December is quickly approaching, and one of the best ways to celebrate the holiday season is to curl up and watch your favorite Christmas movies. This year, my goal is to watch one holiday movie a day until Christmas.
I compiled a list of 25 Christmas movies to watch in order. If you don’t like a movie or you think they should go in a different order, feel free to change it around to your liking.
- Dec. 1: “Holidate”
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Though this movie spans over many holidays throughout the year, it is a good starter for our December watchlist.
“Holidate” is about two people who are exclusively each other’s dates for the holidays, so they are not constantly bombarded by family members who ask why they are single.
“Holidate” is funny, romantic and the perfect beginning to the Christmas watchlist.
- Dec. 2: “Merry Christmas, Drake & Josh”
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Although this movie may seem ridiculous, it is always one of my go-to movies during December.
This movie follows Nickelodeon’s characters Drake and Josh when they get sentenced to give a foster family the “best Christmas ever.” They must work with this rambunctious family if they do not want to spend Christmas in jail.
“Merry Christmas, Drake & Josh” is nostalgic, funny and overall a great movie to watch during the Christmas season.
- Dec. 3: “Let It Snow”
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Based on the book by John Green, Maureen Johnson and Lauren Myracle, “Let It Snow” follows three different stories that take place during winter. Each story revolves around teens in a town on Christmas Eve, and shows how their paths eventually converge.
“Let It Snow” is a perfect holiday movie and has a lot of great qualities.
- Dec. 4: “Good Luck Charlie: It’s Christmas!”
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Just like “Merry Christmas, Drake & Josh,” this movie delivers much-needed nostalgia to this Christmas watchlist.
This movie revolves around the chaotic Duncan family and their trip to Palm Springs for Christmas. When pandemonium arises, Teddy and Amy must try to make it back to Palm Springs in time for Christmas.
“Good Luck Charlie: It’s Christmas!” is a great mix of childhood fondness and truly funny moments.
- Dec. 5: “Love Actually”
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“Love Actually” is a movie about nine intertwined stories about love that take place around Christmastime. This movie is incredibly heartfelt, emotional and beloved by many.
“Love Actually” is definitely a Christmas list essential.
- Dec. 6: “Die Hard”
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I am fully aware that adding “Die Hard” to a Christmas watchlist is extremely controversial, considering the age-old debate about whether it’s a Christmas movie. The best argument I have for this movie being on Dec. 6 is that it takes place at a Christmas party on Christmas Eve — therefore, I consider it a Christmas movie.
“Die Hard” is about a New York City police officer who must save a Christmas Eve party from terrorists that have taken over the building.
Whether you agree with “Die Hard” being a Christmas movie or not, I believe it is an essential part of a Christmas watchlist because of the great debate surrounding it.
- Dec. 7: “The Princess Switch”
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It wouldn’t be Christmas without at least one Hallmark-esque movie that is absolutely ridiculous yet loved by most.
“The Princess Switch” is a movie about two döplegangers, one a baker and one a princess, who switch lives for one night so each can experience the other’s life. When the women fall in love with each other’s lives (and men), things get complicated.
“The Princess Switch” delivers a perfect mix of Hallmark vibes and romance.
- Dec. 8: “Rise of the Guardians”
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Although “Rise of the Guardians” is not explicitly a Christmas movie, it has a great winter vibe.
This film is about Jack Frost and his fight against a villain named Pitch Black, who tries to make kids stop believing in figures such as the Tooth Fairy, Santa and the Easter Bunny.
“Rise of the Guardians” is a cute tale about all of the mythical characters we know and love that centers around the holidays.
- Dec. 9: “Jingle All The Way”
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This film is about a dad who makes a promise to his son on Christmas Eve that he will get the most popular toy of the year: Turbo-Man. The dad soon realizes that he overpromised when he faces crazy situations in order to try and obtain Turbo-Man.
“Jingle All The Way” is a hilarious Christmas movie with scenes that I look forward to seeing every year.
- Dec. 10: “A Charlie Brown Christmas”
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Charlie Brown is a character that I watch every single holiday season, whether it’s Halloween, Thanksgiving or Christmas. This short movie is about Charlie Brown and his search for the true meaning of Christmas in a world of materialism.
“A Charlie Brown Christmas” is extremely heartwarming and reminds us of the true meaning of Christmas.
- Dec. 11: “Christmas with the Kranks”
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This movie is about a husband and wife who decide not to celebrate Christmas and instead plan to go on a cruise to the Caribbean. When the neighbors find out about their plan, they start scheming to make the husband and wife decorate and celebrate Christmas.
“Christmas with the Kranks” is the perfect movie for the middle of December because it brings silly Christmas vibes and hilarious situations.
- Dec. 12: “Scrooged”
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Another essential for a Christmas watchlist is some version of “A Christmas Carol.” I chose this film because I find the animated “Christmas Carol” to be absolutely haunting and I don’t want to have nightmares for Christmas.
“Scrooged” is a modern take on the classic “A Christmas Carol” by Charles Dickens that stars Bill Murray. Like the classic tale, Murray hates Christmas. However, things change for him when he’s haunted by a ghost of Christmas past, present and future after he fires an employee on Christmas Eve.
“A Christmas Carol” retelling is essential to the Christmas watchlist, but “Scrooged” provides much less nightmare fuel than the 2009 animated version.
- Dec. 13: “Klaus”
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“Klaus” is a newer Christmas movie that was produced by Netflix in 2019. This movie is about a postman who is sent to the North Pole, where he meets a toymaker named Klaus.
The movie was nominated for an Academy Award, which shows how good it really is. “Klaus” is emotional, beautifully animated and has a great story.
- Dec. 14: “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation”
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“National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation” is another hilarious Christmas movie that is necessary for any watchlist.
This movie is about the Griswold family, who is planning to have a wonderful, quiet, old-fashioned Christmas. However, their plans are thwarted when chaotic extended family members show up to surprise the family.
Overall, “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation” is a fun, unique Christmas movie about chaotic relatives, which I’m sure many of us can resonate with.
- Dec. 15: “The Year Without A Santa Claus”
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“The Year Without a Santa Claus” follows Santa Claus quitting his job and taking a vacation because he thinks children do not believe in the magic of Christmas anymore. In the meantime, Mrs. Claus sets out to find out where all of the Christmas cheer has gone.
This is one of the cutest movies on the list and it will certainly put anyone in the Christmas spirit.
- Dec. 16: “Frosty The Snowman”
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I think all of us know about Frosty the Snowman, so he needs no introduction. Frosty is a snowman who was turned to life to play with the children in town.
This classic movie is essential for the Christmas watchlist, purely because it is undeniably a Christmas classic.
- Dec. 17: “The Santa Clause”
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“The Santa Claus” is my personal favorite Christmas movie, with incredible sequels (that I have for the next few days of the watchlist).
This movie is about a dad who accidentally scares Santa off the roof of a house and therefore becomes the next Santa Claus. As much as Scott tries to resist, he is stuck as Santa unless he can find a way out of it.
I love this movie and think it is perfect to watch close to Christmas.
- Dec. 18: “The Santa Clause 2”
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This movie is a continuation of “The Santa Claus” and follows Scott after he has embraced his role as Santa. When the elves inform Scott he must find a wife by the end of the year or risk losing his title of Santa, everyone begins to panic.
“The Santa Clause 2” is just as cheerful and fun as the first film.
- Dec. 19: “The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause”
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Rounding out “The Santa Clause” trilogy is this movie, which is about Jack Frost trying to steal the North Pole from Santa Claus.
Although this is my least favorite film of the trilogy, I think it is essential for the list to have all three.
- Dec. 20: “Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer”
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Just like “Frosty the Snowman,” Rudolph is an essential part to any Christmas movie list. This movie was placed on Dec. 20 because it is the perfect movie to begin the countdown to Christmas.
“Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” centers around the Rudolph and his journey to becoming Santa’s lead reindeer. It’s cute, meaningful and a classic for all ages.
- Dec. 21: “The Polar Express”
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Our next movie close to Christmas is “The Polar Express,” which gives peak Christmas vibes. This movie is about a bunch of kids on a train to the North Pole who are going to meet Santa.
Although the animation style is a bit creepy, “The Polar Express” is a beautiful story and perfect for Christmas.
- Dec. 22: “How The Grinch Stole Christmas”
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“How The Grinch Stole Christmas” obviously has to be close to Christmastime, mostly because it is a beloved favorite that is hilarious, to the point it seems to be quoted all of December.
This adaptation of the Dr. Seuss novel is about the Grinch who lives near a town that loves Christmas. Because the Grinch hates Christmas so much, he decides to steal Christmas from everyone.
The movie is essential for our last few days of Christmas movies.
- Dec. 23: “Home Alone”
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“Home Alone” is about a young boy named Kevin who is left alone during Christmas when his entire family leaves for Paris. When robbers come to Kevin’s house, he sets up elaborate booby traps to scare them off.
I can not express how amazing the first two “Home Alone” movies are. They are witty, compelling and clever.
- Dec. 24: “Home Alone 2: Lost in New York”
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On Christmas Eve, there is only one movie to watch — “Home Alone 2: Lost in New York.”
In this film, Kevin is accidentally put on a plane to New York, where he finds out that the same robbers from the first movie are planning to hit a toy store. Kevin plans more elaborate booby traps to save the toy store from being robbed on Christmas.
This is one of the best Christmas movies of all time and it has the same charm as the first “Home Alone” film.
- Dec. 25: “A Christmas Story”
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Of course, every good Christmas watchlist has to end with watching “A Christmas Story” on Christmas. This movie plays all day in my household during the holiday.
“A Christmas Story” follows a young boy named Ralphie and his family around the 1940s. All Ralphie wants for Christmas is a BB Gun, but he is repeatedly told that he will “shoot his eye out.”
This is a beloved classic that firmly belongs on the 25th.
I hope you enjoyed this list of Christmas movies.There are a few big favorites (such as “Elf” and “Miracle on 34th Street”) that I left out intentionally, but feel free to tailor this list to your tastes.
Happy holidays and happy watching!