Christmas movies
Dec. 11th, 2018 12:58 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
scripsiI was talking about Christmas movies with a friend. She always watches The Wizard of Oz at Christmas; something about the technicolor makes her associate it with Christmas. And not all the movies I connect with Christmas isn’t strictly speaking Christmassy, even if some are.
The movie I always and forever will connect with Christmas is The Tales of Beatrix Potter. It’s not a Christmas movie at all, it’s a ballet based on Beatrix Potter’s stories. For reasons unknown Swedish television aired it in the early afternoon December 23 for years, though they haven’t for about 20 years, and I haven’t seen it since then. But it was an essential part of Christmas all through my childhood, and this year I really crave to watch it again. Luckily it available on DVD, so I’m giving it to myself.
Here’s the trailer, which includes the incredibly scary part of Squirrel Nutkin and the owl. I used to hide under the TV when that scene came.
I also have a very strong feeling of Christmas when it comes to Singin’ In the Rain, which isn’t about Christmas at all. Perhaps it is the Technicolor which give sit the holiday vibe, as my friend thinks.
Another movie is the animated movie Gnomes. In Swedish these creatures are called “tomtar” or “tomtenissar”, and Father Christmas is called “Tomten”, so even if it may seem like a Christmas movie in other countries, it feels like it here. And it was always aired around Christmas too.
Disney’s From All of Us to All of You. It has been aired every single Christmas Eve (which is the day Swedes celebrate Christmas) in Sweden, at 3 in the afternoon, since 1960. When I was a child cartoons were almost never shown on television, except during Christmas. Even today this show, despite all the TV channels we have now (when I was a child there was only two), gets almost the whole of Sweden sitting down to watch it.
Mighty Mouse
Bamse a Swedish comics and cartoons about a bear who gets incredibly strong when he eats the special honey his grandmother makes. He is very kind and always stand up against bullies. He has two best friends. A rabbit called Lille Skutt who is scared of everything, but still usually manages to overcome his fears when he is needed. And the turtle Skalman who is an inventor knows everything, but always eats and drinks when his alarm clock says it’s time, which means he usually sleeps just when Bamse needs his help the most. I loved this comic! Especially the episodes when Bamse and his friends travel in time. I didn’t have Doctor Who as a kid, but I did have Bamse!
What are your Christmas movies?
The movie I always and forever will connect with Christmas is The Tales of Beatrix Potter. It’s not a Christmas movie at all, it’s a ballet based on Beatrix Potter’s stories. For reasons unknown Swedish television aired it in the early afternoon December 23 for years, though they haven’t for about 20 years, and I haven’t seen it since then. But it was an essential part of Christmas all through my childhood, and this year I really crave to watch it again. Luckily it available on DVD, so I’m giving it to myself.
Here’s the trailer, which includes the incredibly scary part of Squirrel Nutkin and the owl. I used to hide under the TV when that scene came.
I also have a very strong feeling of Christmas when it comes to Singin’ In the Rain, which isn’t about Christmas at all. Perhaps it is the Technicolor which give sit the holiday vibe, as my friend thinks.
Another movie is the animated movie Gnomes. In Swedish these creatures are called “tomtar” or “tomtenissar”, and Father Christmas is called “Tomten”, so even if it may seem like a Christmas movie in other countries, it feels like it here. And it was always aired around Christmas too.
Disney’s From All of Us to All of You. It has been aired every single Christmas Eve (which is the day Swedes celebrate Christmas) in Sweden, at 3 in the afternoon, since 1960. When I was a child cartoons were almost never shown on television, except during Christmas. Even today this show, despite all the TV channels we have now (when I was a child there was only two), gets almost the whole of Sweden sitting down to watch it.
Mighty Mouse
Bamse a Swedish comics and cartoons about a bear who gets incredibly strong when he eats the special honey his grandmother makes. He is very kind and always stand up against bullies. He has two best friends. A rabbit called Lille Skutt who is scared of everything, but still usually manages to overcome his fears when he is needed. And the turtle Skalman who is an inventor knows everything, but always eats and drinks when his alarm clock says it’s time, which means he usually sleeps just when Bamse needs his help the most. I loved this comic! Especially the episodes when Bamse and his friends travel in time. I didn’t have Doctor Who as a kid, but I did have Bamse!
What are your Christmas movies?
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Date: 2018-12-11 12:39 pm (UTC)My favorite Christmas movie must be Grinch (the Jim Carrie version is the only one I'm familiar with, and it works for me ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ ).
ETA: and Hogfather!!
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Date: 2018-12-11 12:46 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-12-11 03:01 pm (UTC)"Hogfather" is a decent adaptation of an excellent Terry Pratchett novel. I remember most of the movie as entertaining and nice, and then there's one scene that gives me ALL of the feelings about mythology and the way humans will MAKE meaning and hope and justice where there is none... they're a secular kind of spiritual feelings, I guess.
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Date: 2018-12-11 06:55 pm (UTC)I'll second Hogsfather. I'm not sure how much it would mean to someone unfamiliar with the Discworld universe, but it made me happy.
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Date: 2018-12-12 05:32 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-12-12 06:14 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-12-12 12:09 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-12-12 12:06 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-12-12 01:33 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-12-11 02:11 pm (UTC)For us, the movies were all of the old traditional ones, beginning with A Christmas Carol, the version with Alistair Sim as Scrooge. We always watched the expurgated version of Holiday Inn, which never made much sense but had such gorgeous dancing by Fred Astaire that we never cared. It's a Wonderful Life is my favorite Christmas movie. Meet Me in St. Louis with Judy Garland has that breathtaking scene where Garland sings "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" and breaks my heart. A Child's Christmas in Wales is based on a memoir by Dylan Thomas, A Christmas Story on one by Jean Shepherd. My son loved The Santa Clause so we bought that for the VCR. And of course, A Charlie Brown Christmas based on the Peanuts characters. We had all of these on VCR tapes, either homemade or store-bought. Finding them on DVD or Blu-ray has been a challenge.
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Date: 2018-12-12 12:11 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-12-11 02:27 pm (UTC)My dad wants to watch It's a Wonderful Life (1947) which is a legitimately not a great film and did not do well at all when it premiered. Specifically, it did so badly that when the copyright ran out in 1974, no one bothered to renew it because they never thought they could make money off it - so TV stations could air it without paying royalties for about two decades. Then in the 1990's the copyright was privatized again, so it's only on one channel. My dad always wants to watch it, and it's the most dull film I can think of, but he get mopey if we don't.
The under-40 set in my family want to watch Muppet Christmas Carol , (1992) which is a delightful musical with muppets - Michael Caine plays Scrooge. It's a great movie, Gonzo is Charles Dickens, Rizzo the Rat is his hilarious sidekick, and the tone of the original play is pretty well preserved and there are several songs that are actually quite touching. One in particular, "When Love is Gone," is cut from some versions but it is really the emotional heart of Scrooge's self-reflection - it's when he first realizes that his greed has cost him an individual person in his life, not just possible relationships with hypothetical people.
Anyhoo, we usually end up squabbling over which to watch for a while, then we watch both.
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Date: 2018-12-12 05:35 am (UTC)That's amazing. :D And Muppet Christmas Carol sounds like a great time.
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Date: 2018-12-12 12:14 pm (UTC)But The Muppets Christmas carol I love- it's mentioned in the post. :)
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Date: 2018-12-12 02:08 pm (UTC)Huh, I guess I didn't see Muppets mentioned in the post. no worries - I'm happy to find another fan
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Date: 2018-12-11 06:58 pm (UTC)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJxW5kSF0CA
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Date: 2018-12-12 12:16 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-12-11 07:53 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-12-12 12:21 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-12-11 08:49 pm (UTC)Another regular was ITV putting on a James Bond movie on public holidays, but the current Daniel Craig incarnation is far less family friendly (You know Bond is a Timelord, right?)
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Date: 2018-12-12 12:27 pm (UTC)You know Bond is a Timelord, right
Yes. He must be! :D
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Date: 2018-12-11 11:48 pm (UTC)Love, Actually
The Night They Saved Christmas
Santa Claus: The Movie
The Santa Clause
I also really like White Christmas and Holiday Inn.
I also tend to associate the first Harry Potter movie with Christmas
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Date: 2018-12-12 05:50 am (UTC)Ooooh, it IS kind of Christmasy! Nice icon :)
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Date: 2018-12-12 12:28 pm (UTC)Yes, me too, when I think about it!