There is a choice for this magical film on Disney. One can watch the 1947 version or 1994, or both! Personally, it’s the black and white 1947 version for this viewer, which also appears to be a favourite of the critics. The story follows Doris, a divorced New York mother who hires a nice old man to play Santa Claus at Macy’s. He calls himself Kris Kringle, and she is startled by his claim that he is the genuine article. When his sanity is questioned, a lawyer defends him in court by arguing that he’s not mistaken. But her six-year-old daughter, Susan, notices there is something special about Kris and his determination to advance the true spirit of Christmas among the rampant commercialism around him. Natalie Wood stars as Susan.

I came across this lovely movie, which I had somehow never seen before. The wonderful Harry Dean Stanton stars as a Christmas angel named Gideon who is sent by Santa Claus to help Ginny Grainger, who is a cynic and hates Christmas. She and her family have fallen on hard times, making it even harder to believe in anything that can’t be seen. With help from her daughter Abbie and a trip to see Santa Claus himself, can Gideon find a way to make her believe again? Add this one to your Christmas viewing list.

Tim Burton cowrote this delightful story where Jack Skellington, the pumpkin king of Halloween Town, is bored with doing the same thing every year for Halloween. One day he stumbles into Christmas Town and is so taken with the idea of Christmas that he tries to get the resident bats, ghouls, and goblins of Halloween Town to help him put on Christmas instead of Halloween, but they can’t get it quite right. Tim Burton has said he was inspired after seeing a Halloween merchandise display in a store being taken down and replaced by a Christmas display. There are some great tunes from the talented Danny Elfman.

Unless you reside on another planet, you have surely seen this popular Yuletide film at least once. I like to think those on other planets have possibly beamed it up there. There are some for which it is required viewing every year and many parents have sat through it countless times. And it’s always fun. It is Christmas time and the McCallister family is preparing for a vacation in France. But the youngest in the family, Kevin misbehaved and was sent to his room. The next morning, while the family was in a rush to make it to the airport, they completely forgot about Kevin, who now has the house all to himself. Kevin discovers two burglars with intent to rob his house on Christmas Eve. He acts quickly by wiring his own house with makeshift booby traps to stop the burglars and to bring them to justice. It’s a merry romp, with the added bonus of John Candy as a polka band leader, and it’s Kieran Culkin’s very first film appearance.

There must be hundreds of versions of Dickens’ A Christmas Carol in many forms, but you’ve got to love this Muppets take on the tale. It’s a classic retelling of Dickens story of Ebenezer Scrooge, miser extraordinaire. He is held accountable for his dastardly ways during night-time visitations by the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and future. It’s one of the best Muppet movies.

This one didn’t go down well with the critics at all. But it is fun watching Danny DeVito and Matthew Broderick go up against each other in the Christmas decorations standoff. Optometrist Steve Finch loves those Christmas traditions he has set up with his family and his town. As such, he has a schedule of activities for them starting on December 1st and is the unofficial consultant for anything Christmas-related. Buddy Hall scams his way through life and never follows through with anything he starts. All hell breaks loose with Buddy striving to have his house seen from space by decorating it as lavishly and brightly as possible. It’s not Oscar material, but it is funny and entertaining.

There’s always those who protest that Die Hard isn’t a Christmas movie. It does take place during Christmas and has become a popular film for families everywhere. It deserves its place on a Christmas Movie List. It is classic Bruce Willis, and it brought the wonderful Alan Rickman to everyone’s attention. Willis is NYPD cop John McClane who goes on a Christmas vacation to visit his wife Holly in LA where she works for the Nakatomi Corporation. While they are at the Nakatomi headquarters Christmas party, a group of robbers led by Hans Gruber take control of the building and hold everyone hostage, with the exception of John, while they plan to perform a lucrative heist. Unable to escape and with no immediate police response, John is forced to take matters into his own hands. It is considered one of the greatest action movies ever. Still a joy to watch this one.

My son advised me I couldn’t have a Christmas Movie List without this one, so here it is. We’ve all struggled with trying to find the specific toy requested on Santa’s list. Arnold Schwarzenegger takes it to another level here. He stars as Howard Langston, a mattress salesman, constantly busy at his job, who also constantly disappoints his son, Jamie. He tries hard to come up with a way to make it up to him. Jamie says that all he wants for Christmas is a Turbo Man action figure. Unfortunately for Howard, it is Christmas Eve, and every store is sold out. Now Howard must travel all over town and compete with everybody else including a mailman named Myron Larabee to find one, and to make it to the Holiday Wintertainment Parade, which will feature Turbo Man. Plus it’s got Robert Conrad from Hawaiian Eye for all those of a certain age who remember it. Great entertainment for all the family.

Bambi is one of those classic Disney films that can be viewed at any time. It was often chosen at Christmas in our house. All the animals of the forest are excited by the forest’s latest birth, a buck fawn his mother has named Bambi. The animals are more excited than usual as Bambi’s lineage means he will inherit the title of prince of the forest. Bambi navigates through life with the help of his similarly aged friends, Thumper, a rabbit who often forgets to heed all the lessons his father has taught him about how to live as a rabbit properly, and Flower, a skunk who likes his name. You’ll need tissues handy for this one.

If you’re visiting New York City at Christmas, a special experience is to see The Nutcracker performed by the New York City Ballet. Co-directed by Sweden’s Lasse Hallstrom, this magical film version features stunning sets and costumes, which is based on the original Hoffmann tale. The story follows Clara who wants a one-of-a-kind key that will unlock a box that holds a priceless gift from her late mother. A golden thread presented to her at godfather Drosselmeyer’s annual holiday party, leads her to the coveted key which promptly disappears into a strange and mysterious parallel world. There is a talented ensemble cast attached.