During Christmas, it’s easy to fall into an endless rotation of favorite, classic holiday films.
While some people have always watched Polar Express or Elf during the holidays, others have made it a tradition of watching non-Christmas movies.
What constitutes as a non-Christmas film? It’s usually a film that might have a Christmassy vibe, a slight mention of the holiday, or have nothing to do with it.
Either way, these are the films that remind some people of Christmas and it wouldn’t be Christmas if they didn’t watch them.
One Reddit user created an online forum to see what other people’s non-Christmas movie traditions were, writing: “Die Hard doesn’t count! Mine would be John Carpenter’s The Thing. Mainly due to the location, I think, but it’s always a cosy one to sit down to around Christmas time and enjoy.
“I’ll just go ahead and throw Toy Story 1 & 2 into the mix. They used to be on the TV at Christmas all the time and always remind me of that time of year.”
Here are some of the non-Christmas movies that users put forth.
Read more: Top 20 most magical Christmas moments – like spending time with family
The Sound of Music is a classic musical that follows Maria (Julie Andrews), who is studying to become a nun and is hired to be the Von Trapp family’s nanny.
Once she teaches the Captain’s (Christopher Plummer) seven children some manners, she proceeds on schooling them on singing.
The Captain quickly falls in love with Maria and they marry.
Their romantic bubble bursts when the Nazi try to recruit the Captain against his will, but the family successfully flees Austria in time.
There’s nothing Christmassy about The Sound of Music, except some mentions of Christmassy things in the musical’s famous song, My Favorite Things.
In the tune, Maria sings about “brown paper packages tied up with strings,” “doorbells and sleigh bells and schnitzel with noodles” and “snowflakes that stay on my nose and eyelashes/ Silver-white winters that melt into springs.”
It helps that the film is also usually televised around the holiday season too.
An overwhelming number of people added that either a certain Harry Potter film or all eight of them are their favorite non-Christmas movie traditions.
Some users wrote that the third film, Prisoner of Azkaban, was their favorite to watch around Christmas, but most said they love to watch a full franchise marathon.
The first Harry Potter movie has scenes that include Harry and Ron playing chess in the warmly decorated Great Hall, and the pair waking up to a boat load of presents on Christmas Day.
In Prisoner of Azkaban, Harry, Ron, and Hermione hang out in the snow-covered Hogsmeade Village. In Goblet of Fire, there’s the Yule Ball, and in Order of the Phoenix and Half-Blood Prince, Harry and the gang return home for the holidays.
One fan wrote on Reddit: “It’s not Christmas in our house unless we get to say, ‘Happy Christmas Harry’ ‘Happy Christmas Ron.'”
Another added: “The early Harry Potter movies have a Christmas feel. I like throwing those on.”
There’s just something cozy about watching the Harry Potter films around the holidays.
The Wizard of Oz – which follows Dorothy (Judy Garland) as she travels through the land of Oz – is another non-Christmas film that’s televised during the holidays.
There’s nothing festive about the film, but it is nostalgic like Christmas and a classic.
By the time Christmas is over and people are waiting for the New Year, this is a great film to watch on a cold or rainy day.
One Reddit user wrote: “Wizard of OZ. Always the day before christmas.”
The Blues Brothers is just another feel-good musical that a lot of people watch during the holidays to break up the number of times they watch regular Christmas classics.
It follows Jake and Elwood Blues as they get up to some hilarious shenanigans.
One fan shared a sweet memory of watching the film around Christmas as a kid: “Blues Brothers. This dates back to Christmas eve when I was 6. 1986. I couldn’t sleep, I was so excited. I snuck out of my room after everyone else was asleep, sat in the nice living room with fancy TV (my sister and I weren’t ever allowed in there) and watched whatever was on at the time.
“That happened to be Blues Brothers. It’s been a Christmas eve tradition ever since.”
Besides the Harry Potter franchise, the second most mentioned non-Christmas films that users added to the Reddit page was the Lord of the Rings/ The Hobbit trilogies.
There’s nothing Christmassy about Middle Earth but maybe the fact the all of the Hobbit films hit theaters around Christmas contibuted.
While you’re cozy at home it’s nice to put on a triliogy or a franchise that you love and fans have certainly loved Lord of the Rings for a long time.
