Random Christmas Movie Generator: Year, Rating, Minutes and Premise: how it works
Press the button and five Christmas movies appear, each with year, MPA rating, running time and a one-line premise. The list holds 262 films and television specials, from a Laurel and Hardy comedy of 1934 to the releases of 2025. Twelve are rated R and can come up in an open draw, so tap Rated G or PG for a family night.
Pick tonight's film in three presses
Tap the chips that fit the room: Rated G or PG for young children, Animated for short attention spans, Comedy or Romance for the grown-ups. The three rows combine, so Rated G or PG with Animated leaves 17 films, and Up to 90 minutes cuts those to 11 that end before bedtime. Lock any title somebody wants and reroll the rest. After three presses, the locked films go to a vote.
What the rating on each card means
Ratings come from the Motion Picture Association's own database, looked up one title at a time, and 120 of the 262 entries have one. Not rated means only that the database has no entry for that film, not that the film suits children. A few older films were rated years later for a re-release or a home-video edition, and that later rating is the one shown. Last checked 18 September 2026.
Tips
Not rated is not a green light. Check the age label where you stream before family night.
Film club: tap Before 1980 and draw one a week. The 50 classics last nearly a year.
The daily film is the same for everyone that day, so relatives in different houses can watch along.
Questions and answers
Is Die Hard a Christmas movie?
It is on the list, with a note that fans still argue. The story takes place at a party on Christmas Eve, which meets our rule: Christmas drives the plot or the film is set at Christmas. It is rated R, so it never appears under Rated G or PG.
Why do so many Christmas films say Not rated?
The rating system took effect on 1 November 1968, so an older film has a rating only if it was submitted later: 2 of our 32 films from before 1968 were. Television and streaming films are not made for cinemas, and only 34 of our 141 have a rating. PG-13 arrived in 1984, so a PG from before then can be rougher than a PG today.
Which Christmas movies suit young children?
Tap Rated G or PG: 79 films carry one of those ratings, 26 of them G. Animated holds 59 films and specials, and 25 entries run 30 minutes or less. A PG can still hold scares and sad scenes, so read the premise first.
8-Bit Christmas2021. PG. 97 min. A father recalls his 1988 childhood quest for the games console everyone wanted.
A Boy Called Christmas2021. PG. 106 min. Nikolas heads north to find his father and a village of elves. From Matt Haig's book.
A Christmas Carol (1984)1984. PG. 100 min. George C. Scott plays Scrooge in a version filmed for television in Shrewsbury.
A Christmas Carol (2009)2009. PG. 96 min. Motion-capture version of the Dickens story, with Jim Carrey as Scrooge.
A Christmas Story1983. PG. 93 min. Ralphie, aged 9, campaigns for a Red Ryder air rifle against all advice.
A Christmas Story Christmas2022. PG. 98 min. December 1973: a grown Ralphie returns home to give his kids a great Christmas.
A Diva's Christmas Carol2000. PG. 120 min. Vanessa Williams plays pop star Ebony Scrooge, haunted in New York.
All I Want for Christmas1991. G. 92 min. Two New York siblings scheme to get their divorced parents back together.
Arthur Christmas2011. PG. 97 min. Santa's clumsy younger son races to deliver the one present that got missed.
Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas1997. G. 72 min. Mrs. Potts tells how Belle once tried to bring Christmas to the Beast's castle.
The Best Christmas Pageant Ever2024. PG. 99 min. In 1972 the six Herdman children, the town's worst kids, take over the church pageant.
Black Nativity2013. PG. 93 min. A Baltimore teen is sent to grandparents in New York. From the Langston Hughes play.
Candy Cane Lane2023. PG. 120 min. A man signs a deal with an elf to win his street's decorating contest. It backfires.
The Christmas Chronicles 22020. PG. 115 min. Kate Pierce is pulled back to the North Pole, where a rogue elf threatens the village.
Christmas Do-Over2006. PG. 90 min. A selfish divorced father relives Christmas Day. A remake of Christmas Every Day.
The Christmas That Almost Wasn't1966. G. 93 min. Santa cannot pay his rent, so the landlord Phineas T. Prune moves to evict him.
Christmas with the Kranks2004. PG. 98 min. A couple swaps Christmas for a cruise. Based on John Grisham's Skipping Christmas.
Dashing Through the Snow2023. PG. 90 min. A social worker who dislikes Christmas helps a man who says he is Santa.
Deck the Halls2006. PG. 93 min. A neighbour wants his house lights to be visible from space, and a feud begins.
The Dog Who Saved Christmas2009. PG. 88 min. Zeus, a retired police dog with no bark, must guard the house from two burglars.
Elf2003. PG. 97 min. Buddy, a human raised by elves at the North Pole, goes to New York to find his father.
Ernest Saves Christmas1988. PG. 91 min. An Orlando taxi driver helps Santa Claus find the man chosen to replace him.
Father Christmas1991. G. 26 min. A grumpy Father Christmas takes a holiday, based on the Raymond Briggs books.
The Flight Before Christmas2008. G. 80 min. Niko, a young reindeer afraid of heights, sets out to find his flying father.
Fred Claus2007. PG. 116 min. Santa's resentful older brother comes to the North Pole to work off a debt.
Genie2023. PG. 93 min. An overworked father frees a genie before Christmas. Remakes Bernard and the Genie.
Get Santa2014. PG. 102 min. Santa crashes his sleigh in London, lands in prison and needs a father and son's help.
Godmothered2020. PG. 110 min. A trainee fairy godmother answers a letter from a girl who is now a grown woman.
Gremlins1984. PG. 106 min. A Christmas gift comes with three rules, and breaking them overruns a small town.
The Grinch (2018)2018. PG. 86 min. The green grump plots to steal Christmas while Cindy Lou Who plans to trap Santa.
Home Alone1990. PG. 103 min. Kevin, left behind when his family flies to Paris, defends the house from burglars.
Home Alone 2: Lost in New York1992. PG. 120 min. Kevin boards the wrong plane and lands in New York with his father's credit card.
Home Sweet Home Alone2021. PG. 93 min. A couple tries to take back a valuable doll from a house where a boy is home alone.
How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000)2000. PG. 105 min. Live-action version with Jim Carrey, adding a childhood backstory in Whoville.
I'll Be Home for Christmas1998. PG. 86 min. A student stranded in the desert in a Santa suit must reach New York by Christmas Eve.
It's a Wonderful Life1946. PG. 131 min. An angel shows George Bailey what Bedford Falls would be like without him.
Jack Frost (1998)1998. PG. 101 min. A musician father returns a year after his death as his son's snowman.
Jingle All the Way1996. PG. 89 min. A father who forgot the season's must-have toy hunts for one on Christmas Eve.
Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey2020. PG. 122 min. A toymaker who lost his best invention gets help from his inventive granddaughter.
Journey to Bethlehem2023. PG. 98 min. A pop musical about Mary and Joseph, with Antonio Banderas as King Herod.
Klaus2019. PG. 97 min. A spoiled postman is posted to the far north and befriends a reclusive toymaker.
The Lion in Winter1968. PG. 134 min. Christmas 1183: Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine battle over the succession.
The Man Who Invented Christmas2017. PG. 104 min. In 1843 a broke Charles Dickens has six weeks to write A Christmas Carol.
Mickey's Christmas Carol1983. G. 26 min. The Dickens story with Scrooge McDuck as Scrooge and Mickey as Bob Cratchit.
Mickey's Twice Upon a Christmas2004. G. 67 min. Five new stories, the first an ice-skating contest between Minnie and Daisy.
Miracle on 34th Street (1994)1994. PG. 114 min. The remake moves the story to Cole's, a fictional store, with Richard Attenborough.
Mrs. Santa Claus1996. G. 90 min. Anna Claus borrows the sleigh and is stuck in 1910 New York. Songs by Jerry Herman.
The Muppet Christmas Carol1992. G. 86 min. Gonzo narrates as Charles Dickens, and Michael Caine plays Scrooge.
The Nativity Story2006. PG. 101 min. Mary and Joseph's journey to Bethlehem. It premiered at the Vatican in 2006.
Nativity!2009. PG. 105 min. A Coventry teacher lies that Hollywood will film his school's nativity play.
The Nightmare Before Christmas1993. PG. 76 min. Jack Skellington of Halloween Town discovers Christmas and tries to run it himself.
Noel2004. PG. 96 min. Lonely strangers in New York cross paths on one Christmas Eve.
Noelle2019. G. 100 min. Santa's daughter leaves the North Pole to find her brother, who has fled the job.
Northpole2014. G. 120 min. Hallmark Channel fantasy with Bailee Madison as Clementine the elf. Has a 2015 sequel.
The Nutcracker1993. G. 92 min. The New York City Ballet production on film, with narration by Kevin Kline.
The Nutcracker and the Four Realms2018. PG. 99 min. Clara leaves a Christmas Eve party for a hidden world in search of a key.
The Nutcracker Prince1990. G. 75 min. Drosselmeier gives Clara a nutcracker, and she joins its battle with the mice.
Olaf's Frozen Adventure2017. G. 21 min. A snowman goes door to door in Arendelle looking for a family tradition.
Once Upon a Christmas2000. G. 90 min. Santa's daughter Kristin tries to reform one family to keep Christmas going.
One Magic Christmas1985. G. 90 min. An angel named Gideon is sent to restore a worn-out mother's Christmas spirit.
The Perfect Holiday2007. PG. 96 min. A girl tells a store Santa her mother's wish, and the Santa, a songwriter, acts on it.
The Polar Express2004. G. 100 min. A doubting boy boards a magic train to the North Pole on Christmas Eve.
Prancer1989. G. 103 min. A farm girl finds an injured reindeer and is sure he belongs to Santa.
The Preacher's Wife1996. PG. 124 min. An angel comes to help a struggling New York pastor. A remake of The Bishop's Wife.
Richie Rich's Christmas Wish1998. G. 84 min. Richie wishes he had never been born, and a wishing machine takes him at his word.
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer: The Movie1998. G. 92 min. Feature-length retelling in which Rudolph runs away and faces an ice queen.
Santa Baby2006. PG. 89 min. Santa's daughter, a marketing executive, takes over the workshop when he falls ill.
Santa Buddies2009. G. 88 min. Puppy Paws, son of Santa's dog, wishes Christmas away and seeks out the Buddies.
Santa Claus: The Movie1985. PG. 108 min. An origin story for Santa, then a runaway elf joins a crooked toy tycoon.
The Santa Clause1994. PG. 97 min. Scott Calvin puts on Santa's suit after a rooftop accident and inherits the job.
The Santa Clause 22002. G. 104 min. Santa must find a wife before Christmas Eve or lose the job, says a second clause.
The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause2006. G. 92 min. Jack Frost tricks Santa out of the suit and turns the North Pole into a resort.
Scrooge (1970)1970. G. 113 min. A musical Scrooge with Albert Finney, set on Christmas Eve 1860 in London.
The Search for Santa Paws2010. G. 96 min. Santa and his dog are separated in New York. A prequel to Santa Buddies.
The Small One1978. G. 26 min. A boy near Nazareth must sell his old donkey and wants him to go to a kind owner.
The Star2017. PG. 86 min. The Nativity as seen by a small donkey and the animals who follow the star.
That Christmas2024. PG. 92 min. A snowstorm upends Christmas in a Suffolk seaside town. Co-written by Richard Curtis.
Unaccompanied Minors2006. PG. 87 min. Snowed in at an airport on Christmas Eve, a gang of kids gives security the slip.
While You Were Sleeping1995. PG. 103 min. A lonely Chicago transit worker is mistaken for a coma patient's fiancée at Christmas.
Rated PG-13 29
A California Christmas2020. PG-13. 106 min. A rich man's son poses as a ranch hand to get a farmer to sell her land.
A Madea Christmas2013. PG-13. 100 min. Madea travels to a small Alabama town for a Christmas visit full of secrets.
Almost Christmas2016. PG-13. 111 min. A widower asks his four grown children to get along for five days. They try.
Carry-On2024. PG-13. 119 min. On Christmas Eve an airport security officer is blackmailed into letting a bag through.
Christmas Eve in Miller's Point2024. PG-13. 106 min. A big Long Island family holds its last Christmas Eve in the old family home.
Daddy's Home 22017. PG-13. 100 min. A father and stepfather plan a joint Christmas, then their own fathers arrive.
Dear Santa2024. PG-13. 107 min. A boy's misspelled letter to Santa reaches the wrong address. Jack Black answers.
The Family Man2000. PG-13. 125 min. A Wall Street bachelor wakes on Christmas morning in the family life he passed up.
The Family Stone2005. PG-13. 103 min. Everett brings his uptight girlfriend home to his close, outspoken family.
Four Christmases2008. PG-13. 89 min. A couple who always dodge family must visit all four divorced parents in one day.
Happiest Season2020. PG-13. 102 min. Abby plans to propose at Christmas but her girlfriend has not come out at home.
The Holiday2006. PG-13. 136 min. Two heartbroken women, one in Surrey and one in Los Angeles, swap homes for Christmas.
Joyeux Noël2005. PG-13. 116 min. French, Scottish and German soldiers call the unofficial Christmas truce of 1914.
Just Friends2005. PG-13. 94 min. A once-shy music executive is stranded in his home town with his school crush.
Krampus2015. PG-13. 98 min. A boy who gives up on Christmas summons a horned spirit of folklore. Comic horror.
Last Christmas2019. PG-13. 103 min. A London Christmas shop elf meets a mysterious cyclist. Inspired by the Wham! song.
Let It Snow2019. PG-13. 92 min. A snowstorm on Christmas Eve throws together teenagers in a small Illinois town.
Love the Coopers2015. PG-13. 107 min. A couple about to separate hosts one last big Cooper family Christmas Eve.
Mixed Nuts1994. PG-13. 97 min. A helpline office in Venice, Los Angeles faces eviction on a chaotic Christmas Eve.
National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation1989. PG-13. 97 min. Clark Griswold wants a perfect family Christmas, and the house cannot take it.
Nothing Like the Holidays2008. PG-13. 98 min. The Rodriguez family of Humboldt Park, Chicago gathers as a son returns from Iraq.
Oh. What. Fun.2025. PG-13. 108 min. Texas mother Claire Clauster plans every Christmas, until her family forgets her.
Red One2024. PG-13. 123 min. The head of North Pole security and a hacker search for a kidnapped Santa.
Scrooged1988. PG-13. 101 min. A ruthless TV boss staging a live Christmas Carol gets the three ghosts himself.
Spirited2022. PG-13. 127 min. A musical that tells A Christmas Carol from the side of the ghosts doing the haunting.
Surviving Christmas2004. PG-13. 91 min. A lonely rich man pays the family in his childhood home to be his for Christmas.
This Christmas2007. PG-13. 119 min. The Whitfield children come home to their mother's house with a secret apiece.
Tokyo Godfathers2003. PG-13. 92 min. Three homeless people find an abandoned baby on Christmas Eve in Tokyo.
Trapped in Paradise1994. PG-13. 111 min. Three brothers rob a small-town bank and are snowed in with their kind victims.
Rated R 12
A Bad Moms Christmas2017. R. 104 min. Three overworked mothers face visits from their own mothers at Christmas.
A Midnight Clear1992. R. 108 min. December 1944: an American patrol and a German unit try to arrange a quiet truce.
Anna and the Apocalypse2017. R. 98 min. A Scottish zombie musical set at Christmas. Gory, and not one for children.
Bad Santa2003. R. 92 min. Two thieves pose as a store Santa and his elf each year so they can rob the place.
The Best Man Holiday2013. R. 123 min. College friends reunite for Christmas after 15 years, old rivalries intact.
Die Hard1988. R. 132 min. A New York cop fights armed thieves at a Christmas Eve party. Fans debate if it counts.
The Holdovers2023. R. 133 min. December 1970: a strict teacher minds the boys left at boarding school over the break.
Love Actually2003. R. 135 min. Ten linked London love stories, counted down week by week to Christmas.
Office Christmas Party2016. R. 105 min. A Chicago branch throws a huge party to land a client and save everyone's jobs.
Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale2010. R. 82 min. A drilling team in Finnish Lapland unearths a very different Santa. Horror for adults.
The Ref1994. R. 97 min. A burglar takes a bickering Connecticut couple hostage on Christmas Eve and regrets it.
Violent Night2022. R. 112 min. A weary Santa is in the house when armed robbers take a family hostage. Very violent.
Before 1980 45
3 Godfathers1948. Not rated. 106 min. Three outlaws fleeing through the desert promise a dying mother to save her baby.
A Charlie Brown Christmas1965. Not rated. 25 min. Charlie Brown directs the Christmas play and brings back a scrawny little tree.
A Christmas Carol (1938)1938. Not rated. 69 min. The MGM version of the Dickens story, with Reginald Owen as Scrooge.
A Flintstone Christmas1977. Not rated. 48 min. Santa hurts his ankle on Fred's roof, so Fred and Barney make the deliveries.
Babes in Toyland (1934)1934. Not rated. 78 min. Laurel and Hardy in Toyland. Also known as March of the Wooden Soldiers.
Babes in Toyland (1961)1961. Not rated. 105 min. Disney musical in which Barnaby plots to stop Tom Piper marrying Mary Contrary.
Bachelor Mother1939. Not rated. 82 min. A department store clerk picks up a foundling and everyone decides it is hers.
Beyond Tomorrow1940. Not rated. 84 min. Three elderly partners return as ghosts to help a couple they brought together.
The Bishop's Wife1947. Not rated. 109 min. An angel named Dudley answers a bishop's prayer, then charms the bishop's wife.
The Cheaters1945. Not rated. 87 min. A near-bankrupt family takes in a washed-up actor for the holidays, for show.
Christmas Eve (1947)1947. Not rated. 90 min. A wealthy woman needs her three long-lost adopted sons home by Christmas Eve.
Christmas Eve on Sesame Street1978. Not rated. 60 min. Big Bird worries about how Santa can possibly fit down a chimney.
Christmas in Connecticut1945. Not rated. 101 min. A columnist must produce the farm, husband and baby she invented for her readers.
Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas1977. Not rated. 48 min. A poor otter and his mother each secretly enter a talent contest to buy a gift.
Frosty the Snowman1969. Not rated. 25 min. A failed magician's discarded hat brings a snowman to life on Christmas Eve.
The Gathering1977. Not rated. 94 min. A dying businessman, played by Edward Asner, calls his estranged family home.
The Great Rupert1950. Not rated. 87 min. A dancing squirrel accidentally showers a penniless family with a miser's money.
Holiday Affair1949. Not rated. 87 min. A store clerk loses his job over a toy train and wins over a war widow's son.
Holiday Inn1942. Not rated. 100 min. A farm becomes an inn open only on holidays. Introduced the song "White Christmas".
The Holly and the Ivy1952. Not rated. 83 min. A family gathers at a Norfolk parsonage, each hiding a secret from their father.
The House Without a Christmas Tree1972. Not rated. 75 min. Nebraska, 1946: Addie Mills wants a tree, and her widowed father refuses.
How the Grinch Stole Christmas! (1966)1966. Not rated. 24 min. A cave-dwelling grump sets out to steal Christmas from the town of Whoville.
I'll Be Seeing You1944. Not rated. 85 min. A soldier on leave and a woman on a prison furlough meet on a train at Christmas.
It Happened on 5th Avenue1947. Not rated. 116 min. A drifter winters in a tycoon's empty Fifth Avenue mansion and takes in guests.
It Happened One Christmas1977. Not rated. 110 min. A gender-swapped remake of It's a Wonderful Life, with Marlo Thomas in the lead.
Jack Frost (1979)1979. Not rated. 48 min. A winter sprite asks to become human to win the girl he loves. Told by a groundhog.
The Lemon Drop Kid1951. Not rated. 91 min. A racetrack tout needs cash by Christmas. Introduced the song "Silver Bells".
The Little Drummer Boy1968. Not rated. 25 min. An orphan named Aaron who trusts only his animals plays his drum at the manger.
The Man in the Santa Claus Suit1979. Not rated. 104 min. Fred Astaire plays a shopkeeper whose Santa suits change three men's lives.
The Man Who Came to Dinner1941. Not rated. 112 min. A sharp-tongued radio star slips on ice in Ohio and takes over his hosts' home.
Meet Me in St. Louis1944. Not rated. 113 min. A year with the Smith family. Introduced "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas".
Miracle on 34th Street (1947)1947. Not rated. 96 min. Macy's hires Kris Kringle as its Santa, then a court must rule on who he is.
Mon oncle Antoine1971. Not rated. 104 min. Christmas Eve in a Quebec mining town, seen by a boy working at his uncle's store.
Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol1962. Not rated. 53 min. The first animated Christmas special made for television, with Magoo as Scrooge.
Nestor, the Long-Eared Christmas Donkey1977. Not rated. 24 min. A donkey teased for his long ears ends up carrying Mary to Bethlehem.
Remember the Night1940. Not rated. 94 min. A prosecutor takes the shoplifter he is trying home to Indiana for Christmas.
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer1964. Not rated. 52 min. A reindeer with a glowing nose runs off with an elf who dreams of dentistry.
Santa Claus Conquers the Martians1964. Not rated. 81 min. Martians kidnap Santa for their children. A regular on worst-film lists.
Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town1970. Not rated. 51 min. A postman tells how a foundling named Claus defied a toy-banning Burgermeister.
Scrooge (1951)1951. Not rated. 87 min. Alastair Sim plays Scrooge. Released in the United States as A Christmas Carol.
The Shop Around the Corner1940. Not rated. 99 min. Two Budapest shop clerks who bicker all day are secretly each other's pen pals.
'Twas the Night Before Christmas1974. Not rated. 25 min. An insulting letter turns Santa against Junctionville until a clockmaker steps in.
We're No Angels1955. Not rated. 106 min. Three escaped convicts hide with a shopkeeper's family and end up helping them.
White Christmas1954. Not rated. 120 min. Two army friends stage a show to save their old general's Vermont inn.
The Year Without a Santa Claus1974. Not rated. 51 min. Santa takes a year off with a cold, so two elves go looking for Christmas spirit.
Animated 29
A Chipmunk Christmas1981. Not rated. 24 min. Alvin gives his prized harmonica to a sick boy, then needs one for a concert.
A Claymation Christmas Celebration1987. Not rated. 24 min. Two clay dinosaurs, Rex and Herb, host a run of carols in stop motion.
A Garfield Christmas1987. Not rated. 24 min. Garfield grumbles through Christmas on the Arbuckle family farm, then softens.
Alien Xmas2020. Not rated. 40 min. A small alien named X is sent to help steal Earth's gravity and learns to give.
Angela's Christmas2017. Not rated. 30 min. Limerick, 1914: a girl takes the Baby Jesus from the church crib to warm him up.
Annabelle's Wish1997. Not rated. 54 min. A calf born on Christmas Eve in Tennessee wishes she could fly like a reindeer.
Elf: Buddy's Musical Christmas2014. Not rated. 43 min. An animated musical retelling of Elf, narrated by Santa.
Elliot the Littlest Reindeer2018. Not rated. 89 min. A miniature horse from North Dakota tries out for a place on Santa's team.
Frosty Returns1992. Not rated. 23 min. Frosty and a girl named Holly take on a spray that makes snow vanish.
Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer2000. Not rated. 51 min. Jake searches for his missing grandmother while a tycoon eyes her store.
How Murray Saved Christmas2014. Not rated. 42 min. A cranky diner owner has to fill in for an injured Santa. Narrated in verse.
I Want a Dog for Christmas, Charlie Brown2003. Not rated. 45 min. Rerun, the youngest Van Pelt, asks Santa for a dog and borrows Snoopy's brother.
Ice Age: A Mammoth Christmas2011. Not rated. 26 min. Sid breaks the family Christmas rock and treks north to get off the naughty list.
It's Christmastime Again, Charlie Brown1992. Not rated. 23 min. A set of short Christmas sketches taken straight from the comic strip.
Kung Fu Panda Holiday2010. Not rated. 25 min. Po must choose between hosting a formal Winter Feast and dinner with his father.
The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus1985. Not rated. 50 min. The Immortals debate granting Santa eternal life. From L. Frank Baum's 1902 book.
Merry Madagascar2009. Not rated. 30 min. Santa crashes on Madagascar with amnesia, so four zoo animals deliver the gifts.
Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas1999. Not rated. 65 min. Three short stories, one of them a Christmas that repeats every single day.
Olive, the Other Reindeer1999. Not rated. 45 min. A dog named Olive mishears a radio report and heads north to join Santa's team.
Pinocchio's Christmas1980. Not rated. 49 min. Pinocchio wants to buy Geppetto a present, and the Fox and the Cat want his coins.
Prep & Landing2009. Not rated. 22 min. Wayne, an elf with 227 years of service, misses a promotion and starts to slack.
Prep & Landing: Naughty vs. Nice2011. Not rated. 22 min. Wayne and Lanny chase a hacker child with help from Wayne's brother, a coal elf.
Santa's Apprentice2010. Not rated. 77 min. A retiring Santa must train a successor, an orphan boy named Nicholas from Sydney.
Saving Santa2013. Not rated. 83 min. A stable elf uses a time-travel device to stop an invasion of the North Pole.
Shrek the Halls2007. Not rated. 21 min. An ogre plans a quiet first family Christmas, and then his friends turn up.
The Snowman1982. Not rated. 26 min. Wordless film about a boy whose snowman comes alive. First shown on Channel 4.
The Snowman and the Snowdog2012. Not rated. 24 min. A boy named Billy builds a snowman and a snow dog, and both come to life.
Winnie the Pooh and Christmas Too1991. Not rated. 26 min. Pooh takes back the letter to Santa to add his own wish, and it never gets posted.
Yogi's First Christmas1980. Not rated. 98 min. Yogi Bear wakes from hibernation and joins his first Christmas at Jellystone Lodge.
Comedy 50
A Castle for Christmas2021. Not rated. 98 min. An American novelist tries to buy a Scottish castle from its reluctant duke.
A Christmas Prince2017. Not rated. 92 min. A reporter poses as a tutor to get close to the prince of Aldovia.
A Christmas Prince: The Royal Wedding2018. Not rated. 92 min. Amber returns to Aldovia to plan her wedding and chafes at royal protocol.
A Christmas Tale2008. Not rated. 150 min. A French family gathers in Roubaix as its matriarch seeks a bone marrow donor.
A Merry Little Ex-Mas2025. Not rated. 91 min. A divorcing couple plans one last family Christmas, then his new girlfriend arrives.
A Mom for Christmas1990. Not rated. 96 min. An 11-year-old's wish brings a department store mannequin to life as her mother.
A Very Brady Christmas1988. Not rated. 100 min. Mike and Carol spend their holiday savings on flying the whole family home.
Bernard and the Genie1991. Not rated. 67 min. A sacked London art dealer frees a genie at Christmas. Written by Richard Curtis.
Best. Christmas. Ever!2023. Not rated. 81 min. A woman is stranded with the friend whose boastful Christmas letters annoy her.
Boxing Day2021. Not rated. 109 min. A British author brings his American fiancée home to London to meet the family.
Call Me Claus2001. Not rated. 90 min. A retiring Santa picks a cynical shopping channel producer as his successor.
The Christmas Chronicles2018. Not rated. 103 min. Siblings crash Santa's sleigh and must save the night. Kurt Russell plays Santa.
Christmas Every Day1996. Not rated. 90 min. A selfish teenager relives the same Christmas Day until he gets it right.
Christmas Inheritance2017. Not rated. 104 min. Before taking over the firm, an heiress must hand-deliver a letter to Snow Falls.
The Christmas Setup2020. Not rated. 85 min. A lawyer meets an old crush in Milwaukee. Lifetime's first LGBTQ Christmas film.
Christmas with You2022. Not rated. 89 min. A pop star who needs a Christmas hit visits a young fan and meets her father.
Crown for Christmas2015. Not rated. 86 min. A fired hotel maid becomes governess to a young princess in Winshire.
El Camino Christmas2017. Not rated. 89 min. A liquor store stand-off in a Nevada town on Christmas Eve. Dark comedy for adults.
Eloise at Christmastime2003. Not rated. 89 min. Eloise plays matchmaker around the Plaza Hotel in the days before Christmas.
Falling for Christmas2022. Not rated. 95 min. An heiress with amnesia is taken in by a widowed ski lodge owner.
Feast of the Seven Fishes2019. Not rated. 99 min. 1983: Tony brings a new girl to his Italian-American family's Christmas Eve feast.
Good Luck Charlie, It's Christmas!2011. Not rated. 80 min. Teddy and her mother are separated from the family on the way to Palm Springs.
Holidate2020. Not rated. 104 min. Two singles agree to be each other's date for every holiday of the year.
The Holiday Calendar2018. Not rated. 95 min. A photographer's antique Advent calendar seems to predict each day of her December.
Holiday in Handcuffs2007. Not rated. 86 min. A waitress kidnaps a stranger and presents him to her parents as her boyfriend.
Holiday in the Wild2019. Not rated. 86 min. A newly single vet spends Christmas at an elephant sanctuary in Zambia.
The Holiday Sitter2022. Not rated. 84 min. A bachelor uncle babysits before Christmas and falls for his sister's neighbour.
Hot Frosty2024. Not rated. 92 min. A widow's scarf brings a snowman to life as a man in Hope Springs, New York.
Jingle Bell Heist2025. Not rated. 96 min. Two strangers plan to rob a London department store on Christmas Eve.
The Knight Before Christmas2019. Not rated. 92 min. A 14th-century knight is sent to modern Ohio, where a teacher takes him in.
Love Hard2021. Not rated. 105 min. A writer flies to Lake Placid to meet an online match and finds she was catfished.
Meet Me Next Christmas2024. Not rated. 106 min. Layla hunts New York for a ticket to a sold-out Pentatonix show on Christmas Eve.
The Merry Gentlemen2024. Not rated. 87 min. A Broadway dancer stages an all-male revue to save her parents' small-town venue.
Mr. St. Nick2002. Not rated. 100 min. Santa's son enjoys Miami too much to take over. With Kelsey Grammer.
My Secret Santa2025. Not rated. 92 min. A single mother disguises herself as a man to land a ski resort's Santa job.
Nativity 2: Danger in the Manger2012. Not rated. 105 min. A new teacher and his class set off for a national song contest in Wales.
The Naughty Nine2023. Not rated. 83 min. A boy on the naughty list recruits a crew to raid Santa's village for presents.
The Noel Diary2022. Not rated. 100 min. An author clearing his late mother's house finds a diary with a stranger's story.
Nutcrackers2024. Not rated. 104 min. A Chicago workaholic becomes guardian to four unruly nephews on an Ohio farm.
Operation Christmas Drop2020. Not rated. 95 min. A congressional aide assesses a Guam air base. Based on a real Air Force mission.
Our Little Secret2024. Not rated. 101 min. Two exes discover at Christmas that they are dating a brother and a sister.
The Princess Switch2018. Not rated. 102 min. A Chicago baker and a lookalike duchess trade places before Christmas.
The Princess Switch: Switched Again2020. Not rated. 98 min. A third lookalike turns up and complicates a coronation at Christmas.
Santa Who?2000. Not rated. 88 min. Santa falls from his sleigh over Los Angeles and forgets who he is.
Single All the Way2021. Not rated. 101 min. Peter asks his best friend to pose as his boyfriend for Christmas in New Hampshire.
Three Wise Men and a Baby2022. Not rated. 84 min. Three brothers are left holding a baby over Christmas and have to work together.
Tinsel Town2025. Not rated. 94 min. A fading Hollywood action star is cast in a small-town English pantomime.
'Twas the Night2001. Not rated. 87 min. A con man uncle and his nephew borrow Santa's sleigh. With Bryan Cranston.
The Ultimate Christmas Present2000. Not rated. 80 min. Two Los Angeles girls find Santa's weather machine and make it snow.
Your Christmas or Mine?2022. Not rated. 95 min. Two students try to surprise each other and spend Christmas with the wrong family.
Romance 7
12 Dates of Christmas2011. Not rated. 90 min. Kate relives Christmas Eve twelve times until her blind date goes right.
A Boyfriend for Christmas2004. Not rated. 90 min. At 13 Holly asked Santa for a boyfriend. Twenty years on, one arrives at her door.
A Very Merry Mix-Up2013. Not rated. 87 min. Alice flies out to meet her fiancé's family and spends days with the wrong one.
Borrowed Hearts1997. Not rated. 91 min. A businessman hires a single mother and her daughter to pose as his family.
The Christmas Card2006. Not rated. 84 min. A soldier visits the California town that sent him a Christmas card in Afghanistan.
The Christmas Train2017. Not rated. 99 min. A reporter on a cross-country train meets an old love. From a David Baldacci novel.
Single Santa Seeks Mrs. Claus2004. Not rated. 96 min. Santa's son needs a Mrs. Claus before Christmas Eve, and meets a single mother.
TV and streaming 11
A Dog Named Christmas2009. Not rated. 95 min. A young man persuades his town to foster shelter dogs for the holidays.
A Muppet Family Christmas1987. Not rated. 52 min. Fozzie brings everyone to his mother's farmhouse just as a snowstorm closes in.
A Season for Miracles1999. Not rated. 90 min. An aunt on the run with her niece and nephew lands in Bethlehem, Rhode Island.
A Smoky Mountain Christmas1986. Not rated. 94 min. Dolly Parton as a singer who finds seven orphans hiding in her borrowed cabin.
The Christmas Shoes2002. Not rated. 94 min. A lawyer's path crosses that of a boy buying shoes for his dying mother.
The Christmas Toy1986. Not rated. 50 min. Rugby the Tiger, last year's favourite toy, cannot accept being replaced.
Dolly Parton's Christmas on the Square2020. Not rated. 98 min. Musical in which an angel tries to stop a Christmas Eve eviction of a whole town.
The Night They Saved Christmas1984. Not rated. 94 min. Oil drilling at the North Pole threatens Santa's city, and one family learns of it.
Prancer Returns2001. Not rated. 91 min. A shy boy in Three Oaks, Michigan hides a young reindeer he believes is Prancer's.
Snow2004. Not rated. 90 min. Santa's son must rescue a young reindeer from a zoo and falls for its keeper.
Snowglobe2007. Not rated. 90 min. Angela winds up a snow globe and wakes inside its perfect Christmas village.
How this list was compiled: List chosen and every line written for this site; nothing is copied from another site's list or wording. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Christmas_films was used only as a checklist of what exists. Each entry's year, running time and premise were checked on 2026-09-18 against that film's own English Wikipedia article (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ plus the film's title, read through the Wikipedia API): the year against the lead and the release field, the minutes against the infobox running time, and every name, place and number in the premise line against the article text. Membership rule: Christmas drives the plot, the story is set at Christmas, or the film is a fixture of Christmas viewing, and the film's Wikipedia article carries a Christmas, Nativity or Santa Claus category. General winter films were left out rather than used as padding. Ratings were looked up one title at a time on 2026-09-18 in the Motion Picture Association's own database at https://www.filmratings.com/ (search page https://www.filmratings.com/all-search-results/). A rating is given only where the database has an entry for this exact film: same title or listed alternate title, rated within a year of release, or a later entry that can only be this film. The certificate number is kept in each entry so the rating can be traced. 120 entries are rated (26 G, 53 PG, 29 PG-13, 12 R). 'Not rated' on the other 142 means only that the database had no entry for that film on the day checked: it covers films made before the rating system took effect on 1 November 1968 that were never rated for a re-release, television films and specials, and most films made for streaming, which carry television ratings that we do not list because we could not check them against a single official source. Not rated does not mean suitable for children. Where a film was rated years after release, for a re-release or a home-video edition, that rating is the one shown: It's a Wonderful Life (rated PG in 2012), The Lion in Winter (1975), The Christmas That Almost Wasn't (1972), A Christmas Carol of 1984 (1995), Father Christmas (1997), Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas (2002) and A Diva's Christmas Carol (2002). Same-title entries for remakes and unrelated films were rejected by hand, so We're No Angels, The Gathering, The Snowman, I'll Be Seeing You, The Cheaters, Christmas Eve, both versions of Babes in Toyland, The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus, Christmas Every Day and Saving Santa stay Not rated. Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol stays Not rated because its only entry is a 1970 double bill. Running times are the first figure in each article's infobox; 28 entries under 45 minutes are television specials and shorts, kept because they are what many families actually watch. Genre chips follow the wording of each article's opening sentence (comedy, romantic, animated); the TV and streaming chip marks television films, specials, direct-to-video releases and films made for a streaming service. Straight adaptations of A Christmas Carol are capped at five (1938, 1951, 1970, 1984, 2009); retellings with their own characters count as separate stories, and no other series has more than four entries. Left out on purpose: films with no Wikipedia article, no Christmas category or no stated running time, and anything we could not describe from the article. Text only: no posters, stills, logos or clips. 262 entries on the check date. Review interval: every 12 months, and sooner each November when the new season's films arrive. Licence: own work