White Christmas

Christmas Eve is the perfect time to settle beneath a cozy blanket, next to the glow of the Christmas lights and the smell of pine, to watch a family movie. From “It’s a Wonderful Life” and “White Christmas” to “A Charlie Brown Christmas” and “A Muppet’s Christmas Carol,” the festive films run far and wide. Selecting just the right story can be agonizing with so many great choices, so here is a list of the holiday’s very best offerings.

Christmas classics seem to reign supreme for the baby boomer generation. The black-and-white nostalgia of “It’s a Wonderful Life” (1946) captures the innocence and the good will of a nation struggling to regain a sense of optimism following World War II. James Stewart and Donna Reed give compelling performances in a heart-wrenching tale of a suicidal man’s realization that he meant so much to so many people. Another old Christmas season classic from the same era is “Miracle on 34th Street” (1947), which was remade in 1994. A department store Santa finds himself in court when he professes to be the real deal, which captures the heart of a six-year-old skeptic. Lastly, White Christmas (1954), starring Bing Crosby, where dance, romance and hard economic times take center stage.

For younger children and even nostalgic teens, the 1940s and 50s black-and-white films simply don’t interest them. However, there are many kid’s classics to choose from. With the advent of computers, stop-animation and claymation are dead arts; however, we can still enjoy them in classics like “Will Vinton’s Claymation Christmas Special,” “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer,” “The Year Without A Santa Claus,” “Davey and Goliath’s Christmas” and “Santa Claus Is Coming To Town.” For the puppet lovers, there’s “Emmett Otter’s Jug-band Christmas” and “A Muppet’s Christmas Carol.” Classic cartoons include “Frosty the Snowman,” “Garfield’s Christmas Special,” “A Charlie Brown Christmas,” “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” and “Mickey’s Christmas Carol.”

Some Christmas movies re-visited later in lfe may strike you as quite odd the second time around. “Babes in Toyland” (1986) is definitely one of those movies. Suddenly you recognize Lisa Piper as a young Drew Barrymore and Keanu Reeves as “Jack Be Nimble.” At its heart, it is a story about a child who grows up too fast, but on the exterior there is an evil villain bowling his home down the streets of Toyland, bizarre minions fighting toy soldiers and a rather fantastical setting. Of course, there were many other versions of this tale as well, most notably the film featuring Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy.