Christmas is the most wonderful time of the year. A time for family, friends, fun and of course, all the festive films! For generations, people have enjoyed snuggling down on the sofa or visiting the cinema with loved ones, to enjoy those incredible Christmas movies. We all have a favourite from our childhoods, we probably have a favourite now we’ve grown up too. As technology has advanced and film production companies and actors have seen the value of creating Christmas films, we’re inundated with options, with new ones being released every year. We’ve pulled together the ultimate Christmas movie advent calendar so you can watch one film a day throughout December, in the run-up to and including Christmas Day itself.
The Classics
Since the beginning of cinema, there have been those absolute classics that can be watched over and over again without boredom. A few that immediately spring to mind include It’s A Wonderful Life and Scrooged. Incredible performances, wonderful stories, pure Christmas delight. But way before then, in the late 1800s, was the first appearance of Father Christmas on the big screens. The very first known Christmas film was a two-minute film called Santa Claus, right at the beginning of the arrival of cinema. You can actually watch it online. A big shoutout to Disney’s Santa’s Workshop from 1932. Whilst it has had questions asked about it in recent times, it shows what was possible with animation almost 100 years ago!
Something New
Even with Netflix releasing Christmas films on its platform and there being a dedicated Christmas movie channel on Freeview from the end of October, it is hard to make a new Christmas flick that rivals those that we all know and love. It is possible though, as The Christmas Chronicles proved! With advancements in animation, we’ve also been treated to the likes of Arthur Christmas and Klaus. There are even Christmas films in every genre of movies. From comedy to horror, films have been given a sprinkling of Christmas magic to attract an audience. What is your favourite ‘modern’ Christmas film?
The Ultimate Christmas Movie Advent Calendar
This is it, we’ve got to the part of the post where you’ll discover the ultimate Christmas movie advent calendar. This is our suggestion for the movies to watch and the order to enjoy. Some might not be able to watch a movie a day during the hustle and bustle of the festive season. However, we’ve added sequels and trilogies to the same day so if you fancy enjoying a movie marathon, you can! You don’t have to watch in this order, you could even make your own Christmas movie advent calendar based on your own family favourites.
- 1st | The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)
- 2nd | The Santa Clause Trilogy (1994), (2002) & (2006)
- 3rd | Bad Santa (2003)
- 4th | Meet Me in St. Louis (1944)
- 5th | Jingle All The Way (1996)
- 6th | A Christmas Carol (2009)
- 7th | Christmas with the Kranks (2004)
- 8th | Scrooged (1988)
- 9th | Fred Claus (2007)
- 10th | Klaus (2019)
- 11th | Miracle On 34th Street (1994)
- 12th | Love Actually (2003)
- 13th | How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000)
- 14th | The Polar Express (2004)
- 15th | The Christmas Chronicles (2018) & The Christmas Chronicles 2 (2020)
- 16th | Arthur Christmas (2011)
- 17th | The Holiday (2006)
- 18th | The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992)
- 19th | Deck The Halls (2006)
- 20th | Die Hard (1988)
- 21st | It’s A Wonderful Life (1946)
- 22nd | Home Alone (1990) & Home Alone 2: Lost In New York (1992)
- 23rd | The Snowman (1982), Father Christmas (1991) and The Snowman & The Snowdog (2012)
- 24th | Santa Claus: The Movie (1985)
- 25th | Elf (2003)
We’ve even turned this into a free download so you can print it out and work your way through it this December.
Honourable Mentions
Feel free to use any of these extra ones if you want to switch some out.
- Four Christmases (2008)
- The Family Stone (2005)
- Last Christmas (2019)
- Almost Christmas (2016)
- The Night Before (2015)
- Get Santa (2014)
- All Is Bright (2013)
- Noelle (2019)
- A Boy Called Christmas (2021)
- Nativity! (2009) & all follow-up films
Final Thoughts
There are so many Christmas movies, it is so difficult to whittle them down and watch them all during the festive season. Let me know what your favourite Christmas film is over on Twitter and what movies you would switch in and out of your perfect Christmas movie advent calendar.
