4 Christmas Movies You May Not Have Seen

During the Christmas season there's no shortage of lists and suggestions for numerous holiday movies to put you in that festive mood.

From the to films with the most obscure reference to the holiday, these cinematic choices generally help make your yuletide celebration a little more fun and a little less predictable.

This year, my own selection of recommended Christmas videos ranges from the sublime to the ridiculous, and were chosen mainly because they may be unfamiliar to (or simply forgotten by) many of you when pressed to compile some titles to fill out your own year-end entertainment playlist.

1. Beauty & the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas: As direct-to-video sequels go, this one (from 1997 as a follow-up to the original 1991 Disney blockbuster) is much better than most others of its ilk.

Technically not a "sequel" (since the story—after a brief framing device—takes place within the timeframe of the original film), the plot concerns that first Christmas in the Beast’s castle when Belle was there. All the original voice cast returned and were supplemented by several new characters voiced by Bernadette Peters (as a Christmas Angel ornament), Tim Curry (as an evil pipe organ named Forte), and even Paul (Pee Wee Herman) Reubens (as a cute little piccolo named Fife).

While the animation isn’t up to the level of the feature, it is very serviceable and is helped immeasurably by computer graphics in providing the snow effects as well as rendering the evil pipe organ character. Coming out of the Disney animated musical era, there are a number of new songs ably handled by the cast, most notably Paige O’Hara’s and Peters’ rendition of “As Long as There’s Christmas.” If you’re looking for a warm, heartfelt and, yes, enchanting animated holiday film with that special “Disney” stamp on it, this one's for you.

2. Christmas is Here Again - Much farther down the ladder from the high-gloss Disney look is this little curiosity from 2008, written and directed by Robert Zappia.

The movie was produced by Bethlehem, PA native Daniel Roebuck who managed to assemble a stellar voice cast that included Andy Griffith and Shirley Jones as Santa & Mrs. Claus, Ed Asner as the villain “Krad” (dark spelled backwards, get it!) and Roebuck, himself, as Paul Rocco, one of Santa’s feistier elves. In the cleverly designed storyline, the evil Krad steals Santa’s magic toy sack.

Without the magic sack there can be no Christmas, so it is up to Paul (and a sweet little orphan girl named Sophiana) to get it back. The artwork is extremely simple and stylized, which may feel at odds with how these films are usually realized, but it does have a certain charm of its own. Norm MacDonald (as a smart-alecky fox) nearly steals the film and Shirley Jones gets to sing.

The film is narrated by Jay Leno (of all people), an interesting choice given that actor/producer Roebuck once played Leno in the HBO film The Late Shift in 1996, about the Late Show dust up between Leno and Letterman.

3. A Victorian Christmas - Far from the story-based films that usually make these lists, this 90-minute documentary from 2006 covers the Victorian roots of our modern Christmas celebration. From Dickens to plum puddings and Christmas cakes  to game playing and caroling, this delightful British-made video brings the 19th century to life as it reveals many of our most cherished traditions for celebrating the holiday. So, take a trip back in time and enjoy this entertaining and informative special, which may just be the perfect Christmas Eve video to watch.

4. Santa Claus Conquers the Martians - It seems only appropriate that we end our list with one of the worst holiday films ever made. Released in 1964, the movie is even more dreadful than its risible title might indicate, as a cadre of inept Martians kidnap Santa (and a couple of kids, to boot) and spirit them back to the red planet. As it turns out, the Martian children have become lethargic and the Martians are hoping Santa can fix things.

One can almost hear the writer’s pitch "So you see, it’s really about caring parents. We just set it on Mars to jazz it up a bit!"

In an age when set design and special effects take center stage, SCCTM features a silver-painted cardboard box robot, a polar bear that is clearly some guy in a costume and sets that look like they were pilfered from a cancelled game show. Despite all that, if you’re in the right mood for some cheesy good fun, this film, bad as it is, can still raise a smile. For added pleasure, seek out the Mystery Science Theater 3000 version if you can.

Christmas is a time for giving and sharing, but it is also a time to count our blessings for whatever good fortune we may have in our lives. To that end, a little celebrating and a bit of entertaining go hand-in-hand with the season. A few holiday-inspired movies generally figure into our plans as well. Hopefully this list will provide you with some choices you’d forgotten about or might not have considered. Whatever the reason, they’re yours to enjoy.