes advantage of advances in film technology and makes it more relevant to a modern audience. It isn't meant to replace the original, which has its own place in Christmas film history, but simply takes a great story and makes another great film from it.

4. All I Want for Christmas (1991)

"All I Want for Christmas" is a comedy about two siblings, Ethan and Hallie , who want their parents back together for the holidays. The first step in making their wish a reality is to get rid Tony, a man who has taken an interest in their recently divorced mother. Their scheme rarely goes according to plan and it isn't until they get a little help from St. Nick that they begin to get what they wished for.

It's been years since I've watched this movie, but I remember it being one of my sister's favorite holiday films. We'd watch it together whenever it came on and I remember it being one of those films that were part of our holiday canon. Christmas didn't feel quite complete unless we saw our list of holiday films and this one put us in the family spirit.

5. The Muppets Christmas Carol (1992)

The Muppets re-create Charles Dicken's classic "A Christmas Carol". Like the original story, it is set on Christmas Eve in 19^th century London. Michael Cain plays Ebenezer Scrooge, a grumpy money-lender who says "bah humbug" to Christmas. Kermit the Frog plays Bob Cratchit, Scrooge's employee who simply requests the holiday off. Scrooge is visited by the spirits of his former business partners, who are condemned to shackles in the afterlife. They hauntingly warn him that his fate will be the same unless he changes his ways. They also warn him that he will be visited by three ghosts. The visits by the ghosts teach Scrooge some real lessons and he has a new outlook on life.

I'm including this one because it combines a timeless classic story with some of my favorite childhood characters. There are many versions of "A Christmas Carol", most of them great because it's a great story. But this is the only one that has the Muppets, so that makes it special. It's dedicated to the late Jim Henson, who died only two years before the film's release.