What's your favorite Christmas movie/special?

[Earth 2 Chris]

Must sees every Christmas:

TV Specials:
Rudolph
Santa Claus is Coming to Town
How the Grinch Stole Christmas
Frosty

Movies:
Scrooge (1951) Alastair Sim
Scrooge (1970) musical with Albert Finney
A Christmas Story
National Lam****'s Christmas Vacation
Elf

Chris

[HardyGirl]

I love all the Rankin Bass Specials and Charlie Brown's Christmas. As for my fave movies,"A Christmas Story", and Hallmark Channel's "The Christmas Card" and "Most Wonderful Time of the Year" and Lifetime's "Ebbie" and "Comfort and Joy".

[Mego Magyar]

For me the must see Christmas shows are:

A Charlie Brown Christmas
A Christmas Story
National Lamp00n's Christmas Vacation

I also like An American Christmas Carol - with Henry Winkler as the Scrooge like character.

[madmarva]

I like the 1938 version of Christmas Carol best, probably because it's the first one I saw, but Sim's version is excellent, too. it's a hard story to mess up. There was a WKRP in Cincinnati episode that adapted it that was really good as well as the Jeffersons.

Rich Little played all the parts as different celebrities in a adaption than ran on HBO in the late 70s or early 80s. I'd love to see it again.

Henry Winkler played Scrooge in American Christmas Carol, an ABC movie back in the 70s set in the Great Depression that I remember being really good, too.

Mr Magoo's version is also a lot of fun as is the Muppets version.

[EmergencyIan]

Charlie Brown Christmas
Rudolph
Santa Claus Is Coming To Town
Mickey's Christmas Carol
It's A Wonderful Life
A Christmas Story

- Ian

[megomania]

Animated: Any of the Rankin-Bass
Movie: Scrooged
Most overrated holiday movie of all time: Christmas Vacation

-Chris

[spacecaps]

I like a Christmas Story but my god, it's so in your face now it's becoming annoying. It doesn't need all the merchandising, a sequel, and a broadway musical. One of the things that made it special was that it was a little known holiday movie that got a lot of air play on basic cable every December. I don't even think I knew the name of the movie the first couple of times I saw it and I'm pretty sure it took me a while to watch the whole thing beginning to end in one sitting as I used to see a scene here and a scene there. This year I actually bought Jean Sheperd's book that it was based off of and just started reading it. It's pretty good and is giving me a new perspective on the film.

I find Charlie Brown Christmas to be one of the most ironic things in TV history. The whole reason that Shutlz made the special in the first place was because he didn't like where Chrismas had gone. He had grown up in simpler times and the atomic age ushered in a new kind of Christmas with artificial trees and mass commercialization. The whole point of the episode was to remind people about what Christmas was really supposed to be about (that's why Linus get's all Biblical for 5 minutes right in the middle of the episode.) It's also why Charlie Brown's tree is such an important symbol. The kids want Ol Chuck to go get a modern Christmas tree (it doesn't have to be real and it doesn't have to be green but they want it to be symmetrically perfect and just like everyone else's. Charlie Brown gets a lopsided sad looking thing but what makes it special is that it's a genuine real tree in a world of falseness. In the end Linus reminds them about what Chritmas really is all about and they rally around the tree an celebrate it's imperfections. So the message that Shultz literally jammed down your eyballs was that Christmas should be a holiday celebrated for what it was intended not some overly commercialized day for the mindless consumer. Of course somewhere along the way we missed the point because now a days you can go into any department store and buy Charli Browns imperfect tree (fake of course) for $19.99 and pick up an inflatable Snoopy with a Santa hat for your front lawn too. Good Grief! Incidentally the Charlie Brown Thanksgiving episode has a similar theme to it too.

What I like to do to keep things fresh is to try to watch different Christmas movies every year. That way they don't seem overplayed. Wonderful Life, Scrooge, Miracle on 34th Street, Elf, Scrooged, Jingle All The Way, Christmas Story are all great films as long as I don't watch them every single year. This year Christmas Vacation is gonna be the one we watch but no one has mentioned the greatest Christmas movie of them all.....Die Hard! Yippie Kay Yay ****** *******!

[madmarva]

For those who like older movies, here's a few that haven't been mentioned:

The Bishop's Wife with Cary Grant, Loretta Young and David Niven. Excellent movie and on par with It's a Wonderful Life and Miracle on 34 th Street. Grant plays an angel tasked to help Niven and Young.

Remember the Night with Barbara Stanwyck and Fred McMurray. He's a prosecutor and she's a theif, bur he takes her home for Christmas.

Christmas in Connecticut - Stanwyck plays a homemaker columnist who is a fraud but must convince her boss otherwise when he decides to spend Christmas at her home and with her family that she doesn't have.

Going My Way- Bing Crosby won an Oscar playing a priest sent to replace a prideful, elderly priest

Meet Me In St. Louis - This is a hardcore musical set in the early 20th century starring Judy GArland. If you can't abide Glee, don't even try this one. But it's considered one of the better musicals, featuring the debut of "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas." It's in technicolor and is really beautiful film, if you like this type of film.

A Modern favorite is "Love Actually" It's a good one to watch with the ladies. It really hits all the emotions and Kiera Knightly is just gorgeous in it.

[BOTZWANA]

Geez no wonder I cannot find it on DVD at Christmas time in the states at ANY stores!!!! It is on NONE of you guys' favorite lists! Emmett Otter's Jugband Christmas is my favorite BAR NONE of the Holiday movies. Except the little guy cannot be found on DVD at ALL! Only if one orders it....I have NO idea why Disney is sitting on this one...Well now I do have an idea. Because no one wants to see it but me.

[thunderbolt]

Santa Claus Conquers the Martians MST3K style.

[Nostalgiabuff]

Elf is always a must view at Christmas
Miracle on 34th st as well(the original)
Wonderful Life
and for the wife and I, harold and Kumar Christmas

[madmarva]

Emmett Otter's excellent. Try amazon.com.

[megoapesnut]

Miracle on 34th St. will always be my favorite. I like the remake as well. A Christmas Story is a close 2nd.

[Figuremod73]

Films:
A Christmas Story
Its a wonderful life
Miracle on 34th street

Specials:
Frosty
Rudolf

Shows:
Andy Griffith (The episode with the old man)

[clemso]

JINGLE ALL THE WAY. Its always on TV and has become a tradition to watch with all the family. Never fails to make me laugh at Christmas.