My December Christmas Movie Watchlist ✨ (and the Memories That Started It All)

Every December, as I start pulling together my Christmas movie list, I can’t help drifting back to the very first holiday movies that shaped what the season feels like to me. Before streaming, before watchlists, before being a busy grown-up with a million things to do - it was just me, a glowing TV, and the coziest little Christmas world I knew.

Two shows bring me back there every single time: Emmet Otter’s Jug-Band Christmas and Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.

When I think about them, I’m suddenly back in our living room in Pennsylvania, sitting cross-legged on the brown rug with my Strawberry Shortcake TV tray, wearing that scratchy ruffled Strawberry Shortcake nightgown that somehow managed to be both adorable and uncomfortable. To this day I swear I can still feel the texture of those ruffles.

Our little 4-foot artificial Christmas tree stood proudly in the corner, decorated with a sweet mix of handmade ornaments my sister and I crafted, plus those old satin-wrapped ornaments - the ones whose hooks snagged on everything, including thin air. Some of the spiky plastic lights blinked on and off in their own tempo, while the gold tinsel star did its best to keep up, glowing whenever it felt like it.

But my favorite part was the strand of those multicolored incandescent lights - soft, warm, and just a little bit magical. I’d hold up the faux stained-glass plastic ornaments from the 70s and place them behind the bulbs, and then I’d squint until the colors blurred together. It made everything feel enchanted… like if I looked hard enough, I might actually see Christmas.

Outside the window, snow gusted across our small town, frosting the glass and settling in little piles along the sill. And perched right on top of the TV, proudly overseeing everything, was the ceramic Christmas tree - tiny bulbs glowing like the world’s gentlest lighthouse.

And there I’d be - completely content - watching Emmet Otter row across Frogtown Hollow or Rudolph discover that being different is actually the best gift of all. Those moments stitched themselves into my sense of what Christmas feels like, and honestly? They still do.

So this December’s movie watchlist isn’t just about planning what to watch.

It’s about honoring that memory - that little version of me sitting on the brown rug, wrapped up in the glow of blinking lights, soaking in the magic of the season.

Stay tuned for the full list below, including A Christmas Story’s 24-hour Christmas Eve/Day marathon, Krampus on Krampus Night, Charlie Brown nostalgia, and a New Year’s Eve lead-up with Meet Me in St. Louis.

Because after all these years, I’m still that kid who believes Christmas is magic.

Admittedly, this list is not complete. I left plenty of space in here to fill in with YOUR favorites- including Rudolph and Mickey' s Christmas Carol and MUPPET CHRISTMAS CAROL (which gets multiple watches, usually when I am baking and wrapping)! What are your favorite movie traditions and memories?