When the holidays arrive, nothing beats curling up with a great comedic Christmas movie to brighten your spirits and bring a dose of laughter into your home. These flicks combine heartfelt holiday themes with side-splitting humor to create the ideal recipe for holiday pleasure. In this post, we give a list of comedic Christmas films that are sure to make you laugh and spread holiday cheer.
The main problem with Christmas films is a lack of variety. It’s difficult to come up with new ideas for Christmas films, especially family comedies. But nothing beats a flash of imagination mixed with world-class talent. These are the funniest Christmas films ever created, and they feature both.
1. Scrooged (1988)
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The late 1980s were a golden age for Christmas comedies. Along with Christmas Vacation, they consider Scrooged to be one of the most hilarious Christmas films. It’s an innovative twist on A Christmas Carol’s “told many times before” plot, and Bill Murray’s terrific lead portrayal is one of the most near-perfect movie renditions of Ebenezer Scrooge. Murray at the most cruel and sardonic, playing among the most evil Holiday movie villains, simply cannot be beat.
2. National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation (1989)
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Clark Griswold simply wants to provide a great Christmas for his family—and possibly a pool. Since the 1980s, this holiday favorite has made us laugh, from Cousin Eddie using his small lavatory to the squirrels in the tree. And don’t overlook young Juliette Lewis as well as Johnny Galecki as the Griswold kids in a few of the funniest holiday films of all time.
3. The Santa Clause (1994)
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Many children have probably fantasized about what would occur if their father was Santa Claus, and that’s what occurs in this ’90s classic, in which Tim Allen is forced to take up Kris Kringle’s responsibilities after forcing him to fall off the roof. Obviously, many reindeer and sleigh-related shenanigans ensue.
4. How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000)
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Grinch lives alone just outside of Whoville. He despises the townspeople and Christmas. Cindy Lou, a six-year-old girl who believes in the festival’s spirit, decides to change him. In a remake based on the Dr. Seuss classic, Jim Carrey plays the eponymous green guy, replete with Max the beagle and the reindeer with the horns and the other Whos who live in Whoville. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, and your heart could expand three sizes after watching.
5. Eight Crazy Nights (2002)
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Davey Stones, a 33-year-old alcoholic, gets into legal trouble when his reckless habits go too far. He gets sentenced to performing community service to help him change his ways. So, technically, this is a Hanukkah film—but we couldn’t resist putting this Adam Sandler cartoon classic set during the celebration of lights in a little hamlet in New Hampshire. Furthermore, it hits all of the Christmas movie beats we’ve grown to recognize and love.
6. Christmas With the Kranks (2004)
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When the Kranks reveal that they will not be celebrating Christmas, everyone is shocked. When their daughter chooses to visit, they go into a frenzy to plan a spanking Christmas. Tim Allen found a niche with his humorous Christmas films, didn’t he? In this ensemble, which also stars Jamie Lee Curtis and Dan Aykroyd, Allen plays Luther Krank, a man who is finally ready to ditch holiday customs and spend the week on a Caribbean cruise with his wife (Curtis). His neighbors, on the other hand, had other plans.
7. Elf (2003)
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This is the best funny family Holiday movie you could watch. Buddy’s only wish is to celebrate Christmas alongside his family. His entire family. Buddy the Elf (Will Ferrell) is an orphan who got adopted by an elf at the Arctic Pole and grew up in Santa’s workshop. But when he discovers that his biological dad is still alive and well in New York City, he explores the world of people for the first time, bringing Christmas cheer and causing some mayhem along the way. See, his father (James Caan), an overbearing children’s book publisher, is on the bad list of all the terrible things.
8. This Christmas (2007)
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Have you ever wished for a Christmas film that combines a family dramedy and a musical rom-com featuring superstars such as Regina King, Idris Elba, Loretta Devine, and Delroy Lindo? What’s more, it already exists! The season of Christmas follows the Whitfield family’s holiday adventures when their eldest son returns back for the very first time in 4 years—and everyone’s secrets are revealed.
9. The Knight Before Christmas (2019)
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A medieval knight is transferred to the current day and falls in love with a science instructor at a high school who has lost her faith in love. It was the…you know. Brooke (Vanessa Hudgens) trusts in the scientific method and says time travel is impossible, but when Cole (Josh Whitehouse) appears, claiming that he’s a 14th-century knight, she begins to reconsider. Her heart, of course. It turns out that chivalry isn’t extinct. It’s only a magical doorway away.
10. Noelle (2019)
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Santa is a mantle passed down from father to son in this version of the Claus family story…until the most recent Kris Kringle (Bill Hader) suffers a nervous breakdown and departs the North Pole. It’s up to his sister Noelle (Anna Kendrick) to step up to the plate, save the day, and prove that women can deliver gifts by magical flying sleigh just as well as men.
Ho Ho Ho Wrapping It Up!
Laughter is a treasured element of the holiday season, and these comic Christmas films provide the ideal balance of levity, warmth, and festive pleasure. Whether you find yourself giggling at Buddy’s youthful amazement in “Elf,” rooting for Kevin’s inventive traps in “Home Alone,” or empathizing with the Griswold family’s relatable mayhem in “Christmas Vacation,” these flicks will bring joy and amusement to your holiday celebrations.
So grab some hot cocoa, assemble your loved ones, and prepare to laugh your way through these comic Christmas movie classics.
