When the winter season dawns upon us, one of the most exciting things is being able to cuddle up on the sofa and watch your favorite Christmas movies.
Whether it’s something you like to do on your own after work on a cold winter’s night or with your partner or family members, there are few things that make us feel more festive than Christmas movies.
Here are some facts that you might not already know about the most-loved holiday movies.
Arthur’s Perfect Christmas
This movie was the last time that Michael Yarmush voiced Arthur Read.
He had been voicing him since Season 1 was created in 1996, which meant that by the time he finished, he had been voicing Arthur for a total of four years.
Bad Santa
Bad Santa is definitely not suitable for children, and not only because the ‘f-word’ is used a total of 147 times!
In the Czech Republic, the movie is known as Santa is a Pervert.
Christmas in Connecticut
Christmas in Connecticut features a main character called Elizabeth Lane, who is a columnist writing for a newspaper.
She was loosely based on Family Circle Magazine columnist Gladys Taber.
Disney’s A Christmas Carol
This movie featured Jim Carrey who played a total of seven roles within the movie.
Not only did he play Old Scrooge and several younger versions of Scrooge, but he also played the three ghosts.
Elf
Elf featured a cameo appearance by Peter Billingsley, who played Ralphie in A Christmas Story.
While he went on to create and produce movies, he also enjoyed playing cameo roles in various productions.
In Elf, he played one of Santa’s elves un-credited, saying he did it just for fun.
Frozen
Frozen was created based on the story of The Snow Queen written by Hans Christian Andersen.
It was first suggested as an idea for a Disney movie in 1939 but took over 70 years to actually be produced and released.
Gremlins
Gremlins is thought to be one of the darker Christmas movies which are popular during the holiday season, but it was first intended to be even darker than that!
When Chris Colombus originally wrote the script, there were several scenes included that were cut out, including a scene where Billy’s mother is beheaded by the Gremlins.
Producers wanted the movie to be family-friendly, hence the reason it was cut.
Home Alone
Home Alone isn’t the only movie to reference another Christmas movie, but the family is shown watching It’s a Wonderful Life while in their hotel room in France.
Many Christmas movies have done this over the years in a subtle way that many people fail to notice unless they look out for it.
It’s a Wonderful Life
The movie was criticized by the FBI in 1947 and was accused of encouraging people to dislike bankers.
In the movie, the main character gets into financial trouble to the point that he is suicidal, causing much distress to himself and his family.
Jingle All The Way
Jingle All The Way follows a desperate father trying to get his son the popular action figure, Turbo Man.
The inspiration for the action figure came from Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, which was very hyped and prevalent at the time of the movie’s release in 1996.
Karoll’s Christmas
Karoll’s Christmas is an American comedy which features Jacob Marley – a fictional character related to the famous Bob Marley (Scrooge).
The main character Allen Karroll, who hates Christmas after bad memories of his ex-girlfriend, is visited by Jacob Marley and two other ghosts after they show up at the wrong address.
Love Actually
Love Actually is one of the most-watched Christmas movies every year.
Laura Linney, who plays Sarah in the movie, said that she wished her character hadn’t picked up the phone several times to her brother while in the bedroom with Karl, her love interest.
Miracle on 34th Street
In Miracle on 34th Street, Edmund Gwenn, who played Santa, took part in the real Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade as Santa 1946.
The scenes in the movie were from the actual real-life parade, but since Gwenn was Santa in both instances, it’s not easy to tell the real scenes apart from the movie footage.
Nightmare Before Christmas
Nightmare Before Christmas was thought to be a real nightmare to create!
Each character had to have a total of 24 different poses per second of the movie, which was a huge job for the animation team.
One Magic Christmas
One Magic Christmas is one of the few Christmas movies that was filmed in Canada.
Although there is plenty of snow, and it might seem like the perfect country for shooting winter scenes, a surprisingly small number of movies are actually shot here.
Polar Express
The Polar Express movie directors seemed keen to reference childhood homes and memories.
Not only was “11344 Edbrooke” director Robert Zemeckis’ real childhood home, but the author Chris Van Allsburg also referenced his hometown by showing a picture taken in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
Queen Isadora
Queen Isadora in the movie A Royal Christmas was played by actress Jane Seymour.
Apart from having a varied acting career and also publishing self-help books and materials, Seymour had also narrated another Christmas movie two years earlier in 2012 called Once Upon a Christmas.
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer is one of the most classic Christmas stories!
Following the journey of Rudolph, the entire movie is stop-animation and took 18 months to complete.
The work turned out to be worth it because it is the longest-running and highest-rated special in television history.
Scrooged
Scrooged was Bill Murray’s big comeback to the big screen since in the last four years, he had only played a small cameo part in Little Shop of Horrors.
He had chosen to take a break from filming, and although he was asking in 1986 to play the part of Scrooge, he just wasn’t ready until two years later in 1988.
Twas the Night Before Christmas
A lesser-known television animation, which is based on a famous poem that begins with the same line as the title.
Interestingly enough, this special was animated in Japan, although it was created for the United States.
Unlikely Angel
Unlikely Angel is a Christmas movie that features country singer Dolly Parton as the main character Ruby Diamond.
After not managing to earn enough points to enter Heaven, she returns to earth for a second time and is given another chance.
Veggie Tales: The Star of Christmas
This movie was created under a tight schedule in an effort to get the movie done.
While in production, most of the crew would even sleep in their offices just to get the film finished!
When released, The Star of Christmas became the second VeggieTales Christmas special.
White Christmas
White Christmas was initially meant to star Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire side by side for the two main characters – Bob Wallace and Phil Davis.
While Crosby went on to play Bob Wallace and famously sing the title song at the piano, the role of Phil Davis was played by comedian and actor Danny Kaye.
Xmas Without China
Xmas Without China diverges from the usual Christmas flick story by taking the form of a documentary.
The film follows a family trying to purchase Christmas gifts that are not made in China in order to be more ethical.
They end up spending $166 on Mexican Christmas tree lights, toasting their bread in the oven, and avoiding gaming on their Xbox during the holidays.
Year Without a Santa Claus
Year Without a Santa Claus was released in 1974 and was an animated film that was one of the first to show Santa Claus as being cranky and grumpy rather than always happy and jolly.
Ziggy’s Gift
Ziggy’s Gift is yet another animated television special, although this one is much lesser known.
The movie is based on the comic strip Ziggy, whose character never says a word in the entire movie!
Even so, the character remains honest and kind even while surrounded by thieves and bad Santas.
Now that you know some of the quirkiest and most interesting facts about all your famous Christmas movies, you’ll be able to spot them and share them with your friends this year!
