I don’t know why I did this. But as I was going, it was nice to see which classics I watched and what I saw that was new to me.
This year I didn’t watch very many movies. Part of it was, I was so tired after work and didn’t want to have to pay attention to something for longer than an hour at a time. And another was that I really did get into a lot of the Christmas specials.
I first started looking for specials to watch in mid-November, just cause I needed the holiday cheer to start earlier this year. Obviously, specials don’t start airing on tv until after Thanksgiving, so I looked at what was already available on streaming to watch. And the ones that had a bunch were Disney+ and Apple TV. Disney released these Mickey Mouse Christmas shirts and specials in 2022 and 2023, and they’re animated in stop motion with more of a Rankin/Bass-look to them, and they’re really cute. And I always forget until this time that Peanuts has more than one Christmas special. They’re on a lower level than A Charlie Brown Christmas, but also cute.
Then December came, which meant: Rankin/Bass! And once you get into the later specials, the lore gets crazy! Winter warlocks, evil wizards, the Aurora Borealis granting Rudolph his nose. There is so much going on. And I love me some Miser Brothers. Even amidst the wildness of the backstories of our favorite Christmas characters, watching the Rankin/Bass specials really is super cozy and brings so much comfort and joy.
And even though I didn’t watch as many movies as I usually do this time of year, I still watched a fair few, especially ones I hadn’t seen before. Carol for Another Christmas is a television movie from 1964 that was written by Rod Serling. It’s another telling of A Christmas Carol, but it takes on what was happening in culture in 1964, and why someone living in that specific time might need a few visitors. And, it holds up alarmingly well. A couple of recent ones that I watched were Christmas Eve in Miller’s Point, a cute little movie about a large family celebrating on Long Island (felt very seen) and Klaus, a movie that introduces a new story of how Santa Claus came to be. Now that was some cute lore.
I also did get some old favorites in there. I got It Happened on 5th Avenue, White Christmas, The Shop Around the Corner, and Meet Me in St. Louis. Some of my favorites I didn’t watch this time around were Holiday Affair, and the two Barbara Stanwyck classics Remember the Night and Christmas in Connecticut. As said as I was to not watch these this year, it’s good to take a break from your favorites sometimes, because sometimes you need a break to remember the magic. Which is actually what happened with White Christmas this year. It had been a while since I had seen it, and watching it with that time passed really did make me appreciate it all over again.
Whatever possessed me to start this list, I really did like logging everything. Seeing what I watched and maybe I can add some of the new stuff from this year into my rotation. Now that I think of it, I really just did a personal Letterboxd diary, except a lot of this stuff does not need to be on my Letterboxd. I guess they really were into something.
And, because I said I made the list, here it is in chronological order:
Mickey Saves Christmas
Charlie Brown’s Christmas Tales
Mickey and the Very Many Christmases
I Want A Dog For Christmas, Charlie Brown
Mickey’s Christmas Tales
It’s Christmastime Again, Charlie Brown
Carol for Another Christmas
Prep & Landing
How the Grinch Stole Christmas!
Frosty the Snowman
Frosty’s Winter Wonderland
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
Christmas Eve in Miller’s Point
Rudolph’s Shiny New Year
Pluto’s Christmas Tree
Happy Holidays with Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra
Once Upon a Wintertime (from Melody Time)
Rudolph and Frosty’s Christmas in July
Mickey’s Once Upon a Christmas
It’s a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie
Jack Frost
Klaus
It Happened on 5th Avenue
Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town
Mickey’s Christmas Carol
The Wonderful Winter of Mickey Mouse
A Saturday Night Live Christmas
The Shop Around the Corner
The Snowy Day
The Year Without a Santa Claus
‘Twas the Night Before Christmas (Rankin & Bass)
White Christmas
Meet Me in St Louis
Duck the Halls: A Mickey Mouse Christmas Special
A Charlie Brown Christmas