Need a holiday movie to watch? Tribune reporter offers suggestions
Every year around the holiday season I start getting the nostalgia buzz.
What exactly is this? Well it's the desire to watch and listen to as much holiday-related media as possible. And, yes, I sometimes start doing this in November — before Thanksgiving.
Searches for trending holiday and Christmas movies tend to be of the "National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation," "The Grinch Who Stole Christmas" or "Home Alone" variety.
While I like all those movies and TV specials just fine, I also tend to gravitate toward — while not obscure holiday movies — possibly less popular. Basically, anything that gives me that nostalgia buzz.
While I am a bit of an anglophile and could readily suggest U.K. shows and their Christmas specials, I have mostly stuck with U.S. produced movies and TV specials. I have included where to find them, if available.
Mixed Nuts
"Mixed Nuts" is a movie set at Christmas near Los Angeles, but it is less about Christmas and more about human foibles. An American remake of the French "Santa Claus is a Stinker" from 1982, the movie was a critical and commercial failure, but has had a slight second life as a cult classic. First-time viewing it wasn't a hit for me, but definitely grew on me in subsequent viewings for all of its farcical elements. Find it on Tubi for free with ads, on Peacock with a subscription or a streaming rental via other services.
Mickey's Christmas Carol, The Muppet Christmas Carol and Pluto's Christmas Tree
I'm lumping "Mickey's Christmas Carol," "The Muppet Christmas Carol," and "Pluto's Christmas Tree" together because all are must watches over the holiday season. I also understand that these are among highly popular viewings.
The Disney animated 30-minute special adaptation of Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol" is pure nostalgia bait for me. I grew up watching this recorded from the TV on a VHS tape, including the TV commercials. Available on Disney+.
The Muppet version is one of the better Dickens adaptations, including pulling lines directly from the novella for dialogue and Michael Caine playing the role of Ebenezer Scrooge as straight and as serious as if he weren't surrounded by Muppets but real people. Find it on Disney+.
Other Jim Henson productions of "The Christmas Toy" and "Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas" must also receive honorable mention. Be sure to pull up the "Celebrate the Season with Kraft" food recipe commercials that ran with "The Christmas Toy" on YouTube, so you can get the full nostalgia experience at commercial break points. Both are on Peacock. "The Christmas Toy is free to view, while "Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas" needs a subscription to view.
"Pluto's Christmas Tree" is again pure nostalgia bait. Pause the Disney short anywhere and it could be your next computer desktop image or phone lock screen. Chip and Dale find the tree they were living in chopped down by Mickey Mouse and Pluto, which then is decorated for Christmas. Hijinks ensue. Also available on Disney+.
Unlikely Angel
Every holiday needs a little Dolly Parton. And while she plays an angel in her Netflix special "Christmas on the Square," it takes her a little longer to reach angel status in the 1996 TV movie "Unlikely Angel."
Parton plays singer Ruby Diamond, who meets with an untimely demise, but cannot be granted heavenly entry until helping a workaholic widower father reconnect with his children.
For a while this movie was hard to find but has found a new home in streaming around the holiday season. Find it on Tubi, Pluto TV, The Roku Channel, Freevee or Plex.
Honorable mentions
Other holiday specials I fondly remember from my childhood were produced by Hanna-Barbera. This includes the at least three Flinstones holiday specials. They are available on Tubi.
The season 2 closer of "The Jetsons" also is "A Christmas Carol" adaptation. Also available on Tubi.
"Arthur Christmas" is a computer animated British film from the same studio that introduced the world to "Wallace and Gromit," Aardman Animation. It tells the story of one of Santa's sons, Arthur, making sure that a misplaced present gets to the deserving young girl. Find it on Max.
"The Family Stone" is another star studded holiday comedy that also explores human foibles when a tight-laced woman, Sarah Jessica Parker's Meredith Morton, meets her fiance's, Dermott Mulroney's Everett Stone, more laid back family, leading to many hijinks at the family home. Find it on Hulu.
"Last Holiday" stars Queen Latifah as a overly cautious retail worker who thinks she is dying and blows her savings and inheritance on a whirlwind European vacation at Christmas and New Year's. It's a loose remake of the 1950 British film of the same name. Available on Paramount+ or Pluto TV.
While not strictly Christmas movies, the thread that connects these two suggestions is actress Rosalind Russell and both movies have scenes set at Christmas.
The first is "Auntie Mame." A broad comedy with lots of quips, the movie follows the life of Mame Dennis, an eccentric socialite heiress from New York. When it was developed into the musical "Mame" starring Angela Lansbury, the Christmas song classic "We Need a Little Christmas" originally came from the musical. Streaming rentals are available.
In a role that was a complete 180, about eight years later Russell would play Mother Superior at an all girls boarding school in "The Trouble with Angels" opposite troublemaking teenager Hayley Mills. It is currently available free with ads through YouTube.
Many other nostalgic Christmas programs can be found by searching a decade paired with the search term "Christmas specials" or "Christmas movies," e.g. "1990s Christmas specials" on YouTube.
Charles Dunlap covers local government, community stories and other general subjects for the Tribune. You can reach him at cdunlap@columbiatribune.com or @CD_CDT on Twitter. Subscribe to support vital local journalism.
This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: Columbia Tribune guide to less popular holiday movies
