Blogmas Day Eight Festive Films – Old Favourites

A few days ago I talked about the films I want to watch this Christmas, but we all have those comfort films we return to year after year, don’t we? The ones we spend most of the year itching to watch, but knowing it just wouldn’t feel right unless it’s almost Christmas. So today I wanted to talk about them, and yes, they’re all, funnily enough, Disney.

The Muppet Christmas Carol

An absolute classic, combining Dickens’ timeless tale with The Muppets was a stroke of genius, and I expect resulted in many a child’s introduction to the story of Scrooge. The way Caine plays off The Muppets, and the way they tell the tale, it funny, heart-warming, and incredibly sad. It’s all-around brilliant, and with a heavy dose of scare with the Ghost of Christmas Future. Between this and Treasure Island, it’s hard to understand why we don’t have more Muppet reimagining’s of Classic novels.

Mickey’s Christmas Carol

Yes it’s another Christmas Carol reimagining, this time with Mickey Mouse and Scrooge McDuck taking over the story. In what might possibly be the shortest Christmas Carol retelling, Mickey is Bob Cratchit, Goofy is Jacob Marley, and Donald is, well, the nephew, of course! It’s fantastic for kids maybe a touch too young for Muppets, and it’s done in such a sweet way.

Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas

The first of two Beauty and the Beast sequels, this one is all about the magic of Christmas. Taking us back to during the curse, The Enchanted Christmas shows Belle trying to celebrate Christmas in the castle, despite the Beast’s wishes not to do so. But with the help of friends, and going up against the slightly terrifying Forte (played brilliantly by Tim Curry), Belle manages to save Christmas. This truly is a lovely film, and it’s definitely a lovely one to get you in the Christmas mood. I had this one on VHS as a present one year, and I must have driven my parents’ up the wall watching it constantly, all year round.

A Walt Disney Christmas

I would give absolutely anything to watch this in its entirety again. Yes, okay, most (if not possibly all?) the shorts are available on Disney+, but there was something just absolutely perfect about the VHS itself, the way everything flowed together. It was my nan who owned this video (a collection she kept for when the grandkids came over), but she’d lend it to me at points and it was another one I watched year round. This one was rereleased multiple times through the 90s, but never seems to have made it onto more recent formats.

So there we have it – my favourite Christmas films, the ones I always think of this time of year and look forward to watching, either just before or just after Christmas Day. Except for the last one, but with that I do live in hope! What about you, what films do you watch every year? Do you go for cheesy fluff, or reach for Home Alone and Die Hard?