Family
Best festive holiday movies for families with young children
Break out the popcorn! Here are a few of my favorites for young families, and where to find them.
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By Jennifer DuMond Zelek, WRAL contributor
As soon as Thanksgiving ends I am ready to start binging holiday movies. Add a case of illness to that, and all the more so. While I’d love to share my favorite holiday hits with the whole family, movies like "Love Actually," "The Holiday," "White Christmas," and every iteration of the girl meets prince and falls in love just in time for the holidays trope, they lose something in translation with a 3-year-old. Thus began my search for family friendly holiday films that we could all watch together.
Best holiday movies for Christmas
So break out the popcorn! Here are a few of my favorites for young families, and where to find them.
The Snowy Day
The Snowy Day is an Amazon Original film based on the popular book by Ezra Jack Keats. In the movie, main character Peter walks to his Nana’s house to have her famous mac and cheese for Christmas Eve dinner. I especially loved that the film was very representational of different ethnic and religious backgrounds. The movie is appropriate for all ages, although best for small children, and has the added benefit of being available in a ton of different languages. Clocking in at only 39 minutes this short film is perfect for those with short attention spans.
What I love about it: The film represents different ethnicities and holiday traditions.
Click Clack Moo: Christmas on the Farm
Click Clack Moo: Christmas on the Farm is an Amazon Original based on the Click Clack Moo book series by Doreen Cronin and Betsy Lewis. If you haven’t heard of this series of books, there is still a good chance that your children have. In the film, the farm animals race to buy farmer Brown the perfect Christmas gift, and Duck works to get himself off of Santa’s naughty list. The movie features the voices of Pete Davidson, Rachel Bloom and Patton Oswalt, and is suitable for all ages at a modest 36 minutes. However, It’s definitely geared toward the younger set. The movie is only available in English.
What I love about it: It’s perfect for the littles.
Pete the Cat- A Groovy New Year
The Pete the Cat- A Groovy New Year episode kicks off season one of the Amazon Original series "Pete the Cat," based on the best-selling books. In the episode Pete’s family and friends try to help him make a New Year’s resolution before midnight strikes. Good for all ages, but best for young kids, and only 23 minutes long. Available in many different languages.
What I love about it: It’s New Years Eve theme makes it appropriate for families of different faith backgrounds.
Grinch Who Stole Christmas
There are so many great versions of the Grinch Who Stole Christmas, that I couldn’t pick just one. With small variations in presentation, the story depicts a Christmas-hating grinch who tries to stop Christmas from coming to Whoville, only to be shown that Christmas isn’t made of the material things, but resides in your heart.
What I love about them: It’s an important annual reminder that Christmas isn’t all about the material things.
The G-rated, and shortest, version best for the smallest of your littles is the OG 1966 cartoon version. I thought the grinch might be a little scary for a toddler, but that didn’t seem to be the case! The original The Grinch Who Stole Christmas is available to watch for free on the Peacock App or to rent on Amazon Prime.
Still family friendly, but with Jim Carrey’s voices and hijinks to make it more comedic and appealing to your older children as well, Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas directed by Ron Howard is a live action version of the classic. This version is rated PG, lasts an hour and 45 minutes and is available to watch on Freeform or to rent or buy on Amazon.
The latest version, 2018’s animated Illumination Presents: Dr. Seuss’ The Grinch, features the voice of Benedict Cumberbatch and is rated PG. It lasts an hour and 45 minutes and is available both on the Peacock app and the FXNow app, in addition to renting or buying on Amazon.
The Polar Express
The Polar Express is a favorite Christmas book of millions, and watching the movie is another great way to share the story. In it, a young boy travels on a magical train to the North Pole on Christmas Eve to learn about the magic of belief. While some of the early CGI animation is a little creepy, it's nice to see the classic story come alive off the page. Tom Hanks stars as the voice of multiple characters, including the film’s young protagonist. The hour and 40 minute film is rated G and available on Hulu, Max, and Amazon Prime.
What I love about it: It brings a favorite book to life.
Merry Christmas Charlie Brown
Merry Christmas Charlie Brown and the other holiday Charlie Brown episodes are such a cultural institution that I used to show them to my students abroad as a way to share American traditions with an audience limited in their English proficiency. This can make them a great pick for small children as well, although the animation obviously doesn’t compete with that of newer films. Unfortunately, now that Apple TV has exclusive rights, you can no longer watch these classics on cable, but as a concession you can view them with free access to Apple TV on Dec. 16 and 17, 2023. What I love about it: Charlie Brown is not only an American institution, but in 1968 animator Charles Schulz was one of the first to integrate his comics, by adding a black character named Franklin shortly following the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Mickey's Christmas Carol
If you have some Disney loving kids (or adults!) at your house like I do, Mickey's Christmas Carol is a great way to share the classic Charles Dickens tale in a short family-friendly format perfect for young audiences. While it’s a little older (1983- Not that that’s old!) it still scored 100% on Rotten Tomatoes, is rated G, and has a manageable 26 minute runtime.
Mickey’s Once Upon a Christmas
If The Christmas Carol is a hit, try Mickey’s Once Upon a Christmas. The hour and six minute film is made up of three shorts, my favorite being a Disney version of O. Henry’s short story The Gift of the Magi.
What I love about it: Disney makes a nod to classic literature.
PG-rated holiday films for families
If your children run a little older than mine, these PG holiday films may be more to your childrens’ (and your) liking.
A Christmas Carol
For audiences a little more mature, with longer attention spans, try either the PG-version of Disney’s A Christmas Carol featuring Jim Carrey, or A Muppet Christmas Carol with a full cast of your favorite Henson Muppets.
The Nutcracker and the Four Realms
If you are a sucker for a classic story retold, Disney also has their PG-rated version of The Nutcracker, The Nutcracker and the Four Realms available for streaming. With acting heavyweights like Morgan Freeman, Kiera Knightly and Helen Mirren, Disney uses all the production value at its disposal to create a surreal world not unlike Oz, Narnia, or Wonderland. All of these movies are available to view on Disney Plus, with some available on additional streaming services like Hulu.
What I love about them: Exposing kids to holiday classics like Dickens and adapted excerpts of music by Tchaikovsky (although I wish there was more of it.)
Elf
Elf, directed by one of my favorites, Jon Favreau, stars Will Ferrell as Buddy, a human child raised in the North Pole as an elf who sets out to find his real family. Hilarity ensues. The movie is best watched with candy, candy canes, candy corn and a side of maple syrup. Runtime is an hour and 36 minutes. It’s available on the Hulu app, the Max app, and Amazon Prime Premium.
What I love about it: It’s a lot of laughs for the whole family.
Home Alone
What could be more fun than revisiting some of your childhood holiday movie favorites with your kids? John Hughes’ Home Alone movie franchise has stood the test of time for a reason; physical comedy is funny. Macaulay Culkin cemented his place in holiday movie history in his role as the troublemaking Kevin McCallister who terrorizes the burglars trying to rob his house at Christmas. The film runs an hour and 45 minutes, and can be seen on Disney Plus and premium subscriptions of YouTube, Amazon, Hulu, Roku, and Starz. If your kids like the first one, fortunately the sequel Home Alone: Lost in New York is arguably just as good.
What I love about it: The nostalgia of sharing a ‘90s holiday favorite with your kids.
The Santa Clause
The original movie The Santa Clause may have debuted in 1994, but they have been coming out with sequels (of varying quality) ever since. Most recently the Santa Clauses TV series has aired two seasons on Disney in 2022 and 2023. The virtues of all the sequels, and the series in particular, are debatable. However, the original film featuring a regular guy (Tim Allen) who unwittingly becomes Santa Claus, is still very enjoyable in all of its corny holiday glory. The original, sequels, and series are all available on Disney Plus. The original can also be rented on Amazon Prime. What I love about it: For all its corniness, the original feel good movie is just a plain good time.
Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey
Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey shines with an excellent cast led by Forest Whitiker and Keagan-Michael Key. This PG family film debuted in 2020 with a tale of an eccentric genius toy maker, the invention stolen by his apprentice, and his tenacious granddaughter’s success at re-inspiring him. The movie musical features an entire soundtrack of music and dance numbers including a song by John Legend. This is a longer film at just over two hours, but provides a visual feast. The movie can be seen exclusively on Netflix.
What I love about it: Representation matters, and is often lacking in children’s holiday movies. In this film, it’s here in abundance.
Hanukkah movies, TV shows
Speaking of representation, I had to dig a lot deeper for Hanukkah movies available to stream. It was a lot easier to find episodes of children’s shows with Hanukkah themes than actual full length films. If you have small children with short attention spans, you may even find it preferable. The PBS KIDS App has an hour and 45 minute collection of Hanukkah cartoons called PBS KIDS Celebrate Hanukkah! featuring characters from PBS KIDS like Peg and Cat, and everyone’s favorite aardvark Arthur.
Dreamscape Kids has an 11-minute short called Hanukkah Bear and a 7-minute short called Latke, the Lucky Dog.
The Elena of Avalar series on Disney Plus has a 23-minute Festival of Lights episode perfect for any Disney Princess loving kids. On the Peacock App, the show Nina’s World has a Hanukkah special on Season 1 episode 27.
Sesame Street has a Shalom Sesame- Chanukah the Missing Menorah short film, filled with classic Sesame Street style educational tidbits. The featurette is available on Apple TV and Amazon Prime.
For a blast from the 90s past, you can dig out the Rugrats Chanukah episode during Season 4 episode 1 on Paramount Plus.
If you are seeking a full length feature film, my favorite (loosely) Hanukkah related movie for children remains the G-rated “American Tale,” featuring Fievel Mousekewitz and his family who emigrate from Russia to America after a group of evil cats destroy their village on Hanukkah. The film is currently free to rent on Amazon Prime.
Kwanzaa movies, shows
If finding Hanukkah films was challenging, finding child-friendly Kwanzaa films was even harder. The first Kwanzaa film made specifically for children, KT & Me: A Kwanzaa Family Special, sounded promising, but now that the exclusive place to watch it, www.KidPositive.tv is seeking a new streaming platform, you can only view less than three minutes of the film on YouTube. Very disappointing.
As with Hanukkah movies, it’s a little bit easier to find children’s TV episodes featuring the Kwanzaa celebration. Sesame Street and PBS KIDS offer up Kwanzaa episodes, as does Season 1 Episode 11 “Seven Days of Kwanzaa” of the 2001-2002 cartoon The Proud Family. The Proud Family, and its new updated series “The Prouder Family” air on Disney Plus.
As Kwanzaa is a celebration of African-American heritage and culture, one of the latest and arguably best children’s movies to do this is the Disney- Pixar movie Soul, available on Disney Plus. While not focused at all on the holiday of Kwanzaa, the film is family-friendly and definitely pays homage to African-American culture.
I certainly couldn’t get to every great holiday movie there is to enjoy with your family, but these are some great G and PG rated picks to get you started. Happy Holidays!
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