Top 10 Christmas Movies of All Time

       As much as I love our DVD player and the ability to watch movies that I want to watch whenever I feel like it, I must say that a little bit of the excitement of the Christmas movie is missing for today's families.  When I was young, we looked forward with eager anticipation to the one night of the year that "The Wizard of Oz" would be broadcast on TV.  Kids talked about it at school the day before and the day after.  It was the same with all of the Christmas movies.  Now, you can watch them all year round, so it is kind of like, "meh".  In any case, there are still some movies that must be watched during the holiday season or it just doesn't feel like Christmas! Watching them during the rest of the year is not quite as satisfying as it is to watch them with the tree twinkling in the background while eating popcorn and sipping a Hot Cocoa Bomb or Hot Orange Punch.  So, here is our family's top 10 picks for the Christmas season!

      This was one of those that got talked about in anticipation at school! Everyone loved learning that "Bumbles Bounce" and that there was a home for the misfit toys.   

    This has always been one of my personal favorites of the kid's classics.  The songs are catchy ("Put One Foot In Front of the Other!")  and who hasn't used the name "Burger Meister Meister Burger" for someone who is acting like a tyrant? (Well, now you really know how weird I am.)

      Love! When Linus recites Luke 2, I melt every time. This one is so special to me, I have to watch it.  I even made a little decoration about it here. 

       This is the Muppet Christmas movie that I love and it is very hard to find.  I don't think very many people have actually seen it, but it is the best.  When my children were little, I would play it for them on VHS, I had taped it myself.  It made me get teary eyed because it was so sweet. It is also very funny! (duh, the Muppets!)  I managed to round up this copy for sale on Amazon.  When you hear Beaker sing, you will just die!

      As you can see, we do appreciate the Muppets around here, and we really like their version of A Christmas Carol, (Except for that song, "The Love is Gone", we skip over that part). But, Michael Caine does a great job in it as Scrooge, working with Muppets.  Funny and sweet all at the same time. 

          One of the few Will Ferrell movies that I like is "elf".  It is funny and heart warming.  Of course, Bob Newhart is in it, and he is always so great and Zooey Deeschanel has a beautiful voice.  Lindsey introduced us to this movie when she was in college and we have enjoyed watching it over the holidays ever since then.

        Sorry, but you can't beat the original with Natalie Wood and Maureen O'Hara.  It is colorized now, when I was a kid we watched it in black and white, just like the next movie.

       Can you believe that is the 60th anniversary edition?  "It's a Wonderful Life" is a true classic that has stood the test of time because of its message and the acting talent.  I have never seen a Jimmy Stewart movie that I didn't like.  If you havn't ever seen this one, where have you been?  Really. You have to watch it.

        "White Christmas" may be a little cheesey and too musical for some people, but it is a tradition we just wouldn't miss.  (My girl's and I anyway. It is too cheesey and musical for the men). I love so many of the songs: "Snow", "Sisters", "The Best Things Happen While You're Dancing" and of course, "White Christmas".  (I have wanted my girls to perform "Sisters" together for the church talent show for years, but they refuse). The end with the tribute to the general always makes me tear up.  His crooked smile reminds me of my dad.

          I have talked about this movie before.  We love this thing.  I think my husband and I love it because it reminds us of what Christmas was like back when we were young.  Also because it has so many quotable zingers! "You used up all of the glue on purpose!"  "You'll shoot your eye out!", "I triple dog dare ya!",  and many more that you just have to see the movie to get them.  There is a station in Phoenix that usually plays this movie all day on Christmas Day, and we usually leave it playing just so  we can walk through the room and hear bits and pieces of it all day, and we laugh everytime.  
​          Not only do we have the movie, but we have theleg lamp cookie cutter, the leg lamp ornament, and the figurine of the leg lamp being buried.  There are other figurines that depict the story as well, I may have to do some shopping myself!  

           There you have it! Our family's favorite Christmas movies.  I think I may have missed some of them on TV already, so I guess it really is a good thing that I can pop them in the DVD player when ever I want to watch them. I hope you have some family fun with some of these yourselves! Let me know if I have left our some of your favorites.

      PS, Madalynn made me add this one, one of her personal favorites, "The Mistletones". It is an ABC Family Christmas Movie, I couldn't find it on Amazon though. If you like cheesey, this will fit the bill.