Sometimes, it feels good to be a little more thoughtful, even melancholy, about the holidays. If you’re not the types to always be in a holly, jolly mood, you’re in good company. Neither is Charlie Brown, who in this classic special goes on a deep journey to discover the true meaning of Christmas. The soundtrack, by composer Vince Guaraldi, is also a must-listen come this time of year. Mark the calendars: Apple TV+ has already announced that it’ll make the special available for free for two days only, on December 16 and December 17.
45 Best Animated Christmas Movies That Definitely Make the “Nice” List
Whether you’re looking for old Christmas cartoons or new favorites, these will please the whole family.
By Marisa LaScala Updated: Oct 17, 2023
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There’s something about Christmas movies that lend themselves to being re-watched. It’s because Christmas is so wrapped up in traditions and nostalgia that you find yourself reaching for the same titles year after year. And, more often than not, you want to go back to the movies from your childhood, possibly to share them with your own kids.
That’s probably why so many Christmas movies for kids still rank in the top echelons of the greatest Christmas movies of all-time — and why so many of them are animated. When you get ready to make your lists this year, check out these best animated Christmas movies to watch in 2023. Some are those classic cartoon shorts that have been kicking around for years, and the abbreviated length makes them good for younger viewers. But there are plenty of full-length features, too, which do deep dives into different aspects of Christmas lore. And yes, there are also newer favorites, too, vying to earn a spot in the yearly rotation. Brew the cocoa and gather the family around one of these on your next movie night.
Looking for more great Christmas movies? Check out these Good Housekeeping guides:
Coming Soon — The Bad Guys: A Very Bad Holiday
Netflix
In The Bad Guys, a bunch of animals with bad reputations — including a wolf, a shark, a snake, a tarantula and a barracuda — try to walk the straight and narrow. But is that enough to land them on the “Nice” list? And when Christmas is unexpectedly canceled, what will they do? The half-hour Netflix short will find the answers — or you can get the accompanying book. It debuts on Netflix on November 30.
Klaus (2019)
Netflix
This is one of the few animated Christmas movies (perhaps the only?) to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. It lost to the mighty Toy Story 4, but kids still find the story — about a postal worker who befriends a toy maker in a chilly, remote town — extremely charming.
It’s hard to believe, but there was a time when Mimi’s inescapable ear worm was just a forgotten novelty song from yet another standard-issue pop-singer holiday album. Now, in a post Love Actually world, hearing ‘All I Want For Christmas Is You’ for the first time in a year is one of the most reliable signs that the holidays are here. The song came and went when released in 1995, but snowballed in cultural cachet in the aughts, slowly climbing in popularity every year before finally topping US charts in 2019 and the UK charts in 2020. Complaining about its ubiquity has become a pastime for killjoys at pubs, but it’s their loss: From the twinkly intro to Mariah’s tour-de-force delivery, everything here is as timeless as it is flawless.
Image: Columbia Records
‘Last Christmas’ by Wham!
A ballad of doomed romance, ‘Last Christmas’ features sleighbells and synths, plus some truly memorable knitwear in the video. But what really sets ‘Last Christmas’ apart is George Michael’s heart-on-sleeve delivery: his genuine heartbreak horror (‘My God! I thought you were someone to rely on’) and wistful, sexy whispers. The words ‘Merry Christmas’ never sounded so sultry.
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Image: Philles
‘Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)’ by Darlene Love
Is this the most moving Christmas tune of all time? Probably – the combination of Darlene Love’s impeccable pleading vocal, Phil Spector’s gloriously tinselly production and Ellie Greenwich and Jeff Barr y ’ s magical songwriting could make anyone, even the biggest Scrooge, melt like a snowman under a hairdryer. It’s just an absolutely perfect Christmas song.
Photo: Lawrence Watson
