National Christmas Movie Marathon Day Date in the current year: December 23, 2024

Christmas movies are an indispensable part of the winter holiday season for a lot of people because they help to get into the holiday spirit. Some prefer to watch their favorite movies over and over again to experience warm nostalgia, while others anxiously wait for new movies to be released. Christmas-themed movies come in many genres, ranging from rom-coms to horror films, so there’s something out there for everyone!

The history of Christmas movies is almost as long as the history of cinema itself. The first Christmas-themed film was Santa Claus, directed by George Albert Smith and released in 1898. It was a British short silent film about Santa Claus visiting two children on Christmas Eve.

However, it wasn’t until 1946 that Christmas movies truly broke into the mainstream thanks to the release of It’s a Wonderful Life. Directed by Frank Capra, this fantasy drama film is based on Philip Van Doren Stern’s short story The Greatest Gift, which in turn is loosely based on Charles Dickens’s novella A Christmas Carol. It was nominated for five Academy Awards and is widely considered to be one of the greatest American films ever made.

The tradition of family Christmas movie marathons probably began to emerge in the 1980s, when home video became widely available and it became possible to watch your favorite Christmas movies anytime you want and not just when they’re on TV. In addition, Hallmark Channel and Lifetime Channel have become known for their original Christmas movies they release every year during the holiday season.

Interestingly, some movies have become associated with Christmas and are frequently included in Christmas movie marathons even though they weren’t originally intended as Christmas films. For example, a lot of people consider Die Hard a Christmas movie because it is set during Christmas time. In some families, there is a tradition of watching all Harry Potter movies or The Lord of the Rings films, or re-watching Christmas episodes of favorite television series.

The origins of National Christmas Movie Marathon Dayvv are unclear, but don’t let it stop you from celebrating this amazing holiday. Give yourself a day to just chill in front of the TV before you get busy with holiday preparations and last-minute shopping.

How to celebrate National Christmas Movie Marathon Day? Well, the answer is right here in the name of the holiday: pop some corn, crack open a can of soda or make hot cocoa with marshmallows, and binge your favorite Christmas movies or discover new ones — dozens of them are released every year. You can invite your friends and family for a watch party in your living room or decompress on your own while cuddling your cat — whatever you prefer as long as you have fun.