My Favorite Holiday Movies and TV Specials (Even the Guilty Pleasures)
Holiday movies and television specials can be entertaining while evoking nostalgia or sharing a hopeful message. Honestly, I love holiday movies, and I have since I was a kid. My favorites are ones I could watch over and over again. I’m focusing on Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas.
Here are some of my favorites.
Favorite Halloween movies and TV specials
Hocus Pocus (1993)
What’s not to love about three witches coming back 300 years after being executed during the 17th century? This Disney comedy is super fun to watch. Max and his little sister Dani are new in Salem. Max doesn’t put much stock in the Halloween story he hears at school about the Sanderson sister witches. Later, along with his sister and his crush Allison, Max lights the black flame candle that brings back the witches. Hilarity ensues as the kids try to keep the witches from sucking the life force from Salem’s children.
After it was released on home video, I watched it with my mom and younger sister on Halloween night from the time I was 12 until I left home for college. And in typical teen fashion, one of the reasons I enjoyed the movie so much was because I thought the actor who played Max (Omri Katz) was cute. I’ve shared the movie with my kids and still watch it almost every year, but sadly, they don’t love it as much as I do.
Casper (1995)
This live-action movie starring Christina Ricci as Kat was released in the mid-1990s. Devin Sawa, the teen star (and another teen crush) who depicted the legendary ghost in human form, had less than 5 minutes of screen time. I enjoyed the movie very much and collected trading cards when it was released. I probably still have them in an old scrapbook somewhere. The movie was enjoyable and featured digitally rendered ghosts. Having lost my father at a young age, I could identify with Kat’s grief over the loss of her mother.
It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown (1966)
I’ve watched Snoopy’s antics and little Linus waiting in the pumpkin patch for the great pumpkin to show every Halloween season for as long as I can remember. I’m a huge Snoopy fan and will continue to enjoy them even if my kids don’t appreciate them like I do.
Favorite Thanksgiving movies and specials
Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday, and there are not nearly enough movies about it, definitely not counting the 2023 horror movie, which was so bad it was good.
Planes, Trains and Automobiles (1987)
Steve Martin and John Candy star in this hilarious comedy centered around Thanksgiving travel and multiple mishaps. It is rated R for language, but I remember seeing it as a kid in its TV edited format. Steve Martin plays Neal, a man desperate to get home to his family for the holiday, and John Candy plays Del, an annoying traveling salesman. My favorite scene is when Neal loses his cool at the rental car counter.
A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving (1973)
Charlie Brown hosts a Thanksgiving lunch for friends after Peppermint Patty invites herself and starts the whole celebration going. Snoopy and Woodstock help by cooking up a feast of toast, pretzel sticks, popcorn, and jelly beans (probably left over from when he was the Easter Beagle). I adore the special and watch it every year.
Christmas Movies and Television Features I Love
National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation (1989)
This is another movie I watched as a kid, thanks to the TV edited edition. When I was a little older, my mom let me watch it on VHS (yes, I’m that old). I love watching Clark Griswold (Chevy Chase) and his family prepare for Christmas. With Christmas tree hijinks and unexpected family visitors, this hilarious movie never fails to make me laugh. And Clark’s flip-out moment that ends with, “Where’s the Tylenol?” is among the best moments.
Home Alone (1990)
I watched this movie on VHS one Friday evening during the summer of 1991 when my stepsister was in town. My mom brought home pizza from Little Caesars and rented some videos. We all loved the movie, and I’ve seen it several times since then. It’s completely implausible in the way that only kid movies can get away with. Kevin booby-traps his home to outsmart a couple of burglars when he’s accidentally left there alone.
Holiday in Handcuffs (2007)
This gem stars Melissa Joan Hart and Mario Lopez. It aired on ABC Family during the Christmas season of 2007. It was probably a couple of years later that I stumbled upon it. The movie is completely ridiculous and off the wall, but I absolutely love it and have watched it multiple times. It’s everything a cute, made-for-TV holiday romantic comedy should be.
Prancer (1989)
I first saw this film at school during the days leading up to Christmas break, when the teachers allowed us to have a long rest period with a movie. It’s not the greatest movie in the world, but it holds a lot of magic within its low budget. A little girl named Jessica believes a hurt reindeer is Santa’s Prancer. She’s a precocious child who’s grieving her mother and navigating living in a world of magic while her father is a struggling farmer and realist.
Little Women (1994)
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott is probably my favorite book of all time. I remember it being one of the first long chapter books I read as a child, around 9 or 10 years old. When the movie version starring Winona Ryder as Jo March was released on Christmas Day in 1994, I was thrilled and couldn’t wait to see it. Fortunately, my wonderful Aunt Diana took me to see it. It was excellent and remains my favorite adaptation. While the whole story isn’t set at Christmas, it is an important holiday for the March family.
A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965)
This is my favorite of the Peanuts specials. Charlie Brown isn’t sure what the meaning of Christmas is. He’s chosen to direct a Christmas play and has trouble controlling the actors, including Snoopy. Charlie Brown selects a pitiful Christmas tree that the other kids make fun of and then demands that someone tell him what Christmas is all about. Linus drags his blanket to center stage and tells the Bible story of the birth of Christ. It’s simple and beautiful.
Honorable mentions
These are other holiday movies I’ve enjoyed:
- Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992)
- You’ve Got Mail (1998)
- It’s a Wonderful Life (1946)
- Miracle on 34th Street (1947 and 1994)
What are your favorite holiday movies?
Let me know in the comments if you’d like to share.
Thank you for reading,
-Brandi Easterling Collins
