Top 5 Christmas Films
Top 5 Christmas Films
Christmas tales don’t always have to be read from a book, here are some of our favourite films to share with your children during this festive period
1 Elf
The story of Buddy, played by Will Ferrell, a baby raised by Santa’s elves and unaware of his human parentage until his size and sub-par toy construction make him question his place at the North Pole. The film follows him as he traces his biological father to New York City, meets a Santa ‘imposter’ in a department store and spreads festive cheer to everyone he meets.
2 Miracle on 34th Street
Originally released in 1947 and remade almost 50 years later with Richard Attenborough as Kris Kringle; a kindly bearded old man hired to play Father Christmas for Macy’s. Kris believes that he really is the jolly gift-giver for which the authorities try to commit him to a psychiatric institution. During the legal wrangling over his fate he manages to restore faith in Christmas magic and create a little of his own.
3 Home Alone
Macaulay Culkin stars as Kevin, the youngest of the five McCallister children, whose wish to be rid of his family comes true as he is accidentally left behind when they leave for a Christmas holiday in France. Initially he enjoys the freedom to do as he pleases and when a pair of inept criminals, believing it to be empty, attempt to burgle the family home he defends it using an assortment of homemade booby-traps; eventually though he comes to understand the value of family and is grateful when he is reunited with them.
4 Father Christmas
This 1991 animation of Raymond Briggs’ book follows a slightly grumpy Father Christmas as he takes a well-earned break before his busiest night of the year. He puts his pets in kennels and visits a number of countries around the world. Having been recognized by a child, he returns home to prepare for the year’s deliveries; once these have been completed he attends the annual snowman’s party where he meets James and his frosty friend from Briggs’ earlier work “The Snowman”. Both films are often packaged together and make for nostalgic viewing, The Snowman celebrating its 30th anniversary this year.
5 The Polar Express
Adapted from Chris Van Allsburg’s 1985 illustrated story using live action performance capture to incorporate Tom Hanks and other human characters into the CGI film. A boy’s belief in Father Christmas is starting to waver until he boards a train that appears in the middle of the night on Christmas Eve and is transported, along with a group of other children, to the North Pole to meet the man himself and is given a bell that only true believers can hear. It falls from his pocket but is later found wrapped under his family’s tree, the boy keeps it into adulthood and never stops hearing its ring.
