Christmas Movie Wheel: 142 Films to Spin: how it works
Tap a group and this Christmas movie wheel shrinks from 142 films to a wheel you can read: Family live action, Animated, Romance, A Christmas Carol versions, Action and thriller, or one of six eras. The films run from two 1934 releases to four from 2024, and every result shows its year and one line of plot.
Which group suits the room
Classics before 1970 is the largest group with 35 films. Family live action and Romance have 34 each, and Animated has 32. Spun all at once, 142 slices are hair-thin. Twenty-three entries are television specials or animated shorts, handy on a school night: A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965) is under half an hour long.
Run a Christmas movie spin the wheel countdown
Elimination lasts only while the page is open, so draw the whole countdown in one sitting: spin 24 times, with no film able to repeat, then press Copy and keep the numbered list. For a themed week, filter to A Christmas Carol versions: 13 takes on Dickens' 1843 novella, from Seymour Hicks in 1935 to two musicals in 2022.
Tips
Spinning with children? Tap Family live action or Animated first. On All, the wheel can land on Die Hard (1988) or Lethal Weapon (1987).
Have a watchlist already? Open My list and type one title per line, up to 100. The wheel spins only those.
Two camps in the room? Spin Classics before 1970 once and 2020s once, then let a yes or no wheel choose.
Questions and answers
Is Die Hard on the Christmas movie wheel?
Yes. Wikipedia's List of Christmas films has an action and thriller section, and Die Hard (1988) and Die Hard 2 (1990) are both in it. They sit in the Action and thriller group with seven others. If your house rules say it does not count, tap any other group first.
Which list are the 142 films taken from?
Every title and year comes from Wikipedia's List of Christmas films, read on 18 September 2026. We left out films it lists only under horror, and its adult comedies. Animated, Family live action and Romance follow the categories on each film's own Wikipedia article; the other two themed groups are sections of that list. Twenty-seven films have no themed tag and sit in their era group only.
Why does every slice show a year?
Because titles repeat. This wheel has four films called A Christmas Carol, three called Scrooge, two called Babes in Toyland and two called Miracle on 34th Street, and the year tells them apart. The wheel does not track which service or channel carries a film, since that changes by country and by month. Search the title with its year.
Carry-On (2024)A blackmailer forces a young airport security officer to wave a dangerous package through onto a Christmas flight.
Die Hard (1988)On Christmas Eve, armed men take over an office party in Los Angeles, and visiting New York cop John McClane fights back.
Die Hard 2 (1990)Terrorists seize air traffic control at Dulles airport during Christmas week while John McClane waits there for his wife's plane to land.
Gremlins (1984)Three rules come with a young man's new pet. He breaks them, and on Christmas Eve a swarm of small monsters overruns his town.
Lethal Weapon (1987)A mismatched pair of police partners has to learn to work together to bring down a drug-smuggling gang.
The Long Kiss Goodnight (1996)Violence breaks out at a Christmas party, and a schoolteacher with no memory of her past turns to a private detective to learn her real identity.
On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969)James Bond tracks Blofeld to Switzerland, and much of the story happens over Christmas.
Rocky IV (1985)The fourth Rocky film builds to a 15-round bout with Drago, fought on Christmas Day on Soviet soil.
Stalag 17 (1953)At Christmastime in a German prisoner-of-war camp, American airmen plot an escape while trying to work out which of them is a spy.
A Christmas Carol versions 13
A Christmas Carol (1938)The MGM studio version, in which Reginald Owen plays Scrooge.
A Christmas Carol (1984)A television film of the Dickens story, led by George C. Scott as Scrooge.
A Christmas Carol (1999)A television film in which Patrick Stewart plays Scrooge opposite Richard E. Grant's Bob Cratchit.
A Christmas Carol (2009)Disney's animated version of the Dickens story, with Jim Carrey in the role of Scrooge.
An American Christmas Carol (1979)A television film that moves the Dickens story to New England in the Depression, with a tight-fisted businessman as Scrooge.
Mickey's Christmas Carol (1983)An animated short with Disney characters in the Dickens roles.
The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992)Jim Henson's Muppets take on the Dickens story.
Scrooge (1935)An early screen version of the Dickens story, with Seymour Hicks in the title role.
Scrooge (1951)Alastair Sim plays Ebenezer Scrooge in Dickens' ghostly tale.
Scrooge (1970)A musical version: Albert Finney plays Scrooge, and Jacob Marley is Alec Guinness.
Scrooge: A Christmas Carol (2022)An animated musical, with Luke Evans as Scrooge, that reworks the 1970 musical on a smaller scale.
Scrooged (1988)A modern, darkly comic take on Dickens, with Bill Murray as a selfish television executive.
Spirited (2022)A musical take on the Dickens story, in which a miser is led on a magical journey.
2010s 16
A Christmas Prince (2017)An aspiring journalist goes abroad to get a story on a prince who is about to become king.
Almost Christmas (2016)A quarrelsome family spends its first Christmas together since the mother's death.
Angela's Christmas (2017)Animated: at church on Christmas Eve, a little girl decides the baby in the crib must be cold.
Arthur Christmas (2011)One child's bicycle was missed, and Arthur, the youngest son of Santa, has until Christmas morning to deliver it.
The Christmas Chronicles (2018)A sister and brother try to film Santa Claus on Christmas Eve and end up traveling with him.
Gift of the Night Fury (2011)An animated short: the dragons vanish before the Vikings' annual holiday, and Hiccup has to find out why.
The Grinch (2018)The Dr. Seuss story as an animated feature: while the Grinch plots against Christmas, Cindy-Lou Who plots to trap Santa.
Klaus (2019)A new postman in Smeerensburg makes friends with Klaus, a toymaker, and the presents they deliver end the town's ancient feud.
Kung Fu Panda Holiday (2010)An animated television special: Po is told to host the kung fu masters' holiday feast when he would rather be with his dad.
Last Christmas (2019)The same young man keeps crossing the path of a woman who sells Christmas decorations for a living.
Let It Snow (2019)Snow buries a small town in the Midwest on Christmas Eve and throws several high school students together.
The Man Who Invented Christmas (2017)In 1843 Charles Dickens spends six weeks writing A Christmas Carol in the hope of reviving his career.
Noelle (2019)With her brother plainly unfit for the job, Santa's daughter ends up running the family business.
The Nutcracker and the Four Realms (2018)A girl finds herself in a magical land where gingerbread soldiers face a mouse army.
The Princess Switch (2018)A week before Christmas, a duchess trades places with a Chicago woman who could be her twin.
The Star (2017)The Nativity story and the star of Bethlehem, told in computer animation.
2020s 17
8-Bit Christmas (2021)A father recalls his childhood schemes to get a video game console for Christmas against his parents' wishes.
A Boy Called Christmas (2021)A boy sets off on a long trek to find Elfhelm, a kingdom of magic.
A Castle for Christmas (2021)A bestselling author runs from a scandal to Scotland, sets her heart on a castle and clashes with its bad-tempered duke.
A Christmas Story Christmas (2022)Now a father himself, Ralphie goes back to his childhood home on Cleveland Street so his children can have the kind of Christmas he remembers.
The Best Christmas Pageant Ever (2024)The worst-behaved children in town take the lead roles in the Christmas pageant.
Candy Cane Lane (2023)A man desperate to win his street's decorating contest strikes a bargain with an elf, and the 12 Days of Christmas come to life.
The Christmas Chronicles 2 (2020)Set two years after the first film: Kate Pierce and Santa Claus defend the North Pole against Belsnickel.
Christmas on the Square (2020)A woman is ready to sell off a whole small town without a thought for its residents. Then a miraculous visitor turns up.
Falling for Christmas (2022)A skiing accident leaves an heiress with amnesia, and a man who owns a cabin takes her in, helped by his daughter.
Godmothered (2020)A fairy godmother in training answers a letter from a 10-year-old girl who turns out to be a mom in her forties.
Happiest Season (2020)A woman planning to propose at her girlfriend's family holiday party learns her partner has not come out to her parents.
The Holdovers (2023)Over the Christmas break of 1970, a grumpy teacher at a boarding school in New England is left in charge of the pupils who cannot go home.
Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey (2020)A toy maker betrayed by his apprentice decades ago gets a second wind when his granddaughter turns up at his door.
Love Hard (2021)A Los Angeles writer crosses the country to surprise her dating-app match at Christmas, only to find she has been catfished.
Red One (2024)Santa Claus is kidnapped on Christmas Eve, and the North Pole's security chief needs a hacker's help to get him back.
Single All the Way (2021)To dodge his family's questions about being single, Peter brings his best friend Nick home for the holidays as a pretend boyfriend.
That Christmas (2024)Animated film from Richard Curtis's stories: a blizzard in a Suffolk seaside town upsets everyone's plans, Santa's included.
1990s 18
A Flintstones Christmas Carol (1994)The Flintstones put on the Dickens novella as a stage play, and Fred gets the part of Scrooge.
Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas (1997)Animated follow-up to the Disney film: the Beast forbids Christmas, and Belle shows him what the holiday means.
Edward Scissorhands (1990)An inventor died before finishing Edward, who has scissors where his hands should be and lives by himself in a mountaintop mansion.
Elmo Saves Christmas (1996)A television special: Elmo learns why Christmas cannot come every day, inspired by an 1892 story by William Dean Howells.
Father Christmas (1991)An animated television special about what Father Christmas does on the other 364 days of the year.
Home Alone (1990)His family leaves for Paris without him, and a young boy defends the house against two clumsy burglars.
Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992)Kevin gets on the wrong flight and ends up alone in New York City, where he talks his way into the Plaza Hotel.
I'll Be Home for Christmas (1998)A college student's father offers him a vintage car if he gets home in time for Christmas.
Jack Frost (1998)A father dies and returns as a living snowman, a secret he shares only with his son.
Jingle All the Way (1996)The toy his son wants is sold out everywhere, and a father's main rival for it is a postal worker.
Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas (1999)Three animated stories: a Christmas Day that repeats, Goofy proving that Santa exists, and gifts between Mickey and Minnie.
Miracle on 34th Street (1994)A remake of the 1947 film: an old gentleman says he is Santa, and his lawyer has to persuade a court not to lock him away.
The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)Stop-motion film: bored with Halloween, Jack Skellington decides to run Christmas himself.
Olive, the Other Reindeer (1999)An animated television special: Olive is a dog who heads for the North Pole, convinced she should be a reindeer.
The Preacher's Wife (1996)A remake of The Bishop's Wife: the angel sent to help a preacher finds the preacher's wife a distraction.
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer: The Movie (1998)An animated feature that retells the story of Robert L. May's character.
The Santa Clause (1994)Scott Calvin has to take over as Santa after the real one tumbles from his roof.
While You Were Sleeping (1995)Lucy pulls her crush from the path of a train, and his family take her for his fiancée while he lies in a coma.
2000s 23
The Christmas Card (2006)A television film: a card from a stranger reaches a soldier in Afghanistan, and he travels to her California town to find her.
Christmas with the Kranks (2004)A couple decide to skip Christmas for a Caribbean cruise, and their Christmas-obsessed neighbors will not have it.
Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000)The Dr. Seuss story with live actors: the green Grinch means to wreck Christmas in Whoville, and young Cindy-Lou Who tries to win him over.
Elf (2003)Raised by elves at the North Pole, a cheerful grown man heads to New York City to look for his father.
Eloise at Christmastime (2003)A television film of Kay Thompson's book, with six-year-old Eloise loose in the Plaza Hotel in the days before Christmas.
The Family Man (2000)At Christmas a rich bachelor wakes up in a different life, married with children and selling tires in the suburbs.
The Family Stone (2005)Christmas is when a buttoned-up woman first meets her fiancé's easygoing family, and it goes badly.
Four Christmases (2008)With both sets of parents divorced, a couple face four family visits in a single Christmas Day.
Fred Claus (2007)Santa's troublemaking brother Fred has a debt to pay off, so he is put to work making toys at the North Pole.
The Holiday (2006)After bad breakups, two women trade houses for Christmas, and both meet someone new.
It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie (2002)A television film that spoofs It's a Wonderful Life by showing Kermit a world he was never part of.
Joyeux Noël (2005)A drama about the unofficial truce that soldiers on the Western Front kept at Christmas 1914.
Love Actually (2003)Ten separate love stories, counted down over the five weeks before Christmas.
The Nativity Story (2006)A live-action drama about the birth of Jesus.
Nativity! (2009)A struggling teacher's school nativity play gets mistaken for a Hollywood production.
The Polar Express (2004)From Chris Van Allsburg's picture book: a boy who doubts Santa boards a train bound for the North Pole.
Prep & Landing (2009)A television special: Wayne, one of the elves who ready homes for Santa's visit, slacks off after missing a promotion.
The Santa Clause 2 (2002)Scott Calvin must marry before next Christmas Eve or stop being Santa, and the double he leaves in charge turns dictator.
The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause (2006)Scott Calvin hosts his in-laws at the North Pole while Jack Frost schemes to take his title.
Serendipity (2001)Two strangers meet one Christmas Eve, part, and find each other again ten years later to the day.
Shrek the Halls (2007)An animated television special: Shrek, who has never had a Christmas, tries to plan one while Donkey gets in the way.
This Christmas (2007)The Whitfield family gathers for the first time in four years, and secrets put a strain on the reunion.
Unaccompanied Minors (2006)Children flying alone are snowed in at a midwestern airport and make a holiday of their own.
1970s and 1980s 16
A Christmas Story (1983)All Ralphie wants is a Red Ryder BB gun, and his parents, his teacher and Santa all need persuading.
A Garfield Christmas (1987)An animated television special: Garfield spends Christmas with Jon's family on their Indiana farm.
A Muppet Family Christmas (1987)A television special: Kermit and friends surprise Fozzie Bear's mother at her farm, with Sesame Street Muppets and Fraggles along.
Christmas Eve on Sesame Street (1978)A television special: Big Bird frets over how Santa Claus gets down narrow chimneys.
The Christmas Toy (1986)A Jim Henson television special: when Christmas Eve arrives, the toys come alive.
Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas (1977)Jim Henson's television special: a poor mother and her son each give up something precious to buy the other a present.
Ernest Saves Christmas (1988)Santa Claus needs a successor, and a bumbling cab driver named Ernest and a teenage runaway help him look.
The Homecoming: A Christmas Story (1971)The television film that served as the pilot for The Waltons.
National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (1989)Third in the Vacation series: this time it is the Griswolds' Christmas that goes wrong.
One Magic Christmas (1985)A young mother learns what Christmas is really about, with an angel as her guide.
Prancer (1989)A girl who will not give up on Santa comes across an injured reindeer in the woods and decides it must be Prancer.
Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town (1970)Stop-motion television special: a mailman tells how the orphan Claus brought toys to a town where toys were banned.
Santa Claus: The Movie (1985)An origin story for Santa Claus, followed by a rescue of Christmas when one of his elves falls in with a toy tycoon.
The Snowman (1982)An animated short: a young boy befriends the snowman he built.
'Twas the Night Before Christmas (1974)An animated television special: after an insulting letter upsets Santa, a clockmaker and a mouse work to win him round.
The Year Without a Santa Claus (1974)Stop-motion television special: Santa takes a year off, and Mrs. Claus ropes in Heat Miser and Snow Miser.
Animated 6
A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965)An animated television special under half an hour long: Charlie Brown directs the Christmas play and asks what the holiday is really for.
Frosty the Snowman (1969)An animated television special based on the song, in which a bit of magic makes a snowman live.
How the Grinch Stole Christmas! (1966)An animated musical television special about a mean, stingy green creature who sets out to spoil Christmas.
The Little Drummer Boy (1968)Stop-motion television special: on the road to Bethlehem, a bitter orphan boy with a drum meets three wise men.
Mister Magoo's Christmas Carol (1962)An animated television special that sets the Dickens book to music and casts Mr. Magoo as Scrooge.
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (1964)Stop-motion television special based on the song: Rudolph teams up with Hermey, an elf who does not fit in, and the pair help Santa with his Christmas Eve run.
Family live action 3
Babes in Toyland (1934)Laurel and Hardy star in a film of the 1903 Victor Herbert operetta.
Babes in Toyland (1961)Disney's Technicolor telling of the tale of the residents of Toyland.
Meet Me in St. Louis (1944)The Smith family's year in 1903. It is the film in which Judy Garland first sang Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.
Romance 12
The Apartment (1960)Set over Christmas: his bosses borrow a clerk's apartment for their affairs, and he falls for a woman involved with one of them.
Bell, Book and Candle (1958)A modern-day witch enchants her neighbor into loving her and spending Christmas with her.
The Bishop's Wife (1947)A bishop's marriage and outlook are both in trouble until an angel steps in ahead of Christmas.
Christmas in Connecticut (1945)Her boss and a war hero just back home are coming for the holidays, and a food writer has to play host.
Desk Set (1957)A computer scientist arrives to automate a research library, the librarian in charge fears for her job, and Christmastime brings it all to a head.
Holiday Affair (1949)Love grows between a young woman and a sales clerk who has just lost his job.
Holiday Inn (1942)The song White Christmas was first heard in this film.
It Happened on 5th Avenue (1947)A hobo winters in an empty New York mansion and, without realizing it, befriends the family that owns it.
It's a Wonderful Life (1946)On Christmas Eve a guardian angel lets a businessman see a world in which he never existed.
Remember the Night (1940)With her trial held over until after Christmas, a thief is bailed out by the prosecutor and ends up traveling home with him for the holiday.
The Shop Around the Corner (1940)Two shop workers cannot stand each other, not knowing they are each other's beloved pen pals.
White Christmas (1954)Performers take Irving Berlin's songs to a Vermont lodge. The setup echoes Holiday Inn, but the story is new.
Classics before 1970 9
3 Godfathers (1948)A Western that retells the Three Wise Men: three outlaws come upon a dying mother and take her newborn to safety.
A Christmas Memory (1966)From Truman Capote's recollection of his Depression-era Alabama childhood, baking fruitcakes with an elderly relative who was his best friend.
The Bells of St. Mary's (1945)Friendly rivals, one a priest and the other a nun, work to keep their school from closing.
The Lemon Drop Kid (1951)A racetrack tout owes a gangster money and Christmas is the deadline. Silver Bells became popular through this film.
The Man Who Came to Dinner (1942)An arrogant radio personality slips on ice in Ohio and becomes a family's unexpected houseguest over Christmas.
Miracle on 34th Street (1947)An old man insists he is Santa, and it takes a lawyer and a courtroom to keep him from being committed.
Santa Claus Conquers the Martians (1964)Santa Claus is abducted by Martians, who also carry off two children.
The Thin Man (1934)A retired detective is coaxed out of his Christmas holiday to trace a missing inventor and uncovers a murder.
We're No Angels (1955)Three escaped prisoners hide in a kindly shopkeeper's home and repay him by fixing his family's crises.
How this list was compiled: All 142 titles, their years and the plot facts come from Wikipedia's List of Christmas films (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Christmas_films), read on 2026-09-18. That list runs to several hundred entries; we kept 142 feature films, television films and specials from it, left out the titles it lists only under horror, along with its adult comedies, and spelled each title the way its Wikipedia article does. Groups follow tags the source carries. Animated and Family live action use each film's own Wikipedia article categories, read on the same date: an animated film category puts a title in Animated, and a children's film category or a place in the list's Children's section puts a live-action or puppet title in Family live action. Romance means a romance film category on the article. A Christmas Carol versions and Action and thriller are sections of the list itself. The remaining groups sort every title by its release year. Each one-line description is a sentence we wrote ourselves from the plot or production fact the list gives, corrected against the film's own Wikipedia article where the two disagreed (read 2026-09-18), and none of them reuses the list's wording. There are no ratings, reviews or box office figures. Licence: own work