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    18 Christmas Movies That Folks Believe Are Utterly And Absolutely Perfect

    The Muppets are at least one of the reasons for the season.

    Mary Colussi
    by Mary Colussi

    BuzzFeed Staff

    I want you to look to your left. Now look to the right. What do you see? Endless Christmas movies. (This is assuming you're currently scrolling through a streaming service.) But how to decide which ones are worth your time, and which are, and I do not say this lightly, the content equivalent of Krampus? Luckily for all of us, redditor u/_BeyondEverything_ recently asked the intrepid holiday-makers of AskReddit, "What's the best Christmas movie of all time?" Here are 18 of Reddit's suggestions.

    Responses may have been edited for length and/or clarity. 

    1. "The original How the Grinch Stole Christmas! (1966 animation). It's fun, charming, memorable, and it's done in 30 minutes. It's the best option for a yearly X-mas watch."

    the Grinch eavesdropping on townspeople from a cliff
    NBC / Courtesy Everett Collection

    —Blueberry_Mancakes

    2. "A Muppet Family Christmas. All the Muppets go to visit Fozzie's grandma for Christmas, the Sesame Street crew get lost in a snowstorm and end up there, and Kermit and his nephew go visit Fraggle Rock. Oh, and the Swedish chef wants to cook Big Bird as the Christmas turkey. Just my absolute favorite."

    Miss Piggy and Kermit in Santa and Mrs Claus outfits
    ABC / Courtesy Everett Collection

    —TinyTeaLover

    "This is my favorite Christmas movie of all time, and when I tell people, they always think I mean The Muppet Christmas Carol, and I have to explain that no, it’s a made-for-TV Christmas special that my parents recorded for me on VHS in the '80s. It absolutely delights me to see this as the top answer!" 

    —panini84

    3. "Trading Places."

    Dan Aykroyd and Eddie Murphy standing outside in NYC
    Paramount / Courtesy Everett Collection

    —savior_self_

    "In Italy, it's a tradition to watch it on Christmas Eve. I have been watching it since 1997, and every year at Christmas Eve, it's broadcasted on one of the biggest channels here."

    —sonoskietto

    4. "Klaus."

    animated Santa and elf
    Netflix / courtesy Everett Collection

    —Easy_Ear_2409

    "Agreed completely. Klaus is a masterpiece. The way the town becomes warmer and brighter as lonely and hurt people begin to connect and find happiness. It’s the only Christmas movie I can’t wait to watch multiple times each year."

    —mariachi_ambush

    "Yearly tradition now to watch Klaus while trying not to cry."

    —Sunny__Jim

    5. "Scrooged. The blend of comedy and heartbreak, the pacing, the performances. Top tier."

    Bill Murray smiling
    Paramount / Courtesy Everett Collection

    —un4spyder

    6. "A Charlie Brown Christmas."

    Snoopy putting a star on a Christmas tree with other friends helping
    CBS / Courtesy Everett Collection

    —godspeedfx

    "Yeah, honestly without the score it would have been a cute, funny little Christmas cartoon, but not the classic it is today." 

    —wabawanga

    7. "Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town (1970). With songs like 'The First Toymakers to the King,' 'No More Toymakers to the King,' 'Be Prepared to Pay,' aka 'If You Sit on My Lap Today,' and the greatest Christmas song of all time: 'Put One Foot in Front of the Other.'"

    stop motion Santas and Mrs Claus
    ABC / Courtesy Everett Collection

    —TwoTheVictor

    8. "Home Alone (1 & 2)."

    Kevin McCallister and his mom talking by the stairs in their house
    20th Century Fox / Courtesy Everett Collection

    —AnteaterAvailable571

    "I prefer Angels with Filthy Souls."

    —Irbyirbs

    "The soundtrack alone makes them the best Christmas movies to me. They are genuinely amazing pieces of music, and some of them are part of my favorite Christmas songs ever. Songs like 'Christmas Star' sound like classic Christmas songs while they are in fact just made for this movie. John Williams is a genius."

    —TMCThomas

    9. "The Muppet Christmas Carol."

    Michael Caine as Scrooge with a group of muppets
    Walt Disney Co. / Courtesy Everett Collection

    —Plastic_Professor_93

    "Genuinely, Michael Caine is the best portrayal of Scrooge on film. Captures the full depth of his character better than any other version of the story. It’s the best portrayal of an iconic character, in an iconic Christmas story. So I don’t care if most of the rest of the characters are felt puppets — this is the best Christmas movie." 

    —breakfast_serial

    10. "It's a Wonderful Life."

    a family embracing
    RKO Radio Pictures / Courtesy Everett Collection

    —I_lift_heavy

    "It’s as close to a perfect movie as there is. No wasted scene, dialogue. As you grow up, the different scenes that impact you most intensely change. And if I really sit and watch — and don’t just have it on in the background — it still brings me to tears. 'To my brother George. The richest man in town.'"

    —joelekane

    11. "A Christmas Story."

    kids looking as one kid's tongue is stuck to a pole
    MGM / Courtesy Everett Collection

    —Heliotex

    "This is the only movie that I can think of that sums up what Christmas really means to kids: getting that perfect present. None of that heartwarming, all-you-need-is-love crap, just the materialism from the point-of-view of a kid."

    —LittleJohnStone

    12. "Can’t believe this hasn’t been said already: White Christmas."

    a man and a woman dancing
    Paramount / courtesy Everett Collection

    —spleegskeegs

    "This is it for me. If I don't watch a single other Christmas movie, fine, but I have to watch White Christmas. It's my dad's FAVORITE, and every time my sister and I would fight he'd start singing 'Sisters.'" 

    —nkbee

    13. "Die Hard!"

    Bruce Willis examining the inside of a box
    20th Century Fox Film corp. / courtesy Everett collection

    —Renjoh

    "Do I consider it a Christmas movie? No. Do I enjoy calling it a Christmas movie around others who insist it's not? Absolutely." 

    —mwagner1385

    14. "The Holiday."

    Kate Winslet and Jack Black sitting at a desk and laughing
    Columbia Pictures / Courtesy Everett Collection

    —Last-Distance6448

    "I LOVE that movie, and I never really thought about it, but yeah, I watch it about once a year in December."

    —_ChrisFromTexas

    15. "Elf."

    a large elf sitting in a store display window as a man looks curiously at him
    New Line Cinema / Courtesy Everett Collection

    —oneeyefox

    "The montage when he first gets to New York is one of the best comedy scenes of all time, in my opinion." 

    —P-d0g

    16. "The Night Before (2015) with Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Seth Rogen."

    three friends opening presents
    Columbia Pictures / Courtesy Everett Collection

    —user14134

    "This was one of those surprisingly great and immediately overlooked buddy comedies. Love the bit where they do 'Runaway' on the big piano."

    —FrancistheBison

    17. "Tokyo Godfathers."

    anime family looking shocked by something
    Samuel Goldwyn Films / Courtesy Everett Collection

    —Antique_Good2145

    "This was a life-altering film for me — glad to see it get a mention." 

    —Taraxacologist

    18. And finally: "Miracle on 34th St."

    Santa talking to a child
    20th Century Fox Film Corp. / courtesy Everett Collection

    —pmmpsu

    "Agreed. It captures the magic and spirit of Christmas and Santa Claus perfectly. Has to be the original though, not the remake." 

    —johnrobertallan

    Alright, it's time: Which favorites of yours are missing from this selection? Tell us about 'em in the comments!

    Note: Responses have been edited for length and/or clarity.