With only a few days left until Christmas day is upon us, chances are your kids are now out of class until next year and spending their free time in some mixture of snowball fights outside and curled up in front of the television inside (we'd love for them to be reading, but we know how kids are). While the time they spend outside frolicking in the snow equates to peaceful R&R time for you parents, you can help even if out by putting in some of these high-quality Christmas classics that are guaranteed to be as entertaining for the grown-ups as they are for the kids.
For infants through 8-year-olds...
A Charlie Brown Christmas
A Charlie Brown Christmas, released in 1965, was (and remains) a huge hit. It came out at the height of Peanuts’ popularity, but also marked the transition Peanuts made from a comic strip about kids into a comic strip for kids, as the focus shifted from the tribulations of perpetual doormat Charlie Brown to the cute cartoony hijinks of Snoopy the beagle. A Charlie Brown Christmas’ most lasting cultural contribution is its music. Not only does it debut the infectious classic Peanuts theme “Linus and Lucy”, but also one of the most melancholic and beautiful modern Christmas carols, “Christmastime is Here”, both the biggest legacies of composer Vince Guaraldi.
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
Similarly, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer has a 52-minute adaptation of the song everyone knows and loves along with a little bit of a liberal expansion on the story to include an elf who can’t make toys (Paul Soles), a kind-hearted explorer (Larry D. Mann), and of course, Sam the Snowman (Burl Ives) as the lovable narrator. When Hermey the elf discovers that he doesn’t have the knack of toy-making like the other elves, he strikes off to make his dream of dentistry come true, and along the way he befriends Rudolph, the outcast reindeer exiled due to the glowing red nose that we all know will come to save the day. It’s a great, great stop-motion feature and you can’t help but revel in the wizardry involved in making these models sing and dance.
Santa Claus is Comin' to Town
Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town! is a 51-minute expansion on the classic Christmas carol of the same name, and with Rudolph, it’s easily the most enjoyable part of the collection. Call me crazy, but the epitome of a Rankin/Bass feature’s quality is the stop-motion used to bring the intricate character models to life. In Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town!, Fred Astaire sings the titular song as a voice cast including Mickey Rooney tells the story of how Kris Kringle became Santa Claus and overthrew a ban on toys.
Phineas and Ferb: A Very Perry Christmas
This special episode sees the dastardly Doofenshmirtz attempting to create a “naughty” cloud that will put every kid in Phineas and Ferb’s town on the naughty list, preventing Santa from bringing them any gifts. While Phineas and Ferb tackle the issue with a few of their friends using the fun gadgets at the brothers’ disposal, Perry sits bound in a string of Christmas lights as Doofenshmirtz attempts to find some reason to hate Christmas, the only holiday he really doesn’t have a reason to want to destroy. As he looks for it, a horde of carolers burst in and refuse to go away until they receive their fair payment of figgy pudding, as the popular “We Wish You a Merry Christmas” demands. It’s a fun Christmas special that has the right “believe in Santa” fun and messages of selflessness.
I Want a Dog for Christmas, Charlie Brown
One anecdote from a Charles M. Schulz biography I read years ago said that whenever Schulz was considering hiring someone, he would take them out to lunch and see how they salted their soup. If they salted after they tasted it, they were hired; but, if they salted before they tasted it, there was no chance. Obviously, the alleged agoraphobe was not into extras for the sake of extras. So, it's no surprise that after 2000, when Schulz passed away, executive producer Bill Melendez decided he would add no salt to his Peanuts either. He vowed that all animated specials would only be made from Schulz's already-published cartoons. The result is choppy and episodic, but I Want a Dog For Christmas, Charlie Brown is also, because of this decision, wonderfully pure, and the most worthy special since the original A Charlie Brown Christmas.
For kids 9-14...
Santa Claus
In Santa Claus, we are privy to the process in which an elderly man who was beloved by his neighborhood for going out every Christmas Eve in snow, sleet, or blizzard with a sleigh full of toys eventually becomes Santa Claus. Hundreds of years ago, this man and his wife went out in a particularly severe blizzard, claiming that their reindeer can "handle anything," only to be blown off course and nearly freeze to death before being rescued by immortal elves. They are taken miraculously to the North Pole, where he is given immortality and bestowed with the task of delivering presents to all children across the world.
White Christmas
In White Christmas, Bob Wallace (Bing Crosby) and Phil Davis (Danny Kaye) are former brothers in arms who team up after the war and become a highly successful song-and-dance team. Bob is married to his job working non-stop, and Phil just wants Bob to settle down, marry a nice girl, and have nine kids so he can have 45 minutes all to himself. Bob and Phil’s working holiday plans are thrown for a loop, however, when they check out a sister act starring Betty (Rosemary Clooney) and Judy Haynes (Vera Ellen) who are the sisters of Eddie Haynes, an old pal from the Army. Bob and Phil redirect their holiday plans to an inn and ski lodge in Vermont where Betty and Judy are set to perform. When they arrive, Bob and Phil discover that the inn is owned by their former general Thomas F. Waverly (Dean Jagger), and his inn is going under unless it snows and business improves. Bob, Phil, Betty, and Judy decide to put on a show in the lodge’s barn to bring in business and save the inn.
A Christmas Carol (2010)
In White Christmas, Bob Wallace (Bing Crosby) and Phil Davis (Danny Kaye) are former brothers in arms who team up after the war and become a highly successful song-and-dance team. Bob is married to his job working non-stop, and Phil just wants Bob to settle down, marry a nice girl, and have nine kids so he can have 45 minutes all to himself. Bob and Phil’s working holiday plans are thrown for a loop, however, when they check out a sister act starring Betty (Rosemary Clooney) and Judy Haynes (Vera Ellen) who are the sisters of Eddie Haynes, an old pal from the Army. Bob and Phil redirect their holiday plans to an inn and ski lodge in Vermont where Betty and Judy are set to perform. When they arrive, Bob and Phil discover that the inn is owned by their former general Thomas F. Waverly (Dean Jagger), and his inn is going under unless it snows and business improves. Bob, Phil, Betty, and Judy decide to put on a show in the lodge’s barn to bring in business and save the inn.
Dr. Seuss's How the Grinch Stole Christmas
This classic story looks great and will remind you of youthful days by the Christmas tree with a cup of hot cocoa and Dr. Seuss’ book. His rhymes tell the story of the Grinch who lived on a mountain above a small town called Whoville, and who hated Christmas so much he attempted to stop the holiday from coming by removing the presents and decorations from their homes. Of course you all know this story, but in case you forgot, it ends well for the Whos and their old neighbor up on Mt. Crumpit. I personally love this story and if you don’t feel the urge to buy this particular version, treat yourself and your families by snatching up another version before the Grinch slithers into stores and steals them all away.
A Miser Brothers' Christmas
After their brief appearance in The Year Without a Santa Claus, the Miser brothers get their shot as leading men in yet another story about Santa’s absence on the big night. However, unlike last time, his absence isn’t due to a vacation but an injury seemingly inflicted by the ongoing bickering of the intemperate duo. Heat Miser (George S. Irving) and Snow Miser (Juan Chioran) stare at each other from the elementally respective castles casting fiery and icy glares, respectively, in the other’s direction. As fireballs and icicles begin to fly, Santa (Mickey Rooney) finds his new rocket-powered sleigh caught in the crossfire. Yet, the true cause of Santa’s crash has nothing to do with Miser mischief; instead it’s the doing of their brother the North Wind (Brad Adamson) who’s eager to claim the title of replacement Santa given to him by Mother Nature. But North Wind’s dreams go unfulfilled as the Misers are called to replace Santa as they’re the perceived cause of his injury, leading North Wind to put another plan into motion using the disagreeable nature of the brothers to weasel his way into the position.
For teenagers and up...
Scrooged
Bill Murray plays Frank Cross, the youngest executive in the history of television – for a reason. When we meet him, he seems almost irredeemably jaded – he doesn’t trust people, and he only trusts himself to make the most profit-wise executive decisions. When he first hears that his horrific grindhouse-style TV spot for the network’s live Christmas Eve performance of Scrooge has scared an 80-year-old woman to death, he celebrates, and orders a super-intense warning screen be added to the front of it. Well, despite the film’s cynical perspective, it’s clearly a Christmas movie, so we know there’ll be enrichment and forgiveness and singing and dancing and all that jazz. But while all that’s in the running, we’ve got a really funny modernization of Charles Dickens’ original tale.
Elf
Elf is a delightful Christmas film, the first and (so far) best live-action Yuletide romp of the 21st century. It is a sweet and funny fish out of water family comedy. Will Ferrell’s performance as Buddy is both charming and hilarious. This was actually one of his first starring roles and helped propel him to super-stardom and established him as a member of the “Frat Pack”. Cool, and funny, the rest of the cast of Elf is wonderful. James Caan is fine as Buddy’s sourpuss dad. Zooey Deschanel adds wit and beauty to the ensemble, Edward Asner plays a warm, and cuddly Santa, and Bob Newhart is entertaining as Buddy’s elf guardian.
A Christmas Snow
In A Christmas Snow, Kathleen (Catherine Mary Stewart) is a restaurant owner who everyone says hates Christmas. I don’t really think that she hates Christmas. There is never any indication that she hates Christmas other than the fact that she keeps her restaurant open on Christmas Day, the newspaper’s food critic calls her a Grinch, and her father abandoned her family on Christmas Eve. She might not be a huge fan of Christmas, but she never prevents others from enjoying the holiday the way that the Grinch does. She doesn't strap antlers onto her dog and steal Christmas presents and the roast beast. I think it is admirable that she keeps her restaurant open on Christmas for her patrons who don’t have a family to celebrate Christmas with or who just want a good meal on Christmas without having to slave away in the kitchen.
It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia: A Very Sunny Christmas
The show is set primarily in Paddy’s Pub, a working class bar in Philadelphia, which is co-owned by Mac (Rob McElhenney), Dennis (Glenn Howerton), and Charlie (Charlie Day). Dennis’s sister Dee (Kaitlin Olson) acts as the main bartender, while their dad Frank (Danny Devito) just sort of wanders in whenever things are too tame. For the most part, every single character on the show is dumb, anti-social, and lacking in anything resembling a moral compass (imagine if every character on Futurama was Bender), and are distinguished from each other only by varying degrees of crazy (the end of which is Charlie) and evil (the end of which is Frank). This Christmas, however, the ‘gang’ (as they are referred to) is determined to bring a little Christmas magic into their lives. For Dennis and Dee, this means bringing comeuppance to Frank, who has made a habit every Christmas of purchasing the gifts that they want and then keeping them for himself. Their plan involves an elaborate recreation of the plot of A Christmas Carol with the help of Frank’s old business partner Eugene (David Huddleston, the big Lebowski himself). For Charlie and Mac, this means correcting the abuses of their own childhoods, who find out years after the fact that supposed holiday traditions were, in fact, fronts for burglary and prostitution. Comedy ensues.
Planes, Trains and Automobiles
Steve Martin plays Neal Page, an uptight marketing executive on a business trip in New York trying to make it home to his family in Chicago in time for Thanksgiving dinner. Along the way, he crosses paths with Del Griffith, a talkative, well-meaning though somewhat obnoxious shower curtain ring salesman, played wonderfully by John Candy. They first encounter one another in New York when Neal struggles to find a cab. Del eventually takes his cab and later on the two men happen to be on the same flight to Chicago which gets rerouted to Wichita. The two travelers then embark on a journey filled with, well, planes, trains, and automobiles.
