Image: Lee Mendelson Films
About This Quiz
Is it that time of year?! Is it time to once again hibernate and watch Christmas movies? Gosh, we sure hope so! We've only been waiting for 300+ days for the next opportunity! Is there anything better than baking treats, piling on the couch and turning on "A Charlie Brown Christmas" or "The Polar Express?" (Yeah, we know those are both cartoons ... don't judge.)
The holiday season is magical, no matter what age you are (or what age you claim to be). It's a time of giving, sharing and family togetherness. And that last one is as good a reason as any to curate a list of classic holiday films that offers something for everyone. Want to subtly remind someone of their inner Grinch? Maybe you should break out, "How the Grinch Stole Christmas." Caught up in the hustle and bustle and pushed the real meaning of the season to the background? Cue up "It's a Wonderful Life." Or, maybe you're just looking for laughs. There's no shortage of choices there, either, like "Home Alone," "Elf" and "National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation."
This quiz is a veritable playlist of Christmas flicks, so we won't be offended if you get some inspiration here. For now, though, untangle your tinsel and put down the pumpkin pie and see how many of these holiday classics you can remember. Don't be a Scrooge – give it a whirl!
"Love Actually"
"Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer"
You know Dasher and Dancer ... oh, and probably how the rest of those song lyrics go. "Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer" has become a holiday tradition that appears yearly on television, telling the story of a bullied reindeer who rescues Santa's Christmas Eve trek.
"Eight Crazy Nights"
"The Nightmare Before Christmas"
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"Home Alone"
OK, how realistic is it really that an eight-year-old would be forgotten at home while the rest of the family boards a plane? We're not sure either, but it makes for great entertainment in the form of "Home Alone."
"Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol"
"Jack Frost"
"Home For the Holidays"
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"Holiday Inn"
"White Christmas"
A 1954 musical movie, "White Christmas" had a bit of something for everyone — acting, singing, dancing and comedy. While it's credited with contributing to the success of the song by the same name, "White Christmas" was actually sung for the first time years earlier.
"Little Women"
"The Holly & The Ivy"
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"Silent Night"
"The Santa Clause"
Tim Allen's "The Santa Clause" was such a holiday hit that it spawned two sequels. In the original, Allen is forced to fill in for Santa Claus when he inadvertently knocks the real Santa from his rooftop.
"Home Alone"
"A Christmas Story"
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"A Charlie Brown Christmas"
We're pretty sure the holiday season can't start until there's been at least one viewing of "A Charlie Brown Christmas." Charlie Brown looks for the true meaning of Christmas in this yearly televised tradition.
"Frosty the Snowman"
"Scrooged"
"The Polar Express"
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"The Road to Christmas"
"It's A Wonderful Life"
George Bailey has just about reached the end of his rope in "It's A Wonderful Life." In true Christmas miracle fashion, however, an angel helps Bailey see what the world would've been like without his existence.
"Jingle All the Way"
"The House Without A Christmas Tree"
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"Frosty the Snowman"
"Frosty the Snowman," like the lyrics to the song ("There must have been some magic/In that old silk hat they found"), is all about someone trying to steal the snowman's hat while he attempts to elude warmer temperatures.
"Come To The Stable"
"Christmas in Connecticut"
"The Island of Misfit Toys"
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"Die Hard"
"Scrooged"
"The Holiday"
"Elf"
If you don't quote lines from "Elf" the entire month of December, are you really even in the Christmas spirit? We think not. Since it debuted in 2003, "Elf" has become a perennial holiday favorite, telling the story of a human raised by elves.
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"Santa Claus: The Movie"
"White Christmas"
"Miracle on 34th Street"
When the Macy's parade Santa falls ill, he is replaced by Kris Kringle – yes, that Kris Kringle. Unfortunately, not everyone believes that Kringle is the real deal. A court battle – and mental health evaluation – ensue.
"It's A Wonderful Life"
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"The Muppet Christmas Carol"
"Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer"
"Home Alone 2"
"The Polar Express"
All aboard "The Polar Express!" This 2004 release is already moving to the top of our holiday favorites list, despite being one of its newer entries. Hollywood A-lister Tom Hanks voices the roles of six different characters in this classic based on a book.
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"Black Christmas"
"The Nightmare Before Christmas"
With a name like Jack Skellington, you'd have to assume (correctly, as it were) that he has something to do with Halloween. Indeed, Skellington lives in Halloweentown and hatches a plan to bring Christmas to his community ... even if it takes a kidnapping to do it.
"The Christmas Card"
"Meet The Santas"
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"The Year Without A Santa Claus"
"Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town"
"Dr. Seuss' How The Grinch Stole Christmas"
Dr. Seuss would be proud. His "How The Grinch Stole Christmas" has been adapted, made and remade countless times since the book first hit shelves in 1957. We're still partial to the animated TV version, which features Boris Karloff narrating the story.
"Krampus"
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"One Silent Night"
"Holly Jolly"
"Christmas With the Kranks"
Admit it: You've felt a twinge of the anxiety and desperation Mrs. Krank experienced in the grocery store when shopping for her holiday dinner. We can't see a canned ham anymore without thinking of that scene from "Christmas With the Kranks."
"Bad Santa"
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"E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial"
"Gremlins"
Here's another movie you might think of as borderline Christmas, but we promise it falls into the holiday category. It starts with a trek to buy a Christmas present and ends up with furry creatures wreaking havoc on the town on Christmas Eve. Happy holidays?
"Reindeer"
"Snow Pals"
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"The Preacher's Wife"
"Die Hard"
This settles the everlasting debate or at least the discussion that has gone on since "Die Hard's" release in 1988. We're calling this film a Christmas movie despite the fact Bruce Willis says it's not. The studio, however, calls it “the greatest Christmas story ever told." See? Settled.
"Love Actually"
"The Holiday"
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"While You Were Sleeping"
"Happy Christmas"
"Jingle All The Way"
When Arnold Schwarzenegger's character promises his son a Turbo Man for Christmas, he doesn't realize it will take an all-out, all-across-town pursuit to try to make it happen. Oh, and everyone else is looking for the same toy? "Jingle All The Way," indeed.
"Terminator 2"
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"Love Actually"
"Frosty's In Charge"
"The Year Without A Santa Claus"
"Bad Santa"
Billy Bob Thornton IS the bad Santa in "Bad Santa," using his gig as a shopping mall Santa in order to rob the mall's businesses. But, like all good holiday films, the movie ends on a high note, and we all enjoy that heartwarming Christmas feeling.
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"A Boyfriend For Christmas"
"A Christmas Prince"
"Ernest Saves Christmas"
"Ernest Saves Christmas" is really about Ernest, well, saving Christmas. Santa is seeking out someone to take over his holiday duties and employs taxi driver Ernest P. Worrell, played by Jim Varney, to get him there.
"Holiday Affair"
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"Home Alone"
"A Charlie Brown Christmas"
"A Christmas Story"
"A Christmas Story" came out in 1983 to a lukewarm reception, but the years since have been kind to the film, which has grown into something of a cult classic during the holiday season. Some channels air it for 24 straight hours, beginning Christmas Eve.
"Christmas With the Kranks"
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"A Christmas Carol"
"A Christmas Carol" is another one of those holiday flicks that has been made and remade many times over. (We're partial to the George C. Scott version, circa 1984). Mickey Mouse has also starred in an animated retelling of the "Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Yet To Come."
"The Santa Clause"
"Krampus"
"The Snowman"
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"Prancer"
Move over, Rudolph! Prancer's got a movie, too. Although it's a bit different from its red-nosed counterpart, "Prancer," released in 1989, tells the story of a young girl who cares for a reindeer she believes is one of Santa's own.
"Dancer"
"Comet"
"Vixen"
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"The Little Drummer Boy"
"While You Were Sleeping"
"The Snowman"
"Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town"
The stop-motion special, "Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town," shares its title with a popular childhood Christmas tune. In this movie narrated by Fred Astaire, a mailman shares how Santa Claus answers the requests of children all over the world.
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"The Tree With No Presents"
"The House Without A Christmas Tree"
"The Year Without A Santa Claus"
Even Santa Claus is not immune to a job that brings him down from time to time. "The Year Without A Santa Claus" follows Santa in a Christmas slump, until Mrs. Claus and some of his elves recharge his Christmas spirit.
"The Naughty Children"
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"The War on Christmas"
"Scrooged"
In an adaptation of "A Christmas Carol," Bill Murray plays a modern Scrooge in the film named — you guessed it — "Scrooged." Murray is a cranky TV executive in this 1988 film when three ghosts give him a chance to get it right.
"Krampus"
"Ebenezer"
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"Babes in Toyland"
"Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas"
"Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas" finds both Emmet and Ma separately entering a talent competition to buy Christmas gifts for the other. As the story progresses, each much give up what they love in order to proceed with the contest. Now that's the true spirit of Christmas.
"The Man Who Invented Christmas"
"Frosty the Snowman"
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"Trading Places"
"White Christmas"
"Christmas In Connecticut"
A war hero recovering from his injuries grows fond of a columnist's domesticated writings while in the hospital. After arrangements are made for him to visit the writer's home, the columnist must figure out a way to keep up her not-so-domesticated ways.
"Better Watch Out"
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"Rain Man"
"Top Elf"
"Jack Handy"
"Edward Scissorhands"
You may not necessarily think of "Edward Scissorhands" as a Christmas movie until you remember the scene when it's Christmastime, and Edward is carving an ice sculpture, which rains down snow on the neighborhood. And everybody loves a good, white Christmas, don't they?
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"This Christmas"
"Holiday Inn"
"The Family Stone"
"The Holiday"
Kate Winslet and Cameron Diaz star opposite one another in "The Holiday." The two opt to swap homes — from California to England and vice versa — during the Christmas season, with both rediscovering themselves and love along the way.
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"How The Grinch Stole Christmas"
"The Nutcracker"
You're probably most familiar with seeing local productions of "The Nutcracker" onstage. Still, several movies based on the Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky ballet have been created as well — most notably, a 1993 version that starred Macaulay Culkin.
"Babes in Toyland"
"The Polar Express"
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"Toys"
"Fred Claus"
"Fred Claus," which stars Vince Vaughn, details the sibling rivalry between the squeaky-clean Nick (that's Santa to you) and his troublemaker brother, Fred. Of course, by the end of the film, Fred sees the error of his ways.
"Santa's Brother"
"North Pole Elves"
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"Home For The Holidays"
"Last Holiday"
"Holiday House"
"The Best Man Holiday"
"The Best Man Holiday" was a sequel 15 years in the making, following 1999's "The Best Man." As college friends assemble over the holidays, new crises emerge, and friendships are deepened as a result.
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"Mary, Did You Know?"
"Silent Night, Holy Night"
"The Shop Around The Corner"
Who remembers penpals? OK, we admit, it's been a while. "The Shop Around The Corner" recounts the story of two co-workers who loathe each other by day and write to each other (unknowingly!) as penpals by night.
"Arthur Christmas"
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"Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas"
"Christmas At Home"
"Meet Me In St. Louis"
You might look at the title of "Meet Me In St. Louis" and scratch your head. That's no Christmas movie! Yeah, we hear you ... except it is. It's also the debut of the popular Christmas song, sung by leading lady Judy Garland.
"A Boyfriend For Christmas"
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"Prep & Landing"
"Christmas With the Kranks"
"National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation"
"National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation's" Clark Griswold is determined to have a "fun, old-fashioned family Christmas." What ensues is actually pretty funny, but mostly for those of us watching, not those of us who've been in similar situations.
"White Christmas"
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"Black Christmas"
Released in 1974, "Black Christmas" follows a group of coeds as they deal with a menacing stranger (and we don't mean Santa Claus). We're not sure exactly how this film will put you in the holiday spirit, but it's certainly a good change of pace.
"Silent Night, Slasher Night"
"Horror For The Holidays"
"Snow Kills"
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You Got:
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