There’s one thing that always gets me into the holiday mood, and that’s seasonal movies. Every year I watch so many Christmas movies with my family, including classics like “It’s A Wonderful Life” and “A Charlie Brown Christmas” and less classic movies like the VeggieTales Christmas episodes and “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone,” which is arguably a Christmas movie because Christmas occurs in the movie. Like “Die Hard.”
“It’s A Wonderful Life” is a 1946 American Christmas fantasy drama about the life of one George Bailey, a selfless man who has given up much of his life and dreams to help and enable others on their own paths. After finally being pushed to consider suicide, his guardian angel intervenes and shows him all the ways that he has made his immediate world a better place. The movie ends with an evocative show of community and loving generosity.
“A Charlie Brown Christmas” is a change of pace, a 1985 animated television special, actually the first TV special based on the Peanuts comic strip, filled with classic Christmas movie tropes like the standard Christmas play and commercialized Christmas. It has a good message, though, as Linus quotes the “Christmas passage” from the book of Luke to tell Charlie Brown the true meaning of Christmas, and frankly, the music slaps. It’s the Charlie Browniest.
“Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone” is always a classic, with or without the Christmas element. The 2001 fantasy film following Harry’s first year at Hogwarts and his consequent adventures is accompanied by an enchanting soundtrack and delightful cast of precious eleven-year-olds. Despite the fact that it’s not really an acknowledged Christmas movie, we can still appreciate the magic and aesthetic that the first Harry Potter movie brings to the table.
Of course, people have other Christmas movie-watching traditions including “The Year Without a Santa Claus” and “March of the Wooden Soldiers.” “The Year Without a Santa Claus” is a 1974 stop-motion animated television special about the year that Santa Claus was put on bedrest during the Christmas season. Shenanigans ensue as the two elves employed by Mrs. Claus try to find out if people still believe in Santa Claus.
“March of the Wooden Soldiers,” more commonly known as “Babes in Toyland,” is a bizarre mesh of well-known fairy tale characters who all live in Toyland. There isn’t a whole lot of plot to this movie, but much like “The NeverEnding Story,” if you grew up watching it, you might be willing to throw hands to defend the movie’s honor.
Everyone has their own Christmas traditions beyond movies. There’s just something about sitting down with your family, curled up under a blanket with a familiar movie playing in the background. Making inside jokes with your siblings that you can only make because you’ve seen this movie so many times over the last two decades is a warmth that not even the toastiest chestnut roasting fire can bring.