| Written by Paul D. Race for Family Christmas OnlineTM |
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Christmas Movies for the Whole FamilyThis page will contain links to Christmas-themed movies that families enjoy watching together. We will try to include reviews and links to the DVD on Amazon. When a "Video on Demand" version is available, we will provide the link for that, too. Note: If you know you are out of time and want to download a Video on Demand movie to your computer for immediate viewing (or at least to see today), please jump right to our Downloadable Family Christmas Movies page. Most Christmas movies are not available that way yet, so if you have time to wait for a dvd to come your way, please take a look at the options on this page and the other Family Christmas Movies pages. Right now we only have a few movies listed, but check back later in the year - we hope to have more soon.
The Nativity Story
This is the most thoughtful and entertaining version of the Nativity story that I have ever seen on film. There is nothing in it to scare children, but there may be parts that small children don't understand, so this is a good movie to watch with them the first time they see it. Big people will also enjoy the accurate costumes, historical detail, and enduring, quite human, characters.
In case you are wondering, the journey to Bethlehem portrayed in this film is based on the account in the early chapters of Luke. The parts with Herod and the Magi, are based on the account in Matthew. To read those passages for yourself, you may jump to our Bible Story of Christmas pages. It's a Wonderful Life
Director Frank Capra and actor James Stewart had teamed up for previous movies like Mr. Smith Goes to Washington that show the "little guy" triumphing over incredible odds. This movie was darker and more complex than Capra's earlier works, though, and came at a time when the American public had become more pessimistic about the chance for good-hearted people to survive conflicts with "the system." In fact, contemporary critics dismissed it, ticket sales were down, and this movie all but heralded the end of Capra's productive years as a director. But there's something haunting about seeing Stewart believably play out the darkest hour of a well-meaning man's life, when it seems that everything that could go wrong has, and he really is worth more (financially) dead than alive.
Stewart's battle in this film is not with corrupt power (Mr. Potter notwithstanding), but with his own despair, and he needs more than a perky secretary to get him out of the doldrums - he needs supernatural help. The fact that it comes in the form of a bumbling trainee angel is what allows the movie to take a supernatural turn that is not all that different than Dickens' Christmas Carol. Stewart is at his best, and the supporting cast is fantastic. It's no wonder that two generations after it was made, this movie is the best-loved and best-remembered of either Capra's or Stewart's films. On the other hand, if you've seen this before, we'll excuse you for zapping through Uncle Charlie's trip to the bank. Interesting Facts - For several years, due to an unexpected lapse in copyright, this movie was not under copyright protection. During that time three colorized versions were produced, at least one of which was distributed on VHS, and shown on television. In addition a made-for-television movie called It Happened One Christmas was produced and shown. In that version, Marlo Thomas plays a female version of the (Jimmy Stewart) lead, as the daughter of a bank owner who gets stuck in a small town by her sense of responsibility and later considers taking her own life. Wayne Rogers takes the spouse (Donna Reed) role, and Orson Welles plays a far more sinister Mr. Potter than the original. When the copyright was restored on the original film, those adaptations became "illegal" and therefore unavailable from any "legitimate" source, but I have to confess I DID enjoy them. If It Happened One Christmas ever becomes legal again, I'll post it here in a hurry. :-) Elf
Wil Farrell is funniest when he is playing a clueless innocent, and no one is more innocent or clueless than "Buddy," a human raised by elves at the North Pole. A tremendous supporting cast, including Bob Newhart, James Caan, Mary Steenburgen, and Ed Asner, bring vitality and a sort of quirky plausibility to a movie that seems to start out in "Rudolf-land" and ends up with a cop-on-horseback-versus-reindeer chase scene in Central Park. Peter Dinklage (Prince Caspian's Trumpkin) has a bit as a children's author with an attitude that is almost worth the price of admission.
With the exception of Buddy's father choosing one of the few bad judgments (distributing a children's book with the last plot page missing) that virtually never takes place in that industry, everything else that happens in the movie seems to flow right out of the characters and from the conflict between Buddy's inherent good nature and naivete and the "real-world's" jaded cynicism. This is a remarkable movie, and will no doubt tie with Stranger Than Fiction as Farrell's most enduring work. One Magic Christmas
Mary Steenburgen stars as a modern housewife whose "Christmas spirit" disappears when it suddenly looks as though the family will lose everything they have worked for when her husband loses his factory job. The scenario is all too real, the characters are believable, the story is "character driven," and the acting is supurb.
Harry Dean Stanton as a harmonica-playing, quiet-voiced cowboy angel makes even the supernatural element fresh and integral to the film. Part of this movie may be a little intense for very small children, but it's no worse that most of what plays on network television between 8:00-9:00. If you are very concerned, when you watch the movie, and you see the part where a station wagon gets stolen, zap ahead or send the small ones into the other room until you see Harry Dean Stanton standing with the children in the snow. Muppet Christmas Carol
Michael Caine plays a believable Scrooge surrounded by a supporting cast of fuzzy characters. The plot is surprisingly close to the book, making this a good introduction to the story, and the sound track has some very nice songs that work outside of the film as well as in.
One feature that makes this especially useful for families with small children is the fact that that Gonzo and Rizzo "exit" the film just before it gets "scary." So if you are afraid the Ghost of Christmas Future will creep out the very small ones (it probably won't, but you be the judge), you just tell them to close their eyes, then you zap ahead until you see Gonzo again.
Polar Express
Chris Van Allsburg's charmingly illustrated book The Polar Express
tells a simple story of a boy who boards a magical train that takes him to the North Pole in time to see Santa departing with his sleigh and reindeer on Christmas eve. The movie stays true to the art and spirit of the book. However it introduces many other characters, including other children, and a frenetic conductor voiced and "played" by Tom Hanks. The CGI animation is clever and often impressive, and the "story line" stays true to the basic themes of the book. Alan Silvestri's sound track has some very memorable tunes, including the grand theme "It's the Spirit of the Season."
I'm a rail fan, and I do have to confess that the Polar Express train does some things that real trains can't do, but it's fun to watch. Creepy Scene Alert - Also, regarding small children, there is one creepy scene, in which the boy is left behind in a car filled with broken puppets that see to be grabbing at him. You might want to zap through that scene as you watch - it doesn't add anything to the plot. Also you might be interested to know that one of the best Lionel sets released in the last ten years is a very nice model of the Polar Express train shown in the movie. Click here to see the Lionel Polar Express premium train set and several other Lionel Christmas trains. Note: If you are out of time to order a dvd, this movie is also available as a download. As always, please contact us with any questions, suggestions, or corrections. Paul and Shelia Race To return to the Family Christmas OnlineTM Home Page, click here.
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