by John Shepherd at The Federalist
As the streaming wars heat up between Netflix, Disney Plus, and other on-demand services, getting the rights to popular holiday films is a highly contested battlefront. Unfortunately, it makes finding the best classic Christmas movies and TV specials almost as difficult as Santa’s task of visiting every home on Christmas Eve. But if ‘ol Kris Kringle can do it, we can steel our remotes and venture into the great unknown.
Of course, few can afford to subscribe to all these multiplying streaming platforms. Luckily, most have a free trial period and a few are even free, ad-supported services. It takes some planning to sign up and ensure the streamer works with your TV, and to remember to cancel a service before the trial ends. As movie licensing changes frequently, this list of where to find these titles only applies to the current year.
Unfortunately, most of the beloved Rankin-Bass stop-motion specials are still being licensed only for TV broadcast and not streaming. With other holiday favorites carved up among various streamers like a Christmas turkey, it presents challenges.
Still, rediscovering stories of the season with loved ones may be worth the trouble. Between what’s available via free trials, in combination with the access to the streaming services you may already have, here are 25 Christmas classics sure to make sure your December is merry and bright.
This article is updated for 2021 from the 2020 version. Enjoy!
Amazon Prime Video
Amazon offers a free 30-day trial of its Prime Video streaming service.
1. “It’s A Wonderful Life” (1946, 132 min.)…
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