As Andy Williams once sang, “it’s the most wonderful time of the year.” Yes, ladies and gentlemen, the Christmas season is upon us and I’m feeling as festive as can be expected while finals week is quickly approaching (help). While I began listening to Christmas music back in early November (I have zero shame), I don’t kick into full holiday mode until the arrival of one event. That event if Freeform’s 25 Days of Christmas.
For those of you who are unaware, 25 Days of Christmas begins on December 1st and the Freeform channel (formerly known as ABC Family) plays Christmas movies all day and night for the 25 days leading up to Christmas. Add this to the list of ways I find to procrastinate from doing my work. They play all kinds of Christmas and winter movies with a mix of old favorites and new, original movies like Angry Angel premiering later this month.
Now, obviously there’s a ton of movies and Freeform doesn’t play all of them, but I’ve picked out my top ten (in no particular order) to share with you.
1. OG Willy Wonka (12/1)
Now, this may be an unpopular opinion, but I like the original Willy Wonka more than the one released in 2005. That’s not to say I don’t like the new one. I mean, Johnny Depp did an A+ job, but something about the original one is comforting to me. I remember growing up, that was the movie I used to watch every year with my parents, and every year I got so excited when Charlie found the ticket and his grandfather hopped out of bed, despite knowing it was coming. Christmastime is all about family and watching the original is one of the holidays traditions in my family.
I will also point out that the Johnny Depp version was very much what you’d expect from a Johnny Depp movie- vibrant, loud, a fantastic cast, and with things constantly happening. While this makes for a very entertaining movie, I love the demeanor Gene Wilder brought to his Willy Wonka- there was excitement, but also a calmness about it that just always had me hooked throughout the whole movie.
2. How the Grinch Stole Christmas (12/2)
Okay, this is a classic but is also very relevant because the Grinch is every college student right now. Between schedule wallowing in self-pity, hating everything during this season that is home to our finals, and asking life’s biggest questions like in the gif above, I think we can all relate to this movie in a way we never anticipated as children.
Once again this is a nostalgic movie, but as you get older it becomes a little less wonder-inducing and more hilarious and relatable because being an adult is hard.
3. Santa Paws 2: The Santa Pups (12/3)
Puppies. Puppies in Santa hats. Talking puppies in Santa hats. Talking puppies in Santa hats helping restore Christmas spirit. Need I say more? They’re cute and, while the film is unfortunately unrealistic, it has a great message about spreading Christmas cheer and spirit. Also, Mom, if you’re reading this article, this is totally my way of telling you how great puppies are and that we should get one for Christmas to help with the holiday spirit.
4. The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause (12/3)
This is your typical “disaster strikes and Christmas must be saved by some crazy act of magic” movie, but the plot twist is that Santa himself causes the disaster with a little nudge from Jack Frost. Santa Claus invokes what is known as the “Escape Clause” in which he and Jack Frost are transported back in time to the moment when Santa first became Santa, but before he is able to grab the Santa coat, Jack Frost grabs it and becomes Santa himself. Yes, I just used the word Santa six times in one sentence and yes, it was confusing.
Bottom line, this is a great and funny movie starring Tim Allen as Santa and the adventure he goes on to reclaim his Santa Claus title is entertaining and heartwarming and, like every other holiday movie, has a great ending and Christmas is saved.
5. Four Christmases (12/5)
Sure, this is a Christmas movie with a happy ending, but it’s mostly just hilarious. We all have crazy families, but imagine having to celebrate Christmas four separate times in one day because of those crazy families. Both Brad and Kate (played by Vince Vaughn and Reese Witherspoon) come from divorced families, which means Christmas is a four-in-one-day affair.
Naturally, there has to be a conflict shoved in with all the humor surrounding sibling relationships, inability to watch children, and fears of a bouncy castle, and that conflict revolves around the couple keeping secrets from each other out of embarrassment. This also leads to a conflict about if they want children or not and leads to a short-lived split. As I said, it has a happy and hilarious ending involving baby spit-up and the crazy families. It’s definitely a movie to watch when you want to laugh until you cry and perfect for a girls day in my opinion.
6. Holiday in Handcuffs (12/21)
Picture it: Mario Lopez, Melissa Joan Hart, a warm cabin in the winter. It all sounds amazing… so long as you ignore the handcuffs and the fact that Hart has actually kidnapped Lopez in an effort to try and convince her family she has a boyfriend over the holidays. This is also more of a comedic rather than feel-good Christmas movie, but I still love it. Sometimes you don’t want a whole movie about sappy holiday stuff and you just want to watch Hart chase Lopez around hear them throw insults and threats at each other which eventually leads to a happy ending. The perfect holiday, right?
7. Eloise at Christmastime (12/6)
This is another nostalgic one for me, because when I was a little girl, I dreamed of having a Christmas like Eloise does. Granted, I’m not a huge fan of New York City especially around the holidays, but her life is so lavish considering she’s like 7 years old and has Julie Andrews as her nanny.
Her love for Christmas, matter-of-fact statements, and excitement are all hilarious, contagious, and, even as a 19-year-old, make me still love this movie. As I’ve gotten older I’ve also realized that Bill is a cutie and I can see why Eloise liked him so much (sorry ladies, the actor is gay in real life, but hey, the movie let’s you pretend that isn’t true fora whilee).
8. Toy Story (12/7-12/8)
I’m honestly not too sure why they’re playing all three Toy Story movies since they really have nothing to do with Christmas, but I’m not gonna complain. Toy Story has been one of my favorite franchises since I was a little kid and it still is to this day. While I relate to different characters these days (Rex is me on a daily basis because #anxiety), the movie is still fun, adventure-filled, and heartwarming.
The running theme here is clearly nostalgia, but I think most people would agree that Toy Story involves at least a few good memories from your childhood and I’m no exception to that. 100% this movie will be on in my dorm while I’m attempting to finish my final paper this Thursday and 100% this movie will be the reason I procrastinate. Oh well.
9. New Willy Wonka (12/12)
As I said above, I really do love both versions of Willy Wonka. Johnny Depp never fails to impress and this movie was, in my opinion, one of his best. The colors were vibrant, the songs and the Oompa Loompas were fantastic, Verruca and Violet were the ultimate b**chy duo that my best friend and I aspire to be, and his lines were absolutely hilarious. Whether it’s Christmastime or not, if this movie is on I will watch it and I can’t wait to see Verruca get pushed down a hole by a squirrel once again this year.
10. Frozen (12/17)
It’s more winter themed than Christmas, but since it’s my second favorite Disney movie behind Moana, you’ll never see me complain when Frozen comes on. Anna’s glorious morning scene in which her hair is a mess, she’s drooling, and wants five more minutes is all of us and, while she is a bit cliché with her love story, her one-liners are hilarious. Olaf also has a special place in my heart being that I know every single one of his lines. His cluelessness is hilarious and his care for Anna is endearing and I honestly can’t find a bad moment within this movie (haters gonna hate, sorry not sorry).
Whether it’s fun memories, family tradition, or just for a good laugh, these movies never fail to make me feel a little more festive and a bit more in the Christmas spirit. I’ve included the first dates they’re airing, but all of them are being replayed throughout the 25 days so if you missed the dates I list have no fear!
I hope you all have a wonderful week and good luck with finals (only two more weeks and we’re done guys, you can do it!) and, if you need a way to procrastinate, these movies play all day, every day through Christmas so you’re bound to find one you love or a new one you’ve never seen before that you want to give a shot.
I hope you’re all in the holiday spirit and that this article gave you some inspo for how to spend break lovelies. So, HCXO and only 3 more Sundays until Christmas!
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*Cover photo courtesy of Disney News*