The other evening, just settling down with Thai food takeout, we were quite delighted to catch National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation on the telly. This, the ultimate 80’s Christmas funny movie. Once the tree had burned, the boss kidnapped, family memories made, and the credits rolled...I got to thinking about the Christmas movies we watched growing up.
We had a taped-from-Disney-Channel VHS tape that had Christmas Vacation and Prancer on it, back to back. I would watch this every Christmas, over and over again. If you haven’t seen Prancer, I really recommend it. Must’ve been filmed in Canada because it is all snowy and wooded and pretty darn magical. Plus it features Sam Elliot (the narrator from Big Lebowski) as Rebecca’s Dad.
#1 - Prancer
We also had a movie store in Dickson called Video Vision, which just happened to be right next door to my parents drug store. I can remember getting off the bus at the store, doing homework in the back room (unless I was made to dust shelves...yuck!) until 6:00 when the store closed down, and then running next door in the cold to rent either One Magic Christmas or Santa Claus: The Movie. One Magic Christmas has a similar plot line to It’s A Wonderful Life, with more forlornness. The humbug Mom in this movie and the Angel Gideon always stand out in my mind.
#2 -Once Magic Christmas
Santa Claus: The Movie is my final favorite Christmas movie. This one attempts to explain the mysteries of Santa Claus, elves, flying reindeer, etc. It even has some ending scenes of magic candy canes that make you fly. Pretty sweet!
#3 -Santa Claus: The Movie
Happy December Y'all!
Merry Christmas to you all!!
10 years ago
