Holiday Movie Guide

Merry & Bright

Classic Christmas Movies

Disney classics, all-time favorites, animated & TV specials, Netflix-era favorites, and where to watch free. The timeless holiday watch list. ☕❄️

Family magic, year after year

Disney Classics

1994

The Santa Clause

Tim Allen becomes Santa after reading the fine print.

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2002

The Santa Clause 2

Santa needs a Mrs. Claus, fast.

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2006

The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause

Jack Frost schemes to take over the North Pole.

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1990

Home Alone

Kevin vs. the Wet Bandits.

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1992

Home Alone 2: Lost in New York

Same kid, bigger city, more traps.

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1992

The Muppet Christmas Carol

Michael Caine and the Muppets do Dickens.

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1993

The Nightmare Before Christmas

Jack Skellington discovers Christmas Town.

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1947

Miracle on 34th Street

A department-store Santa goes on trial.

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1983

Mickey's Christmas Carol

Scrooge McDuck plays Scrooge.

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1999

Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas

Three cozy Mickey holiday shorts.

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2004

Mickey's Twice Upon a Christmas

More CGI Mickey and friends holiday tales.

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2009

A Christmas Carol

Jim Carrey's motion-capture Scrooge.

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2009

Prep & Landing

Santa's elite elves prep every house.

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2019

Last Christmas

Emilia Clarke and a George Michael soundtrack.

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2018

The Nutcracker and the Four Realms

A lush Disney take on the ballet story.

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2023

Meet Me Under the Mistletoe

A cozy Disney holiday romance.

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Beloved for generations

All-Time Classics

1942

Holiday Inn

Bing Crosby introduces 'White Christmas'.

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1946

It's a Wonderful Life

Every time a bell rings...

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1947

The Bishop's Wife

Cary Grant as a charming angel.

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1949

Holiday Affair

Robert Mitchum in a sweet postwar romance.

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1938

A Christmas Carol

MGM's classic Scrooge.

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1951

Scrooge

Alastair Sim's definitive Scrooge.

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1954

White Christmas

Bing, Danny Kaye and a snowy finale.

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1970

Scrooge

Albert Finney's musical Scrooge.

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1983

Trading Places

Eddie Murphy and Dan Aykroyd swap lives at Christmas.

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1983

A Christmas Story

You'll shoot your eye out!

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1984

A Christmas Carol

George C. Scott's chilling Scrooge.

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1985

Santa Claus: The Movie

Dudley Moore as an elf in a big-budget origin story.

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1987

Planes, Trains and Automobiles

Steve Martin and John Candy just want to get home.

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1988

Scrooged

Bill Murray's snarky TV-exec Scrooge.

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1988

Die Hard

Yes, it's a Christmas movie. (R)

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1988

Ernest Saves Christmas

Ernest helps Santa find a successor.

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1989

National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation

25,000 twinkle lights and Cousin Eddie.

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1994

Miracle on 34th Street

The '90s remake with Richard Attenborough.

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1996

Jingle All the Way

Arnold hunts for a Turbo-Man.

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1998

I'll Be Home for Christmas

Jonathan Taylor Thomas races home in a Santa suit.

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2000

The Family Man

Nicolas Cage glimpses the life he didn't choose.

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2000

How the Grinch Stole Christmas

Jim Carrey goes green.

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2003

Elf

Smiling's my favorite!

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2003

Love Actually

Interwoven love stories in London. (R)

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2003

Bad Santa

Billy Bob Thornton's very naughty Santa. (R)

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2004

The Polar Express

All aboard for hot chocolate.

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2004

Christmas with the Kranks

Skipping Christmas? Not on this street.

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2004

Surviving Christmas

Ben Affleck rents a family for the holidays.

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2005

The Family Stone

A chaotic family holiday.

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2006

The Holiday

House swap, heart swap.

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2006

Deck the Halls

Matthew Broderick vs. Danny DeVito's lights.

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2006

The Nativity Story

The story of the first Christmas.

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2006

Last Holiday

Queen Latifah lives it up.

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2007

Fred Claus

Santa's troublemaker brother.

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2008

Four Christmases

Four families, one very long day.

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2008

Nothing Like the Holidays

A Puerto Rican family's Chicago Christmas.

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2013

The Best Man Holiday

The Best Man crew reunites at Christmas.

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2013

A Madea Christmas

Madea brings her chaos to the holidays.

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2016

Almost Christmas

Danny Glover's family survives five days together.

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2017

A Bad Moms Christmas

The bad moms' moms come for Christmas. (R)

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2017

The Man Who Invented Christmas

How Dickens wrote A Christmas Carol.

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2020

Happiest Season

Kristen Stewart meets the family.

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2022

Spirited

Will Ferrell and Ryan Reynolds sing Dickens.

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2022

Violent Night

Santa vs. mercenaries. (R)

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2024

Red One

Dwayne Johnson guards Santa.

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2024

The Best Christmas Pageant Ever

The Herdmans take over the pageant.

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Hand-drawn, stop-motion & small-screen gems

Animated & TV Specials

1964

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer

The Island of Misfit Toys awaits.

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1965

A Charlie Brown Christmas

That little tree just needed love.

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1966

How the Grinch Stole Christmas!

His heart grew three sizes.

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1969

Frosty the Snowman

Happy birthday! A magic hat brings Frosty to life.

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1970

Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town

Fred Astaire narrates Santa's origin.

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1974

The Year Without a Santa Claus

Heat Miser and Snow Miser steal the show.

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1976

Rudolph's Shiny New Year

Rudolph hunts for Baby New Year.

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1979

Jack Frost

Rankin/Bass's wintry fairy tale.

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1979

Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July

A summer team-up of two icons.

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1982

The Snowman

A wordless, magical flight with a snowman.

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2002

It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie

The Muppets riff on It's a Wonderful Life.

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2005

The Legend of Frosty the Snowman

Frosty returns to a strict little town.

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2011

Arthur Christmas

Santa's son has one gift left to deliver.

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2012

Rise of the Guardians

Santa, the Easter Bunny and Jack Frost team up.

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2017

The Star

The Nativity told by the animals.

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2018

The Grinch

Illumination's cuddly Grinch.

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2024

That Christmas

Richard Curtis's snowy animated tale.

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Modern streaming-era standouts

Netflix-Era Favorites

2017

A Christmas Prince

A reporter falls for a prince.

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2018

The Christmas Chronicles

Kurt Russell's coolest Santa ever.

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2018

The Princess Switch

Vanessa Hudgens times two.

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2020

Holidate

Two singles become holiday plus-ones.

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2020

Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey

A dazzling toymaker musical.

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2020

The Christmas Chronicles 2

Goldie Hawn's Mrs. Claus joins in.

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2021

A Boy Called Christmas

A boy, a reindeer and a talking mouse.

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2021

Single All the Way

A fake-boyfriend plan with Jennifer Coolidge.

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2022

Falling for Christmas

Lindsay Lohan, a ski lodge and amnesia.

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2023

Journey to Bethlehem

A pop-musical Nativity.

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2019

Same Time, Next Christmas

Childhood sweethearts reunite each Christmas.

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2022

A Merry Christmas Wish

A cozy small-town holiday romance.

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No subscription needed

Watch Free

1946

It's a Wonderful Life

Free with ads on The Roku Channel; free on Hoopla.

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1989

National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation

Free with ads on Plex.

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1988

Scrooged

Free with ads on YouTube; free on Hoopla.

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1954

White Christmas

Free with a library card on Hoopla.

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2004

Christmas with the Kranks

Free with a library card on Kanopy and Hoopla.

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2026

Second Chance Holiday

New Roku original, free with ads, from Nov 5.

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