Christmas movies are one of the best parts of the holiday itself. We all have a favourite festive movie, whether it’s one that reminds you of your childhood or one that you saw in later years that simply gets you in the Christmas spirit. Here are some fascinating facts about popular Christmas films.
Home Alone is one of the greatest films to watch around Christmas time. Most of us probably grew up watching it every year with our families and friends. We all admired the clever moves displayed by Kevin when faced with what many kids would describe as the dream – being left home alone. However, after all the pizza and party, we soon realise that there is a reason our parents don’t leave us by ourselves. Some of the scenes are incredibly iconic and recognisable. In one of the most chaotic, we see a large tarantula eerily crawl across Marv’s (played by Daniel Stern) face. The film’s prop department wanted to use a fake spider, but director Chris Columbus made them use a real one. Barry was the spider’s name.
2. Beaming Buddy
Elf is one of the more modern Christmas movies that quickly became a classic. Buddy the Elf (Will Ferrell) is an incredibly bubbly and happy character who aims to bring joy wherever he goes, even if it doesn’t always work out. When filming the scene where Buddy “discovers New York”, we see him dance around the streets of the Big Apple, annoying some strangers. No one in these scenes was a film extra. They were all regular people going about their day. Buddy even approaches a man dressed in a red tracksuit and a white beard and exclaims “Santa!” The man does not look impressed.
3. (Summer) Seasons Greetings
It’s a Wonderful Life follows George Bailey, who begins to question his entire existence around the holidays. Throughout the scenes, we can see plenty of Christmas imagery. The 1946 film even has some snowy footage which ended up changing the course of film snow for movies to come. However, the entire film was actually shot during the summer of the year of its release. The set was based in Encino, California during a heatwave. Due to the intense heat, filming would even have to be postponed some days. This was usually to prevent visible perspiration during a wintery scene, but there are in fact a number of times where we can, in fact, see real sweat on the actors’ faces.
4. Icy Imposters
Jim Carey was the perfect cast as the main character in How the Grinch Stole Christmas. Carey’s wit combined with the bizarre actions of the Grinch seemed to go together excellently. However, other considerations for the part included Eddie Murphy and Jack Nicholson. It’s hard to imagine anyone else in this film other than Carey.
For the role, he had to sit through 8.5 hours of makeup and costume. Understandably, this would be extremely difficult to be still for this length of time all the while someone is sticking things to your face. To cope with this, Carey sought out the help of a CIA member who trained him in torture-endurance techniques. Director Ron Howard recognised Carey’s discomfort. He decided to go through the process himself and be done up as the character. Carey was outraged when he saw Ron. He thought this imposter was someone taking his role!
Have you got any fascinating facts about your favourite festive film? Let us know down in the comments! Check out these recently made Christmas movies that are all available on Netflix.
