Many Christmas stories have been adapted to movies and TV specials. Since the popularization of home video in the 1980s, their many editions are now sold every year for the enjoyment of home-viewing anytime. Looking for a great Christmas family movie? 

The following are currently the top ten Christmas movies:

1. Peanuts: 1960's Collection Everyone's favorite Peanuts holiday titles all in one set! Includes the following: It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown; A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving; and A Charlie Brown Christmas.

2. It's a Wonderful Life On Christmas Eve 1946, George Bailey (James Stewart) is deeply depressed, even suicidal. Prayers for George Bailey are heard by angels appearing as stars in the night sky. Clarence Odbody, an Angel Second Class, is sent to Earth to save him—and thereby earn his wings.

3. A Christmas Story The movie takes place in the fictional northwest Indiana town of Hulman. 9-year-old Ralphie Parker wants only one thing for Christmas: "an official Red Ryder carbine-action 200-shot range model air rifle with a compass in the stock, and this thing which tells time."

4. The Nightmare Before Christmas "Halloween Town" is a dream world filled with citizens such as deformed monsters, ghosts, ghouls, goblins, vampires, werewolves, and witches. Jack Skellington leads them in a frightful celebration every Halloween, but he has grown tired of the same routine year after year. Wandering in the forest outside the town center, he accidentally opens a portal to "Christmas Town".

5. How the Grinch Stole Christmas! The Grinch, a bitter, cave-dwelling, catlike creature with a heart "two sizes too small," lives on snowy Mount Crumpit, a steep, 3,000-foot high mountain just north of Whoville, home of the merry and warm-hearted Whos. His only companion is his faithful dog, Max. From his perch high atop Mount Crumpit, the Grinch can hear the noisy Christmas festivities that take place in Whoville.

6. The Original Christmas Classics Includes 7 Holiday Favorites: - Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer - Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town - Frosty the Snowman - Frosty Returns - Mr. Magoo’s Christmas Carol - The Little Drummer Boy - Cricket on the Hearth.

7. The Muppet Christmas Carol In this adaptation of the Christmas story narrated by Charles Dickens himself (played by Gonzo the Great) with the occasional commentary of Rizzo the Rat, it is Christmas Eve in 19th century London. The merriment is not shared by Ebenezer Scrooge (Michael Caine), a surly money-lender who is more interested in profit than celebration.

8. Christmas Cottage Tells the story of the inspiration behind Thomas Kinkade's painting The Christmas Cottage, and how the artist was motivated to begin his career after discovering his mother was in danger of losing their family home.

9. Christmas in Connecticut Starring Barbara Stanwyck, Dennis Morgan, and Sydney Greenstreet. Released through Warner Brothers, it was directed by Peter Godfrey. Although originally released on 11 August 1945, the film has become a holiday classic.

10. A Boyfriend for Christmas When she was 13, Holly told a mall Santa Claus that she'd like to have a boyfriend for Christmas. Twenty years later, Holly is a romantic skeptic and is more focused on her career as a social worker. On Christmas Day, she opens her door to a man carrying a Christmas tree and a bow on his chest.

11. Miracle on 34th Street Kris Kringle is indignant to find that the person assigned to play Santa in the annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade is intoxicated. When he complains to the event's director, Doris Walker, she persuades Kris to take his place. He does such a fine job that he is hired to be the Santa for Macy's flagship New York City store on 34th Street.

12. Barbie in a Christmas Carol On Christmas Eve, Kelly is reluctant to go to a Christmas Eve ball, so Barbie tells her the story of Eden Starling, a glamourous singing diva in the Victorian England and the owner of a theatre house. However, Eden is self-centred and loves only herself; she is frequently accompanied by her snooty cat, Chuzzlewit. She does not believe in Christmas and orders all her employees to work on Christmas.

13. The Bells of St. Mary's Father Chuck O'Malley continues his work for the Catholic Church. He is assigned to St. Mary's, a run-down inner-city Catholic school on the verge of condemnation. Father O'Malley feels the school should be closed and the children sent to another school with modern facilities, but the sisters feel that God will provide for them.

14. A Christmas Carol This film expands on the story by detailing Scrooge's rise as a prominent businessman who was corrupted by a greedy new mentor that had lured him away from the benevolent Mr. Fezziwig. When that new mentor is discovered to be an embezzler, the opportunistic Scrooge and Marley offer to compensate the company's losses on the condition that they receive control of the company that they work for - and so, Scrooge and Marley is born.

15. The Homecoming: A Christmas Story A family struggles to make a decent life during the Great Depression and World War II. The family's story is seen through the eyes of John Boy, the eldest son and an aspiring journalist and novelist. John Walton and his father operate a lumber mill, with the Walton sons helping out in the business as they grow older.

A few true stories have become enduring Christmas tales themselves. The story behind the Christmas carol "Silent Night" and the story of "Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus" are among the most well-known of these true tales of Christmas. Many people watch Christmas movies because it helps them think differently about their lives.

The following are some of the best classic Christmas movies of all time:

1. It's a Wonderful Life This film is now regarded as a classic and is a staple of Christmas television around the world, although, due to its high production costs and stiff competition at the box office, financially, it was considered a "flop" when it was first released.

2. Miracle on 34th Street It is the story of what takes place in New York City following Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, as people are left wondering whether or not a department store Santa might be the real thing. Because of its Christmas theme, the film has become a perennial Christmas favorite.

3. A Christmas Story The film first aired on television on HBO during the mid-eighties and quickly attracted a growing following. Due to the increasing popularity of the film, in 1997 TNT began airing a 24-hour marathon dubbed "24 Hours of A Christmas Story," consisting of the film shown twelve consecutive times beginning at 7 or 8 p.m. on Christmas Eve and ending Christmas Day.

4. White Christmas The story is about two World War II U.S. Army buddies, one a former Broadway entertainer, Bob Wallace, and a would-be entertainer, Phil Davis. It begins on Christmas Eve, 1944, somewhere in Europe.

5. A Charlie Brown Christmas On their way to join the rest of the Peanuts gang all skating on a frozen pond, Charlie Brown confides in Linus that even though Christmas is approaching he still feels depressed despite all the presents and cards and tree decorating. His depression and aggravation only get exacerbated by the goings-on in the neighborhood.

6. Elf Begins with narration by Papa Elf, explaining the only three jobs available to an elf: making shoes for a cobbler; baking cookies inside of trees; and working in Santa's workshop. He also explains Buddy's presence at the North Pole — as an infant in an orphanage, he crawled into Santa Claus's sack of toys one Christmas Eve and was accidentally taken to the North Pole.

7. The Nightmare Before Christmas The genesis of The Nightmare Before Christmas started with a poem by Tim Burton as a Disney animator in the early-1980s. With the success of Vincent in 1982, Disney started to consider The Nightmare Before Christmas as either a short subject or 30-minute television special. Over the years, Burton's thoughts regularly returned to the project, and in 1990, Burton and Disney made a development deal.

8. Bad Santa The film begins in a bar on a December night in Milwaukee, where the viewer is introduced to Willie Soak, a bitter, lonely alcoholic. Willie works the holiday seasons as a mall Santa along with his dwarf friend, Marcus, who works as Santa's elf.

9. How the Grinch Stole Christmas Chuck Jones adapted the story as an animated film in 1966, featuring narration by Boris Karloff. The animated film often appears on American television during the Christmas season.

10. The Bishop's Wife Bishop Henry Brougham prays for divine guidance with the troubled building of a new cathedral. His plea is seemingly answered by a suave angel named Dudley, who reveals his identity initially only to the clergyman.

11. Holiday Inn Jim Hardy, Ted Hanover and Lila Dixon are staples of the Manhattan nightlife scene. On Christmas Eve, Hardy reveals to Ted his disillusionment with show business and that he has decided to run a farm in rural Connecticut. He also plans to marry Lila, a longtime part of their act.

12. A Christmas Carol Made by MGM, and originally intended to star Lionel Barrymore, who played the role of Scrooge annually on radio, but was forced to drop out of the film because of his arthritis, the movie starred Reginald Owen as Scrooge and Gene and Kathleen Lockhart as the Cratchits.

13. The Santa Clause Scott Calvin is a divorced father and businessman with an insolent son, Charlie. On Christmas Eve, Charlie comes over to spend the night with him, and they go to the restaurant, read a story, and really feel the Christmas spirit.

14. National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation Chicago suburbanite Clark Wilhelm Griswold Jr. really has the Christmas spirit this year. The film opens with Clark taking his wife Ellen, son Rusty, and daughter Audrey on the search for a perfect Christmas tree.

15. The Polar Express A story of a young boy on Christmas Eve who is hoping for belief in the true spirit of Christmas. He suddenly hears some noise from downstairs and runs to investigate. Seeing a shadow of what appears to be Santa Claus, he soon discovers that it is his parents.

In North America, the holiday movie season often includes release of studios' most prestigious pictures, in an effort both to capture holiday crowds and to position themselves for Oscar consideration. Next to summer, this is the second-most lucrative season for the industry. In fact, a few films each year open on the actual Christmas Day holiday. Christmas movies generally open no later than Thanksgiving, as their themes are not so popular once the season is over. Likewise, the home video release of these films is typically delayed until the beginning of the next year's Christmas season.