SURVEY SAYS: Favorite Holiday Movie 2013

This year, “Prancer” and “The Hebrew Hammer” received no votes. At the bottom of the list, with less than 1% of the vote is “An American Christmas Carol,” “Bad Santa,” “The Little Drummer Boy,” and “A Year Without a Santa Claus.” Equally as unpopular, with less than 2% of the vote is “How the Grinch Stole Christmas,” “The Polar Express,” and “The Santa Claus.”

Getting 2.6% of the vote each is “Home Alone,” “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer,” and “Scrooged.” “A Christmas Carol” and “Elf” each received 4.5% of the vote, while 7.7% of responding readers chose “A Christmas Story” and “Other.”

And the top five choices are:

5. “A Charlie Brown Christmas”;

4. “White Christmas”;

3. “Miracle on 34th Street”;

2. “Christmas Vacation”; and

1.”It’s a Wonderful Life.”

This year, “A Charlie Brown Christmas” replaced “A Christmas Story” in the top five. “Christmas Vacation” and “Miracle on 34th Street” climbed within the top five, and “It’s a Wonderful Life” retained the top spot.

“Other” responses included:

• Noelle
• Frosty the Snowman
• Bernard and the Genie
• Holiday Inn
• The Muppets Christmas Carol
• “This Christmas” starring Loretta Devine, Idris Elba, Chris Brown
• Scrooge (the one with Albert Finney)
• Lethal Weapon 1

Only 7.7% of readers indicated their selection changed from last year, and 65.2% said it didn’t change. The rest of respondents didn’t take the survey last year.

I asked readers how many times they’ve seen their “favorite.” Nearly 42% chose “too many times to count,” while nearly 31% reported they’ve seen their favorite holiday move more than 10 times, 18.6% six to 10 times, and 9% one to five times.

In verbatim comments, readers offered their second choices as well as suggestions to add to the list. Editor’s Choice goes to the reader (maybe the same as last year) who said: “As I was sitting Home Alone recently after viewing Christmas with Tucker, I felt a warm glow from thoughts of A Charlie Brown Christmas after seeing Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer passing by Frosty the Snowman in the midst of a White Christmas enjoyed at Holiday Inn; in the distance I heard the Bells of St. Mary’s bringing me memories of a past Christmas in Connecticut as well as the Miracle on 34th Street and reminding me that after Christmas Vacation is all done, truly It’s A Wonderful Life!”

Verbatim

Elf is probably a close second.

As I was sitting Home Alone recently after viewing Christmas with Tucker, I felt a warm glow from thoughts of A Charlie Brown Christmas after seeing Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer passing by Frosty the Snowman in the midst of a White Christmas enjoyed at Holiday Inn; in the distance I heard the Bells of St. Mary's bringing me memories of a past Christmas in Connecticut as well as the Miracle on 34th Street and reminding me that after Christmas Vacation is all done, truly It's A Wonderful Life!

They make the Christmas season

Sad to say, I'm starting to get into the Hallmark & Lifetime holiday movies. The insurmountable issue always manages to be solved/overcome in the end. Maybe there's hope for Obamacare and the government deficits.

Hard decision!

There is just something about A Charlie Brown Christmas that completely embraces what it is all about. Just sayin....

i love them. there are so many good ones.

I have several christmas favorites, a charlie brown christmas and rudolph the red nosed reindeer

I chose White Christmas, but I actually have several favorites: A Christmas Carol (any version except the animated ones), A Miracle on 34th Street (original version with Maureen O'Hara and Natalie Wood), How the Grinch Stole Christmas (the animated version, not the Jim Carrey version), Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, and a Christmas Story.

There will never be a better Christmas movie than "Christmas Vacation", hands down.

You all should find Bernard and the Genie and watch it. It is silly and fun and has Alan Cumming and Rowan Atkinson in it. If enough of you do that, it will get added to the list of favorites because it is an often overlooked gem.

Verbatim (cont.)

Next year, add Love Actually and The Holiday to the list.

My favorites include :Miracle on 34th Street, How the Grinch Stole Christmas and several versions of A Christmas Carol, but Charlie Brown's tree sits proudly in our living room every year, so I voted for A Charlie Brown Christmas this year.

I actually have several holiday movies I watch every year - in order! Miracle on 34th Street, The Lemon Drop Kid, Holiday Inn, White Christmas, Christmas Carol, and finally, It's a Wonderful Life on Christmas Eve. But Holiday Inn is the one I used to call in sick to work every year to watch on TV!

There are many good ones, so it would be nice to be able to rank them rather than just select our favorite.

"It's a Wonderful Life" is a very very very close second.

There are favorite funny christmas movies, and favorite traditional movies. The holiday isn't complete until you have seen at least one of each. For us, Holiday Inn with Bing and Fred is a favorite to get in the mood. Christmas Vacation somewhere in the middle of the craziness of the season, and then round it out with It's a Wonderful life. You can't have just one.

Love the original Miracle on 34th Street, there is no substitute!

Should add Love Actually to the list. It is my second favorite Christmas movie.

I like the Christmas movies that have a redemption story in them, Christmas Carol, It's a Wonderful Life, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, etc.

Love them. Gets me into the holiday spirit

Verbatim (cont.)

There have been so many versions of "A Christmas Carol" - some brilliant, others not so much. I could not choose that by title alone.

We used to watch A Christmas Carol with Alastair Sim every year while decorating the Christmas tree on Christmas Eve (ghost of Christmas future creeped me out for years!). Now, I watch it whenever I can catch it to see all the bloopers (like at the end when Scrooge looks at himself in his bedroom mirror and the crew is in the background).

I've seen It's A Wonderful Life so many times, I don't think I'm physically capable of seeing it again.

love the originals!

I first saw "Scrooge" in the theatre as a boy and have loved it ever since. I love musicals, and the songs in this movie are festive, touching, and/or thought provoking. I never get tired of seeing this movie!

Elf would be my second pick, but Frosty is my all time favorite!

I have watched A Charlie Brown Christmas every year since it came out; I believe 1965.

The Christmas episode of "Family Guy" where the Griffins go to war against Santa Claus is pretty good.

Love the singing & dancing in White Christmas--a remake of Sound of Music was made--why not White Christmas, too?

As far as more "traditional" holiday movies i do love Miracle on 34th st and Its a Wonderful Life, but Scrooged is the true number one.

Great way to rekindle memories with the kids, long after they're grown! Merry Christmas All!!!!

Verbatim (cont.)

I take time each year at this time to watch Prancer, White Christmas, Miracle on 34th Street, Pee Wee's Christmas Special, The Polar Express, It's a Wonderful Life and a Christmas Story in that order. My family thinks I'm nuts as I sit and cry through each movie... Ahhh the Holidays.

we watch the christmas story over and over and over and over again every christmas eve/day regarding of whose house we are at - some love it, some loathe it - i have ornaments, lamps and tee shirts - a kitchy classic that will last forever

Other favorites: "Die Hard" "Jingle All the Way" and "The Nightmare Before Christmas"

Like a sweet treat, you should never consume too much to help keep them fresh and special.

My favorite is "A Christmas Carol" but it's got to be the 1951 version with Alistair Sims, though; all other versions are pale imitators to that one.

Edmund Gwenn, Maureen O'Hara, John Payne, and Natalie Wood make Miracle on 34th Street such a classic movie that is one for the ages. It never gets old.

I might be willing to bet a nickel the outcome is likely the same as before. It's who came in 2nd that marks whether change is on the horizon. But, then again, what the heck do I know. Merry Christmas to All and many happy returns.

What's up with all the sappy movies on Hallmark Channel and Lifetime about some desperate girl trying to find a man at Christmas. No wonder people write in Die Hard as their favorite movie.

The animated classics have become my favorites!

I can barely remember last week, much less my response to a survey taken a year ago. But I'm glad the survey is back. And I'm not sure my pick isn't already changing for next year, having gained a fresh appreciation for "miracle on 34 th street." Merry Christmas to all, good tidings of great joy!

NOTE: Responses reflect the opinions of individual readers and not the stance of Asset International or its affiliates.