15 Obscure Facts About Classic Christmas Films To Guarantee You Win Your Next Trivia Night

Yes, Die Hard is a Christmas movie. We've all agreed upon that a long time ago.

Chelsi

• Published in Christmas
• March 11, 2022

It doesn't have to be Christmas for you and your family to enjoy your favorite Holiday film. The movies alone can bring feelings of joy no matter what season it is.

While there is no shortage of films in this genre, there are some classic Holiday movies that we collectively love. You may not love all of the films on this list but we are certain that one or two evoke nostalgic feelings.

Although Netflix's own animated film 'Klaus' holds a special place in our hearts, nothing can replace 'Polar Express' as one of the most memorable Christmas cartoons we've seen.

The animation on the Polar Express alone is iconic (they have been meme-d, the true measure of relevance). There's something eerie about the lifelike features of the characters in the movie.

Aside from that, did you know that the Polar Express is based on a picture book written by Chris Van Allsburg? The author also wrote Jumanji, another massive movie franchise.

Tom Hanks, who played the conductor of the train, voiced 7 of the characters in the animated feature including the protagonist kid, Santa, and the narrator! The movie was so revolutionary that Guinness World Records recognizes it as a pioneer of the motion-capture style of filming.

Polar Express is not the only interesting Christmas film, however. Below you will find relatively unknown factoids about some of our favorite holiday classics.

1. In British star-studded 'Love Actually' (2003), the scene with the girl singing 'All I Want For Christmas Is You' was cut due to her sounding too good.

Apart from that trivia, the establishing shots and closing shots of people greeting one another at Heathrow Airport were done by regular people, none of them were actors.

2. Buzz's pet tarantula was real in the first 'Home Alone' (1990) movie

Daniel Stern, who played Marv (one of the burglars), shared that he insisted on using a live tarantula despite having an option of using a mechanical prop made by the production. By using a real critter, the actor said, his fear and reaction were more genuine.

3. For the second Home Alone film, then 10-year-old Macaulay Culkin was the highest paid child actor at that time making $4.5 million from the second movie

Added trivia: all of the kids in the toy store scene were asked to pick their favorite toy and were allowed to bring it home once the shoot was done. Looks like all of them were on Santa's nice list!

4. 70-year-old Frank Sinatra was the first actor to be offered the role of John McClane in the movie 'Die Hard' (1988)

He starred in the 1968 film 'The Detectives' where the characters for 'Die Hard' were first introduced. He had first dibs on the character according to his contract; John McClane would be very different had Ol' Blue Eyes accepted the offer.

5. The people on the streets Will Ferrell interacted with on the movie 'Elf' (2003) are actual New Yorkers and not paid actors

All of the food he ate was also real. He had to shove tons of candies, pancakes, and marshmallows during the scenes reportedly causing frequent headaches.

6. 'A Charlie Brown Christmas' (1965) was not expected to be successful by anyone at CBS including its director and producers

It was a 30-minute Christmas TV special aired on December 9, 1965, where 15 million families tuned in. The overwhelming number of viewers turned the gamble into an instant classic.

In 1966, 'A Charlie Brown Christmas' won a Peabody and an Emmy for outstanding children's programming. It ran on CBS annually for 35 years until ABC acquired the rights to it.

7. Michael Caine said he would only join the cast of 'The Muppet Christmas Carol’ (1992) if he was allowed to treat the characters as real people and he didn't address he was acting alongside puppets the entire time

The veteran actor was even more impressed when he found out that the film was Brian Henson's directorial debut. Everyone on set was in awe of Michael Caine's professionalism including Kermit the Frog who received a piece of advice from the actor which is to "never blink" while filming.

8. When Tim Allen played Santa on the film 'The Santa Claus 2' (2002), he didn't break character throughout since the child actors believed he was the real deal

He felt responsible for keeping the magic alive for all the kids on set. Oddly enough, not many adults would mistake Allen for anyone else at that time given that he was at the peak of his career.

9. Security searched the cars of the crew members of 'Gremlin' (1984) to make sure none of the Gremlins were stolen since each were valued at $40,000

Originally, monkeys in costume were set to play the Gremlins but they were too skittish when made to wear masks. Animatronic Gremlins were made to play the role but they cost production a fortune to make.

10. 'Happiest Season' (2020) director Clea Duvall shared that the film is basically an autobiography

Further, she said she wrote it since she has never seen her personal experience on screen. If Covid-19 didn't happen, the film would have been the first major studio theatrical release led by two women in a same-sex relationship.

11. The effects department of 'It's A Wonderful Life' (1946) won an Oscar for their fake snow

They used a combination of soap, water, and foam blasted through a wind machine to create fake snow. Before this, film crews used corn flakes which were too noisy to drop causing dialogues to be dubbed after filming.

12. Flick's tongue was not actually on a frozen pole in 'A Christmas Story' (1983)

The crew cleverly used a suction tube within the flag pole to create the illusion. Someone also bought the house used in the movie and shelled out a fortune to replicate the set; it is now a major tourist attraction in Cleveland.

13. Arnold Schwarzenegger's 'Jingle All The Way' (1996) is based on the Cabbage Patch Doll craze in the 80s

Since people go loco almost every Christmas, it also inadvertently mimicked the Tickle Me Elmo craze of 1996. They also got sued by a teacher for copying his Christmas frenzy script and won; the ruling was eventually overturned once production proved they had their own script long before the teacher submitted his.

14. Several cameras froze for real during the filming of 'Miracle On 34th Street' because of the crazy cold winter

15. Jim Carrey was not the first actor of choice to play the Grinch on the film ‘How The Grinch Stole Christmas’ (2000)

Legendary actors Eddie Murphy and Jack Nicholson were first approached to play the iconic role. The filming was so difficult that the makeup director had to go to therapy to deal with the job.

Actor Jim Carrey also felt so confined by the intense makeup process, he had to seek counseling from a CIA agent on how to withstand torture. Murphy and Nicholson must have felt so relieved after learning this.

Your favorite Christmas movies will never be the same after reading about all the backstage secrets. They are not all eggnogs and warm, fuzzy feelings are they?

Nevertheless, these facts make our favorite Holiday films a lot more intriguing. They will certainly make your Christmas viewing traditions more interesting.

Chelsi