December 2, 2019

Christmas Movie Anniversaries in 2019

I spent a lot of time this year discussing some big anniversaries that happened to be this year. One area I missed was Christmas movies. And believe it or not, a few have notable anniversaries in 2019.


Let’s run them down:




Christmas with the Kranks-15th

Ok this isn’t the best Christmas movie ever made, by far!, but it’s still worth a mention. Where many films fade away (anyone remember Deck the Halls?) this one has managed to stay alive in people’s thoughts. Maybe because it starts Tim Allen? Flawed, but not as jaded as some other movies that have come out in the last 15 years that were really detestable.









The Polar Express-15th

The sad thing is that technology has improved over the last several years, making this animation in this one kind of dated. But if you ignore that and focus on the story and music, this is still a damn good movie. Yeah there’s a little to much filler but Tom Hanks does his best to make this movie memorable. And seeing how it’s always on I guess it worked.






The Santa Clause-25th

This was such a nice little movie, and I just loved it because of that fact. And that fact that Tim Allen is surprisingly good in this playing the cynical Scott Calvin turning into a really good Santa Claus. Yeah people love to pick on this movie today. A lot of people say that the kid was annoying (he never bothered  me) and since we live in a jaded time were people take things to seriously, the whole ting about Santa falling off the roof isn’t laughed off quite as easily as it was 25 years ago. I still enjoy this movie every year, and did a whole article on it if you want to know more.







Christmas Vacation-30th

While there’s nothing wrong with the first two Vacation movies, this is the one that has become a classic. I bet a lot of people even forget it’s actually a sequel. This movie would be soooo easy to hate with some its gags and of course Chevy Chase as the perv Clark Griswold. But John Hughes, being the king of awesome that he was, did a fantastic job of giving the movie enough heart and sentimentality that you can’t help but watch and be drawn in. There isn’t a person who can watch this movie and not have it remind them of something from when they celebrated Christmas as a kid. My favorite scene is when Clark is stuck in the attic watching old home movies with a nostalgic tear in his eye.







A Christmas Carol-35th

Man oh man does this one make me feel old. I can still remember seeing this for the very first time in 1984. I was 10!!! Well 35 years, and several new adaptations later, I still insist that this is the best version of Christmas Carol there is. No insult to the others (and I’ve done articles comparing them elsewhere) but this one has everything. It doesn’t add ridiculous scenes for no reason and remembers what makes the story work, even borrowing pages of dialogue from the book. And easily one of the best Scrooge’s as George C Scott nails every scene he is in. When he is being harsh to the softer one’s. I love this movie and I feel I can safely say that while I am sure other version will be made, this will always be THE version for me.








White Christmas-65th

Yeah this is an odd egg. Not because it’s old, but because it isn’t as fondly remembered as others. Miracle on 34th Street and It’s a Wonderful Life are classics that always come up when talking about Christmas movies. This one, flies under the radar. Don’t get me wrong, the people who love this move truly love it. And it has spawned live stage shows so it’s certainly around. It just doesn’t get the respect some other movies do. I guess I get it, since it took several viewings before I accepted that it’s actually a decent movie. Because while it drags and has a few pointless (even boring) song numbers, the heart is there. And the chemistry between Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye and Rosemary Clooney is just irresistible.







Oh and this….


How old? 55 years old this year! And it still plays on TV every single holiday, that’s just plain amazing. Especially these days, with technology advancing the way it is that people still want to come back to this speaks to just how much people love it. It’s not perfect, the animation is a little weird and the story flawed (with one or two blatantly sexist lines in there) but the songs are just as great as they have always been and I think everyone has one or two quote’s from this movie they remember.






And yes the remake of Miracle on the 34yh Street is also 25 years old this year. But I hated that movie and refuse to dignify it here. Did I miss any others? Comment and let me know.








You know, I just got the strangest feeling I forgot an anniversary this year…








aw nuts!

2 comments:

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  2. "Santa Clause" is good, even though I found the thing about the previous Santa falling to his death too grim. And yeah, I so hated Scott's bitchy ex-wife!

    "National Lampoon" is good, even though I hate a couple of scenes, like when Clark is lusting for and dreaming about another woman, or when a cat gets electrocuted.

    And yeah, I know I'm in the minority here, but I don't like "The Wizard of Oz", as I found it incredibly boring. I so prefer "The Wiz" with Michael Jackson and Diana Ross.

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