Fact or Fiction: The Greatest Christmas Movies Of All Time

It all started when the Christmas movie The Shop Around the Corner was released in 1940, proving that there’s a massive audience for holiday films, especially ones about Christmas. Several other Christmas classics came out during the 1940s, like Holiday Inn (1942), Meet Me in St. Louis (1944), Christmas in Connecticut (1945), It’s a Wonderful Life (1946), Miracle on 34th Street (1947), and Holiday Affair (1949). More Christmas films were also released in the ’50s, including the classic White Christmas (1954). These films paved the road for the future of holiday films.

However, aside from the release of Dr. Seuss How The Grinch Stole Christmas (1966), we would not get a second Christmas movie boom until A Christmas Story (1983). That film is not only one of the best Christmas movies ever, but it also kick-started a movement of the best Christmas movies ever. Before long, we were watching National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation (1989), Die Hard (1990), Home Alone (1990), The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992), The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993), The Santa Clause (1994), Elf (2003), Bad Santa (2003), and The Polar Express (2004).

The idea that a Christmas movie could be a legitimate work of art was proven in the ’90s, and now it’s your turn to show just how much you know about the best Christmas movies ever.

Greatest Christmas Movies of All Time

The greatest Christmas movies of all time date back to the 1940s when It's a Wonderful Life changed the way we would watch holiday movies. From National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation to How the Grinch Stole Christmas, some of the greatest films of all time just so happen to be Christmas movies too.

Even action and comedy movies like Die Hard and Bad Santa are able to join the ranks, alongside Christmas classics like Home Alone, The Santa Clause, and The Nightmare Before Christmas. It can be a romantic comedy or a dark tragedy, just as long as a holiday movie captures the Christmas spirit.

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Question 1/10

The Nightmare Before Christmas (Choose the answer that is true.)

Although most characters had several puppets each, Jack Skellington only had four to help make him seem real.
Oogie Boogie was actually a last-second addition to the film, and it took almost a year to film all his scenes.
The original idea for the film was actually a three-page poem Tim Burton wrote in 1983 before Disney fired him in 1984.
It took a team of over 100 people close to six years to film the stop-motion moves.

Question 2/10

Bad Santa (Choose the answer that is true.)

Bad Santa was John Ritter's second to last film before his untimely death.
The film's profanity count broke the record when it reached 800.
Although it's called Bad Santa, the script did not originally include much profanity, but it was later added in once they let Billy Bob Thornton run with it.
If you loved Billy Bob Thornton as Bad Santa, just imagine Jack Nicholson or Bill Murray playing the part because they both wanted to do it but couldn't.

Question 3/10

Elf (Choose the answer that is true.)

Although Will Ferrell is now the only person that could play Buddy, screenwriter David Berenbaum initially wanted Chris Farley to play the lead role.
Although she is a singer in real life, Zooey Deschanel did not sing any of her songs in the film due to her being very sick throughout filming.
Peter Dinklage filmed his scene in one day and improvised most of his lines alongside Will Ferrell.
Will Ferrell and Jon Favreau had such a great relationship that they started working on a sequel, but it ended up getting canned when Marvel came calling.

Question 4/10

A Christmas Story (Choose the answer that is true.)

The Daisy Rifle Company that produced the Red Ryder BB Gun in the film is a fictional company that people are still trying to find.
Even while using a hidden suction tube, Flick's tongue actually did get stuck to the flagpole, causing filming to stop for a few days while he recovered.
The family ate the same meal every night, which consisted of meatloaf, green beans, and rice.
A Christmas Story was such a great film that it ended up inspiring Neal Marlens and Carol Black to create the TV series The Wonder Years.

Question 5/10

It's A Wonderful Life (Choose the answer that is true.)

The infamous gym floor scene where a pool emerges from underneath was created for filming and is not a real thing.
Frank Capra hired a professional marksman to throw the rock that was supposed to break the window of the abandoned house, but Donna Reed did it herself to the amazement of everyone on set.
Bedford Falls was actually a small town in Northern Iowa.
Although there have been rumors about collaborations, Frank Capra is the only writer of the script.

Question 6/10

Home Alone (Choose the answer that is true.)

Joe Pesci had to wear shoes with lifts in order for both him and Daniel Stern to fit in the frame throughout their scenes together.
The scene where Kevin steals a toothbrush was the final scene shot during filming.
In order to seem realistic, Daniel Stern requested the prop team use real ornaments for him to step on so his reaction would be authentic.
Macaulay Culkin improvised the infamous line, "You guys give up, or are you thirsty for more?"

Question 7/10

National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (Choose the answer that is true.)

Clark's rant about his boss has always been rumored to be improvised, but it was actually performed exactly how it was written in the script.
The scene where the cat gets electrocuted was not real, but it was inspired by a real incident that happened on set during filming where a squirrel got electrocuted.
The Dodge pickup used at the beginning of the film was the same one used in the movie Overboard as Kurt Russell's work truck, and it was also featured in They Live.
The house used in the film is a real house that just so happens to have also been used several other times in various movies throughout the '80s.

Question 8/10

Die Hard (Choose the answer that is true.)

One of John McClane's infamous undershirts worn during filming was sent to the Smithsonian Museum by Bruce Willis.
The original screenplay had the film taking place over the course of one week, but the director decided to change it so the film would not be five hours long.
Die Hard director John McTiernan made sure all the actors stuck to the script and did not try to improvise anything.
Harrison Ford was going to star in Die Hard but couldn't because of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.

Question 9/10

The Santa Clause (Choose the answer that is true.)

In order to hire Tim Allen to play Santa Claus, Disney had to break their own policy of not hiring ex-cons.
Many television airings of The Santa Clause have edited out the scene where Scott Calvin fights with his ex-wife.
This is one of the only Disney films that does not feature a Hidden Mickey.
Tim Allen was the first person offered the role of Scott Calvin, but while he weighed his options, Richard Gere was also asked about the role.

Question 10/10

The Muppets Christmas Carol (Choose the answer that is true.)

This was the second Muppet movie where Kermit the Frog was not the lead character.
While filming The Muppet Christmas Carol, Sir Michael Caine gave Kermit the Frog some advice by telling him, "Never blink."
In order to get the muppets to seem more real, they shot most of the film alone while Sir Michael Caine had to pretend he was talking to them.
Miss Piggy first appears in the film during the opening credits, making it the earliest she ever started on screen in a movie.

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Fact or Fiction: The Greatest Christmas Movies Of All Time