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10 Socially Acceptable Non-Christmas, Christmas Movies to Watch When You’re Ready for Christmas But Your Friends Aren’t

The opinions expressed in this article are the writer’s own and do not reflect the views of Her Campus.
This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Oswego chapter.

Halloween has officially ended and now it is that time of year where you have to decide if you are ready for Christmas, or if you are ready for Thanksgiving. I am most definitely a person who likes to go straight to Christmas, so if you are like me, you are ready to listen to Jingle Bells, decorate your house with lights and ornaments, and most importantly, watch Christmas movies. But, there are always those people who will absolutely verbally abuse you for “skipping Thanksgiving” even if that isn’t the intention. So hopefully this list can help you to secretly prepare for Christmas without being lectured about why Thanksgiving is a holiday too. 

10- The Sound of Music

Although this movie may not have any Christmas scenes or themes in it, it is such a joyous and heartwarming movie that it gives a really nice warm feeling to those watching it. It is a great movie to watch to get that warm, familiar Christmas-y feeling without actually watching a Christmas movie. Also, the song “My Favorite Things” actually appears a lot in Christmas time mainly due to the snowflakes verse of the song and the warm feeling that it induces.

9- The Shining

When thinking of The Shining [film], you may not initially think that it is a very Christmas-y movie. But the whole movie is in fact centered around it being winter and family. I don’t know about you but that sounds like a good Christmas movie set up to me. This is a good one for those ready for Christmas but also in the mood for a horror movie. 

8- Little Women

Although not completely considered a “Christmas Movie”, Little Women [film] is set in winter and has a couple of Christmas Day scenes. But even without these Christmas aspects the movie has so much love and family in it as well as generosity and kindness, that it has everything that makes Christmas movies so joyful to watch. But you will get away with watching it because as previously stated it’s not typically associated with Christmas movies.

7- Frozen

Frozen [film] may not be a Christmas movie, but it certainly has all of the elements. It has great songs, it is set in the snow and cold for most of it, and it is an iconic, heartwarming Disney movie that everyone tries to deny crying the first time they watched it.

6- Mean Girls

Mean girls [film] is definitely by no means a Christmas movie. But the rendition of “Jingle Bell Rock” is an iconic scene that you can’t help but want to watch at least once during Christmas season, so you might as well get your fix before the actual season starts while also avoiding the judgement of those hardcore Thanksgiving lovers.

5- Lady and the Tramp

No denying that the Lady and the Tramp [film] is just a genuinely adorable family movie, which already helps it fit into the Christmas-y vibes box, but also, Lady is a Christmas Present herself. So that, in my opinion, just automatically makes this movie qualifiable as a movie that can help feed your Christmas withdrawals.

4- Wonder

Wonder [film] is easily one of the biggest tear-jerking movies, it is so incredibly heartwarming and just has such a wonderful message that even if it didn’t have the Christmas scene that it could easily still be a non-Christmas Christmas-y movie. 

3- Iron Man 3

Now this may be a controversial pick, maybe not because of the movie itself, but for the higher ranking it holds on this list. Iron Man 3 [film] is the first Marvel production to have a scene involving Christmas and the only Marvel movie (the Hawkeye series also contains Christmas). I also personally view this movie as a sort of redemption arc for Tony Stark and a show to the fact that he is an actual person who has empathy and emotions, even if he doesn’t show them.

2- The Nightmare Before Christmas

This movie is basically perfect to watch during the time in between Halloween and Christmas because it is literally about both holidays. The only thing keeping this movie from being the first is the fact that somebody can find a way to complain about either Halloween being over, it not being Christmas yet, or both.

1- The Harry Potter movie series 

The Harry Potter series of movies is perfect to watch in between Halloween and Christmas for so many reasons. Primarily, every single movie has a Christmas-y scene, whether it actually is Christmas or it is just winter with some Christmas decorations in the background, there is some type of Christmas feeling in the movie. Secondly, it is a movie about magic with dark undertones, perfect for Halloween and fall in general. Therefore, these movies are honestly perfect for the entire end of the year season because they can help set the mood for any time beginning at the start of fall until the end of winter.

Katy Lynk

Oswego '24

Hi! My name is Katy I am a Senior at SUNY Oswego and I am majoring in Adolescent English Ed. I love reading, writing and going on adventures and I hope to be a High School English teacher in the future.