It’s holiday time, a time of joy, giving and reflection. It’s a time for family and friends, and there is nothing better than a nostalgic movie to enjoy that time together. Here, we list some of our all-time favourite family Christmas movies that are available to stream this Christmas.
The Nightmare Before Christmas
1993
The Nightmare Before Christmas follows the adventures of Jack Skellington, Halloweentown’s beloved pumpkin king. Jack has grown bored with the same routine of frightening people in the “real world” and starts to look elsewhere for fun. When Jack accidentally stumbles on Christmastown with its bright colours, lights, and hospitable warm spirits, it gives him a new lease of life. But his plot to bring Christmas under his control by kidnapping Santa Claus and taking over the job goes predictably wrong, and Jack discovers that even the best-laid plans of mice and skeletons can go seriously awry.
Muppet Christmas Carol
1992
A captivating movie that blends Dickens’ bleak 19th century London with the Muppets’ zany reality, The Muppet Christmas Carol is the definitive Christmas movie classic. As the perpetual humbug, Michael Caine (Ebenezer Scrooge) delivers one of his most memorable performances. His presence as the straight-faced miser is a steady hand through the Muppet mania. As narrator Charles Dickens, Gonzo supplies humour and insights throughout the film, whilst the usual band take most of the roles, including Kermit as Bob Cratchit and Miss Piggy as his doting wife.
Elf
2003
Elf follows Buddy the Elf (Will Ferrell) and his travels to New York City on a quest to find his father and family. Having slipped into Santa’s sack one Christmas Eve as a baby, he ended up at the North Pole, where he grew up to become one of Santa’s Little Helpers – a task that becomes increasingly tricky the older and taller he grows. Warm and witty, the set features fantastical candyfloss colour schemes and New York in all its resplendent wintry beauty. Elf remains to this day one of the most popular family holiday films and it is rather easy to see why.
