Christmas Classic TV Shows and Movies

I grew up before the age of the Internet. In December, I used to scan the TV guides we would get in the mail for my favourite Christmas movies and TV shows. There were definitely a few classics that I could never pass up:

• Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer (1964) - who wouldn't want to see a reindeer, elf-dentist-wannabee, and arctic prospector Yukon Cornelius triumph over the abominable snowman?
• The Little Drummer Boy (1968) - I think when I was a kid I imagined myself as being the little drummer boy.
• Frosty the Snowman (1969) - I'm not a huge Frosty fan now but when I was young it was a regular part of the fixture.
• Mickey's Christmas Carol (1983) - who knew that you could blaze through hundreds of pages of Charles Dickens' classic in 22-short minutes?! Does a pretty good job.
• A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965) -  this one is even better now then when I was a kid! The second one has some funny moments too.
• Jack Frost (1979) -  one of the more obscure ones but this one has a few holiday songs that are real gems - "It's just what I always wanted, it's perfectly right, it's just what I always wanted - a Christmas delight"!
• Twas the Night Before Christmas (1974) - have you noticed how many Bass/Rankin movies are on this list?! Another one with a catchy song.
• The Year Without A Santa Claus (1974) - Whose side are you on? The Heat Miser or the Snow Miser? It's on!
• And of course I love how my regularly watched TV shows (Transformers, Thundercats, etc.) would have Christmas shows which usually involved the main bad guy doing something nice for a change.
  

I'll save adult Christmas classics (e.g. It's a Wonderful Life, etc.) for another time but here are some more modern faves of mine.

• Home Alone (1990) - this one came out just at the edge of my childhood so it's not something I regularly looked forward to it but I can appreciate some of its charms including the great John Candy.
• Elf (2003) -  one of Will Farrell's greatest hits.
• National Lampoons Christmas Vacation (1989) - another one that is more for adults than kids but is bound to be played every year.
  
• And here's a guilty secret - those cheesy Hallmark Christmas movies you may have heard about? Glosette Girl and I are hooked! Yes the stories are predictable* and the acting is bad but something draws us in! Maybe because so many of them are filmed around here? Check out Christmas in the Heartland and The Princess Switch for starters.
  

Why is this coming up now? Because one of my absolute favourite movies was on last night: The Dog Who Stopped the War (originally titled La Guerre des Tuques). 

Orange Crush and Christmas movie = heaven

How many snow forts were inspired by this movie? There's a slightly sad tinge to the film but it perfectly captures the absolute ups and downs of childhood. Bonus points: it was filmed it Baie St-Paul, which I visited this past summer. The movie stands up to the test of time and amazingly the fashions are back in style again.

Good ol' Cleo

Super bonus points: I watched the whole movie in French on TeleQuebec. I understood...60%? Not bad.

* Beautiful yet-for-some-reason still single woman meets slightly stuffy prince or other businessman, they have some shenanigans, there is a mild misunderstanding and then they resolve everything to realize they are perfect for each other.