This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Waseda chapter.
HAPPY HOLIDAYS!! Are you in the Christmas spirit yet? If you’re not, maybe watching one of these ten movies will help propel you in the right direction. (I’ve linked the IMDb page of each movie… maybe that’ll help…)
- Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (1964). Let’s start the list with a cute stop-motion animation of the famous red-nosed reindeer. It’s a classic Christmas tale with a little bit of an unexpected element in which Rudolph meets an abominable snowman.
- A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965). Do I need to say anything else? This is also a classic Christmas animation, with a story and soundtrack that still brings people joy today. It’s just the right amount of jazz and nostalgia that will definitely warm you up inside.
- Mickey’s Christmas Carol (1983). If you’ve never read A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, you can watch this movie and get the gist of it. If you’ve already read it, you can watch this movie for a cuter version of it, filled with familiar faces from Disney.
- Edward Scissorhands (1990). Snip snip. This movie is slightly sad, and it’s about the life of an artificial man with scissors for hands (duh). There are parts of the movie that are Christmas-esque, so I’m putting it on the list.
- Groundhog Day (1993). This was the first time that I had ever watched a movie with the concept of someone living in a time loop. While it is set to be on Groundhog Day, there’s a lot of snow in the movie, and as someone who fantasizes about a white Christmas, this falls under the category of “Holiday Movies.”
- The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993). Yes, I’m aware that there are elements of Halloween in Tim Burton’s stop motion animated musical, but the title has the word “Christmas” in it, and that is how I justify watching this movie during the holidays. So you can do the same.
- While You Were Sleeping (1995). A romantic comedy where the plot starts on Christmas Day. The focus of this movie isn’t really on Christmas, but rather the relationships that the main character has with the people around her. It just happens that the timeline is set during Christmas.
- The Polar Express (2004). An animated adventure film that follows a boy who boards a mysterious train in the middle of the night, and shows the power of believing in things, namely the spirit of Christmas.
- Last Holiday (2006). Queen Latifah plays a lady who realizes she has a terminal illness during the holiday season, and decides to spend all of her money on a luxury trip to treat herself. It’s a romantic comedy that actually comes with a bit of a twist, but I’ll leave it to you to find out what it is.
- The Grinch (2018). (How the Grinch Stole Christmas from 2000 works too) It’s an animated video again! I’m sensing a theme here. I’m surprised that this is the newest movie in my entire list, but this version is very cute.
If you’re not a fan of watching “older” movies, this could be a good pick! If you’re looking at this list and wondering why almost all of them are animated children’s movies, don’t worry, I’m asking myself the same thing. But it’s Christmas, so curl up with a cute movie that will fill you with a sense of nostalgia, and let your inner child indulge!