Christmas Traditions and the Movies

Read Kate Tigue's column in the December 4, 2014 edition of the Norwood Transcript and Bulletin. Kate is a Children's Librarian at the Morrill Memorial Library.

The holiday season has begun and all the yearly traditions we look forward to are on the horizon.  One of my most highly anticipated holiday traditions is watching Christmas themed movies.   It used to be popular to head to the movies on Christmas Day but the ubiquity of DVDs and streaming services have many people staying home and crowding around their TV.  Many holiday traditions are rooted in family celebrations or get-togethers but my particular fondness for Christmas movies comes from my time in college.

At the end of the semester, my friends and I would be obsessing over finals, practically living in the library while studying. In order to blow off some steam and take a much-needed break, we decided to hold a Christmas movie marathon that would feature our childhood favorites.  We agreed to meet up in the dorm’s common area with each person bringing a DVD and, of course, a snack.  After nearly 12 hours, we emerged from our Christmas cocoon, totally stuffed and ready to refocus on school.  We had so much fun that we made a yearly tradition out of it for the remainder of our collegiate years.   I’ve long since graduated and my friends have moved away but I’ve managed to turn this tradition into a family one ever since I turned one of those friends into my husband!  We still watch our favorites every year just before Christmas and fondly recall those end-of-semester movie marathons.  Looking for some suggestion for your own Christmas movie marathon?  Here are some suggestions!  All of these films are available for checkout through the Minuteman Library Network.

The first category up is the short-but-traditional Christmas movie.  These films are perfect for busy little ones or folks who don’t have a lot of time but need their hit of holiday movie magic.  Start with my personal all-time favorite, A Charlie Brown Christmas.  This one has it all: animation, classic movie lines, and a feel-good message about the true meaning of Christmas.  Next up would be the original Dr. Seuss’ s How the Grinch Stole Christmas from 1965.  Boris Karloff’s narration and singing truly brings this classic book to life on screen.  And, of course, the ending can make anyone’s heart grow three sizes on any day.  If you need more animated movies on the short side, you don’t have to look any further than the Rankin/Bass Production’s stop-animation, made for TV Christmas films.   Rudolph (1964) features Burl Ives as Sam the Snowman, who sings and narrates the story of the famous red-nosed reindeer.   Santa Claus Is Coming To Town (1970) is another great Rankin/Bass Production that explores the “real” story of Kris Kringle with more wonderful singing from Fred Astaire as the narrator and Mickey Rooney as Kris himself.

If you’ve got more time and a love from Hollywood’s Golden Age, you can’t go wrong with the ultimate Christmas feel-good film It’s A Wonderful Life.  Jimmy Stewart stars as George Bailey, a troubled but good man who has become disillusioned with life and is on the verge of suicide.  His guardian angel, Clarence Odbody, manages to show him how his good works have affected the people o f Bedford Falls, NY and how fortunate he really is.  Continuing the black and white theme, no list of Christmas films would be complete with without the original Miracle on 34^th Street (1947).  Starring Maureen O’Hara and Natalie Wood, this movie gives us food for thought on the age old question: “Is Santa real?”.   For those looking for a lighter plot, try Disney’s Technicolor version of Babes in Toyland (1961).  The wacky plot features nursery rhyme characters from “Mother Goose Land” and the hilarious Ed Wynn as the Toymaker of Toyland.

What about those newer, “modern classics” of the Christmas genre?  Most are comedies and are pretty good at providing a laugh during a stressful holiday season.  As anyone under 35 will tell you, no Christmas is complete without Will Ferrell’s smash hit Elf.  This is probably the most mentioned movie when I crowd-sourced my friends on Facebook for their favorite Christmas movies.  From the 1990s, most of us fondly remember screaming with our hands pressed against our faces just like Macauley Culkin in Home Alone and the “Santa back story” is once again revisited with more hilarity in Tim Allen’s The Santa Clause (watch the original, skip the 2^nd and 3^rd films!).  If dark humor, musicals, and animation are your thing, you can never go wrong with Tim Burton’s Nightmare Before Christmas.  Is it a Halloween movie or a Christmas one?  You decided! Or you can do what I do and watch it on both holidays.

Finally, no Christmas film list would be complete without some kind of film version of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol.   Alistair Sims is the quintessential Scrooge in 1951 film of the same title. His performance brings out Scrooge’s complex emotions as the ghost of Marley gives him a glimpse into his grim future.  A more modern take on this story is Patrick Stewart’s portrayal of Scrooge in his made-for TV version of A Christmas Carol.   And for kids, who can forget Disney’s animated version with Mickey Mouse as Bob Cratchit, Scrooge McDuck as Scrooge himself, and Goofy as Jacob Marley.

Watching holiday movies is the perfect way to get into the spirit of the season.   I hope this list inspires you to start a movie marathon tradition with your friends and family!