Christmas Movies + Family Christmas Pajamas
Do you have a family movie night? Our family watches a movie together pretty much every Friday night and it’s a part our weekly routine we really look forward to.
And in December, we use each Friday to watch some of our favorite Christmas movies.
We’ll start our first one this year on November 29th to kick off the holiday season and that’s also when our girls will get their Christmas pajamas – we’ve done matching Christmas pajamas for years, but never done family Christmas pajamas until last year (the ones in this photo are from Hanna Anderson and they’re on sale right now) – and we’ll watch our first Christmas movie of the year.
We’ll have pizza for dinner beforehand and probably a treat and then it’ll be time for the Christmas movies bonanza to begin for the month.
I can’t wait to get started.
I don’t have a million favorite Christmas movies, but I do have a handful that I absolutely LOVE (all Christmas movies from my childhood) and I love pulling them out every December to watch with my own family now.
My 5 favorite Christmas movies
Miracle on 34th Street
If I had to choose a single favorite Christmas movie, it would 100% be this one. We saw this on Christmas Eve in the theater in 1994 when it came out and I have loved it ever since. Everything about this movie charms me – it’s definitely one of the BEST Christmas movies.
The Santa Clause
I just love this movie. For some reason, it hits my funny bone so much and our family has quoted MANY lines from this Christmas movie over the last two and half decades since we first saw it. It never gets old for me.
Elf
I have to admit that the first time I saw Elf, it wasn’t my all-time favorite like it seemed to be everyone else’s. But over the years, I’ve warmed to it and it really is now one of my favorite Christmas movies.
The Muppet Christmas Carol
My family definitely loves the Muppets (I have watched The Great Muppet Caper probably 75 times) and this version of the classic Christmas book doesn’t disappoint.
How the Grinch Stole Christmas
I haven’t seen the new Grinch movie, although it looks really fun (and I always love Benedict Cumberbatch) but I’m still partial to the old animated one. Especially because Tally, when she has pigtails in, definitely reminds me of Cindy Lou Who.
What are your favorite Christmas movies? I’d love to hear!
If you liked this post about Christmas movies and family Christmas pajamas, you might also find these posts useful:
- 17 DIY and store-bought advent calendars
- New and classic Christmas picture books
- My favorite family Christmas tradition
Photos by Heather Mildenstein
For some reason I always think of Little Women as a Christmas movie, and I love that one. One random one that I love from my childhood and actually bought to show my kids is A Flintstone Christmas Carol–it stays surprisingly true to the original story.
YES! I can totally see that. I feel the same way about While You Were Sleeping.
Miracle on 34th Street, It’s A Wonderful Life, and Holiday Inn. Holiday Inn is wildly racist (actors use blackface), but at its heart, it’s a good story.
You’ve totally inspired me to pick my own Christmas favorites and re-watch “The Santa Clause”, a movie about which I’d totally forgotten. The search is on!
I love The Santa Clause so much! So many great lines.
Our childhood experiences with Christmas movies are so interesting. I grew up on the 1947 version of Miracle on 34th St and when I saw the 1994 version I really didn’t like it because it was so dark compared to the original. To this day I still can’t watch it! I think because it was missing all my favorite unique voices, lines and moments that I had grown to love, I can quote so many of them by heart. It’s funny, just hearing the drunk Santa’s voice at the very beginning immediately makes me SO nostalgic.
That’s so funny! I would never have thought of the 94 version as dark, but I can see what you’re saying!
Ernest saves Christmas is always #1 for me. It’s not really Christmas until we’ve watched it. I think that was the most frequently quoted movie back home. 😉
I’ve never heard of this!
I watch White Christmas every year while decorating the house and now my 5 year old likes to watch it with me while “helping”. We always do The Polar Express right before Christmas and my husband and I watch It’s a Wonderful Life on Christmas evening after our boys are in bed. On my own, I love The Family Stone, The Holiday, and Love Actually, usually watch those while wrapping presents!
I LOVE White Christmas with every fiber of my being. I loved it as a child, but I love it even more as an adult since there were several lines that didn’t make any sense to me as a kid but are now funny. I also love A Muppet’s Christmas Carol. It is so fun! I have a friend who has done a Christmas Movie Marathon every single year for at least 8 or 9 years which is a blast. She plans out movies to show for an entire day and sends out the schedule (Yes, she’s Type A) so that you can just drop in and out for a movie or two (or three!).
These are all great movies! Have you watched Prep and Landing? It’s one of our Christmas favorites.
My kids love Home Alone so much
It’s a Wonderful Life. Love Actually. Home Alone.
Little Women and It’s a wonderful Life! I also really love the family stone, so much so that u bought my own copy a few years ago.
I LOVE Little Women – it’s been too long since I watched it!
My list of favorite movies would certainly include all the movies on your list.
The Muppet Christmas Carol being toward the top. Michael Caine is the best Scrooge.
Most any version of A Christmas Carol is a favorite. I think I have eight at last count.
Other favorites include, While You were Sleeping. I do consider that a Christmas movie.
Love Actually, Mixed Nuts ( it’s worth watching for Madeline Kahn alone), The Holiday,
The Polar Express. That’s just to name a few.
Love the Christmas Jammie’s. Such sweet pictures.
So many good ones!
I love Arther Christmas—I laughed so hard the first time I saw it and my kids love it now.
How have I never seen this one?
It was made in Britain and didn’t have a huge release in the US. It’s several years old and very entertaining in my opinion!
I do love White Christmas with Bing Crosby!
My go-to’s every year are: Elf, Home Alone, A Christmas Carol, National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, The Preacher’s Wife, The Family Stone (not with kids), and It’s a Wonderful Life.
We add others in each year, but those are my must see’s.
We watched the new Grinch movie (2018, Cumberbach not the creepy looking Jim Carey one…) and it was delightful! Not too intense for my 2 year old and hilarity for my 6 year old and it’s different enough that I didn’t feel disloyal to the original Grinch movie which I also love.
Have you ever seen A Muppet Family Christmas?? It’s hard to find but it’s wonderful and weird. My other favorite is A Muppet Christmas Carol but the Ghost of Christmas future is too intense for my crew.
Prep and landing is always a favorite- in fact it’s our Christmas Eve must-watch movie. Cute little Disney film maybe 30 minutes? We quote it all the time. A new to us favorite is Christmas in Connecticut. So funny.