The lyrics from the popular song featured in A Charlie Brown Christmas (not a Disney film, unfortunately) rings true this year more than others. 2020 has been rough, but it seems as though the Christmas season is bound and determined to bring us happiness and cheer. After all, it IS the most wonderful time of the year, COVID or not. And now that Thanksgiving has passed, it’s officially Christmas time which means watching our favorite movies on Disney+.
Welcome to Believe Vacations’ weekly post where this week, we name our favorite Disney Christmas Movies. For this article, our agents looked at the list of every Christmas movie on Disney+ and named their favorite. While there are some great specials and TV episodes that are a part of the Disney family, we are solely focusing on movies we have grown up on or Disney exclusives. We hope you enjoy this quick countdown and hope you find yourself by a warm fire with some Disney Christmas going on in the background to end the year!
8) Miracle on 34th Street
Almost 75 years later and this classic still holds up! The purest story about believing, it features Kris Kringle in New York City convincing anyone who will believe him that he truly is Santa Claus. Originally a Fox production, the Disney purchase a few years ago brings this classic home for the holidays.
7) The Nightmare Before Christmas
It has all the elements to NOT be a Christmas movie – Songs about Halloween, ghouls and skeletons, dark comedy, a scary baddie, TIM BURTON! But the gamble paid off and for almost 30 years, we have a new hero of bridging the time between Halloween and Christmas.
6) Home Alone & Home Alone 2
For the purposes of this entry, there are only two Home Alone movies regardless of what anyone says. Now that we got that out of the way, the Kevin McAlister vs. the Wet/Sticky Bandits movies bring together the innocence of youth, the physical comedy and destruction, emotional underlying themes of the importance of families and all-star casts of great actors and actresses of the early 90s.
5) Once Upon a Christmas and Twice Upon A Christmas
4) Noelle
Only one year old, Noelle launched with Disney+ in 2019 and became more than just a cute, Hallmark-lite Christmas film.” With a charming and funny cast, this is an easy watch for the entire family.
3) Mickey’s Christmas Carol
This film means so much to our Believe agents, we wrote an entire article on it which you can READ HERE. Nothing much more to say except the opening title is one of the most emotional songs in any Disney movie.
2) A Muppet Christmas Carol
Such a history with this movie and Disney. For starters, this was only the 4th main stream Muppet movie in history, the first since Jim Henson’s death, the first since the death of Richard Hunt (Scooter, Janice, Beaker, Sweetums) and the first to be produced by Disney. And with that, the perfect partnership was formed and has thrived for 30 years now!
1) The Santa Clause Trilogy
Some would say the original three Star Wars movies are the best trilogy ever. Well yes, they’re correct. But what Tim Allen brought us in the mid 1990s and into the mid 2000s was the perfect blend of the myth of Santa, the fantasies of the North Pole, the magic of Christmas, the importance of family and the benefits of believing. It’s worth mentioning that Allen’s portrayal of the Head Elf has ranked at the top of the list of mainstream Santas, further solidifying these as THE best Christmas movies to watch on Disney+
