Baumer's 50 Best Christmas movies of all time

[Dementeleus]

 

 

 

(post liked through gritted teeth)  

[filmlover]

Suck it, Tele.

[baumer]

#14

Frosty the Snowman (1969 TV Movie)

Directed by Arthur Rankin

Starring:  Jimmy Durante, Jackie Vernon

Box office unknown

 

I've seen this truly timeless and terrific late 60's TV yuletide holiday special classic more times than I can count and it never fails to make me feel totally elated. Jolly, lovable snowman Frosty (exuberantly voiced by Jackie Vernon) miraculously comes to life when a discarded magic silk top hat falls atop his head. But Frosty can't stick around for long or he'll melt due to the rising temperature. Meanwhile, evil, yet inept magician Professor Hinkle (voiced by Billy De Wolfe) chases after Frosty in order to get his hat back. The wonderfully catchy and merry theme song, the engagingly folksy Christmas postcard-style animation, Jimmy Durante's delightful narration (Durante also heartily belts out the theme song), the endearing characters (I love Hocus-Pocus the rabbit!), and an irresistibly sweet-natured sensibility that's utterly bereft of any smug irony or sour cynicism make this lovely and radiant gem a complete joy to behold. Legendary voice actor Paul Frees lends his gloriously melodious golden pipes to the juicy supporting roles of both Santa Claus and a testy traffic cop. Essential annual seasonal viewing for kids of all ages. And adults who don't dislike Christmas movies with charm...right @Grand Moff Tele?  

 

[baumer]

#13

The Little Drummer Boy (1968 TV movie)

Directed by Arthur Rankin Jr.

Starring:  Jose Ferrer, Greer Garson

Box office: unknown

 

Christmas special based on the song of the same name. Narrated by the great Greer Garson, it tells the story of an orphan boy named Aaron. Aaron has had a tough life and is resentful towards humanity. His only friends are animals and his only joy in life comes from playing his drum. Through a series of events he finds himself at the birth of baby Jesus. As in the song, he has no gift for the baby so he plays his drum instead. I love Rankin/Bass Christmas specials. The stop-motion animation, great voice work, memorable music, and beautiful stories make them timeless classics that I can watch year after year. The Little Drummer Boy is a moving, sincere story and for someone like me who struggles to understand where I stand on the religious palette, this song and this simple film are truly something that give me hope.  This is the part of religion that makes sense.  The song in this film is one of my favourite Christmas songs.  It's a film or TV special that I think everyone can enjoy.

 

[baumer]

#12

Santa Clause is Coming to Town (1970 TV movie)

Directed by Arthur Rankin

Starring:  Fred Astaire and Mickey Rooney

Box office:  unknown

 

Arthur Rankin Jr. and Jules Bass are known for their classic Christmas special musicals so it didn't surprise me when I discovered that they made a film on the origins of Santa as well. Neither did I find it any less entertaining. Even if the story is fiction, the possibilities to why Santa Claus climbs down chimneys and puts toys in stockings is rather interesting to know about.

The teleplay, written by Romeo Muller, includes a lot of nice trivia that the usual Christmas celebrator won't know of about, for example why we say Santa does all these different actions on Christmas Eve. Narrating this story is actor Fred Astaire who tells us how Santa came to be. Voicing Santa Claus is Mickey Rooney who if you didn't know who he was, you'd almost never guess he was the funny looking security guard from Night at the Museum (2006).

Maybe one of the goofiest characters in this film is the villain named Burgermeister Meisterburger. A grumpy town mayor with the ego the size of the Mt. Everest. And let's not forget The Winter Warlock, the evil wizard who lives high up in the hills. All these characters, no matter what role they play are fun to watch and listen too. The animation recalls that of Rankin and Bass' other Christmas special, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (1964). The songs are still catchy even though Johnny Marks did not write them. Altogether, it's a good eye-opener to the background of Santa Claus.

Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town has catchy music and good cast of voice actors. Plus, its informative background on Santa Claus is a cool history lesson.

 

      

[baumer]

#11

A Muppets Christmas Carol (1992)

Directed by Brian Henson

Starring Michael Caine Frank Oz and the Muppets

Box office:  27.2 million

 

Not every movie can be like this, especially not every rendition of A Christmas Carol. A Muppets' Christmas Carol to me is the perfect version of this story. It encompasses everything that's wonderful about the original story - it's heartwarming, the characters are truly alive in all forms, and the message is as clear as day: Keep the True Meaning of Christmas with you always, to love your friends and family, and never let them go. Definitely the best Muppets movie ever, and just a beautiful movie as a whole, both visually and in story. Every year my family and I gather 'round the TV in our living room, just like we did when I was little, and we pop in the DVD.  My nieces love it because it's the Muppets and I love it because it's a terrific version of the classic story.   It's certainly a classic in my book.

 

[baumer]

#10

A Christmas Carol (1938)

Directed by Edwin Marin

Starring Reginald Owen and Gene Lockhart

 

I have been watching the 1938 version of "A Christmas Carol" since a was a small child. No other version captures the emotions that this movie does. It re-reminds me of what Christmas is really about. The whole concept of looking at your life in the past, present and future is creative in and of itself. After watching the movie, you may look at your life from the same perspectives

This was the first version I remember seeing so I am partial to this version even though it out-dates me by 35 years. Reginald Owen is great as Scrooge as he plays him well as the curmudgeon but then completely turns it around as the reborn Scrooge. Many critics think the Alistair Sim version is superior but one of the reasons I find this one better is because Sim does not convey the reborn Scrooge as well. He still seems a little nasty to me whereas Owen reminds me of a kind hearted grandfather. The rest of the cast is excellent as well and this includes Barry McKay as Fred and of course Gene Lockhart as Bob Cratchett. Some of my favorite scenes are Cratchett and the snowball fight, the Christmas Past visit which is very poignant, the singing in the church and the Cratchett visit by Scrooge, even though not in the novel the scene is a great feel good close out of the film.

 

At this point it's pretty clear that I'm a big Christmas Carol fan.  I like almost every version of it ever made.  This one, however, imo, is the best of the bunch.

 

[baumer]

#9

How the Grinch Stole Christmas (1966 TV movie)

Directed by Chuck Jones

Starring:  Boris Karloff

Box office:  unknown

 

How the Grinch Stole Christmas! is the ultimate Christmas tale of greed, bitterness, but the ultimate moral of good and kindness of people. Dr. Suess wrote this fine tale that is read and watched on TV each year during the Christmas season. I think the reason why people love this cartoon so much besides good memories is that fact that we all need a good smile during the holiday season, and How the Grinch Stole Christmas is guaranteed to do that. The story is just so heart warming and also it's very cute and funny. The story has a memorable narration by Boris Karloff, also who sung the nasty grinch song. The story is so much fun to watch how one grinch could take Christmas so bitterly.

Each year down in Whoville, the who's are just getting ready for Christmas, it's always a joy each year to do so. They get presents, make a mighty delicious feast, and sing and dance with each other. But not everyone is so happy, there is a grinch that lives above them and doesn't want to celebrate Christmas one year. Maybe because his heart was just too small that he couldn't have a passion like the who's. But he's gonna steal Christmas along with his puppy, Max. But when he realizes that maybe Christmas might just mean a little bit more, he may have a change of heart.

How the Grinch Stole Christmas! is a must see film for the Christmas season. It's always a joy to watch each year and brings back happy memories of watching it with my family. The Grinch and Max are two of the most memorable characters since Santa Clause, this is such a touching story of how Christmas could be a little bit more than just gifts and dinner, but what it truly is; being with your family and friends and making sure that you are grateful for everything you have. I love this film and I'm sure you will too, I would say rent it, but you'll see it on TNT this Christmas.

 

 

[baumer]

Still to come:

 

Now i know what a TV dinner feels like

Herbie wants to be a dentist

Triple dog dare you

[RandomCat]

13 minutes ago, Christmas Baumer said:

Still to come:

 

Now i know what a TV dinner feels like

Herbie wants to be a dentist

Triple dog dare you

 

[baumer]

If you know the names of the titles please don't put them in print for everyone to see. Just got a good chuckle at them and wait for them to come up on the list. There's only 9 movies left.

[filmlover]

3 minutes ago, RandomJC said:

 

 

[TalismanRing]

A bunch of great choices (post creepy dead eyed child Polar Express)

 

The Chuck Jones/Karloff Grinch is the best realized Dr. Seuss with maybe only Jones' Cat In The Hat coming close.

 

Those Rankin & Bass cartoons also had some great voice work from veteran actors - Fred Astaire, Mickey Rooney, Greer Garson, Jose Ferrer, Jimmy Durante, Keenan Wynn, Danny Kaye, Burl Ives  etc. 

 

The Little Drummer Boy always had me in tears as a child (I still get a lump in my throat) and the phrase Burgermeister Meisterburger is a running joke in my family.
 

[baumer]

WTF 

[baumer]

The version of Little Drummer Boy that is in the movie with the choir is absolutely one of my top 3 favorite Christmas songs. That song is so powerful it gets me emotional sometimes. My mom used to have that song on record. As I mentioned in my original post a lot of my love of Christmas comes from my mom. So a lot of the stuff she loved is definitely in my top 10 films. The Little Drummer Boy was one of the films that she adored as well.

[baumer]

#8

Gremlins (1984)

Directed by Joe Dante

Starring Zach Galligan, Phoebe Cates, Corey Feldman

Box office:  153 million

 

Inventor Randy Peltzer (Hoyt Axton) has bought a special and unusual gift for his son Billy (Zach Galligan). It's a furry Chinese creature which is a Mogwai named Gizmo (Voiced by Howie Mandel) whom is cute and cuddly but there are three rules if he wants to keep the thing.  The first is not to get them wet, the second is to keep them away from sunlight and then of course don't feed them after midnight.  Billy does what he can but accidentally gets Gizmo wet which makes it multiply. There are more  Mogwais and then the cute and cuddly guys eventually become the gremlins we all know and love.  They become ravaging savage creatures who love to get in trouble, maim, kill and cause as much damage as they can.

An original and brilliant horror fantasy from Joe Dante and producer Steven Spielberg is one of the greatest movies of the 80's! the film became one of the biggest box-office hits of 1984 and of all time thanks to the magic of it's original screenplay by Chris Columbus, great acting and excellent creature effects. It also incorporates satire and dark humor with gruesomeness, the film co-stars Dick Miller, Corey Feldman, and Phoebe Cates with appearance by Chuck Jones. Along with "Indiana Jones and The Temple of Doom" the following year, it drew big time controversy among parents who thought the film was too violent for kids and the MPAA created PG-13 that year. Chris Walas's special effects are just outstanding with the lovable fur-balls and the not-so-lovable monsters that made them memorable.

 

The Christmas theme in this is omnipresent but it's also a lot darker than a lot of Christmas movies.  The tale that Cates tells about how her father was found in the chimney, dead, is really quite sad.  While this is not your traditional "joy to the world, charity and jingle bells" kind of movie, it is a terrific addition to the yearly Christmas viewing.

 

[Eric Prime]

I appreciate the large amount of animation on this list thus far.

[baumer]

Yes I have to admit that the Christmas movie genre is the one time is that I don't mind animation at all.

[robertman2]

Gremlins is such a good movie

[75Live]

This thread helped make me use up my likes already for today