The 1980s were full of interesting film and television developments, but people who grew up in that time had especially exciting Christmas movies to watch. In addition to a couple of old classics that were frequently played on television, 80s kids were the first to see National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation and A Christmas Story.
Some of the most beloved holiday movies of today truly belong to the 80s kids. In increasing order of IMDb score, here are ten movies that were quite popular in that decade around the holidays.
Ernest Saves Christmas: 5.7
Ernest Saves Christmas looks kind of like an off-beat 1980s version of The Santa Clause. Santa (Douglas Seale) doesn't fall off the roof involuntarily like Scott Calvin's predecessor, but he is looking for a successor to fill his shoes.
Ernest (Jim Varney) is the taxi driver who attempts to help Santa fulfill his mission.
A Very Brady Christmas: 6.0
The Brady Bunch had been off the air for a little over a decade when A Very Brady Christmas arrived in 1988. The movie was yet another unpredictable 80s comedy. The squeaky-clean Brady kids are now adults with grown-up problems. Everything they're dealing with comes to light in their one and only Christmas movie.
Of all the sequel films and series that transpired from the 70s to the 90s, A Very Brady Christmas is surely one of the better ones since it has Florence Henderson and Robert Reed in their beloved parental roles (and Alice, of course).
Prancer: 6.4
With the popularity of Rudolph, other creators decided to make reindeer stories. One of those is Prancer, a 1989 family movie with a tender side. A girl named Jessica Riggs stumbles upon an injured reindeer and thinks he is Santa's Prancer.
She is determined to nurse Prancer back to health, but things get complicated when other people find out about her Yuletide project.
Scrooged: 7.0
Like the Grinch, Dickens' Scrooge is one of the villains of the holidays, even though he changes his ways. Countless adaptations of A Christmas Carol have come and gone, but 80s kids got a creative take on the main character in Scrooged (1988).
This time, Mr. Bah Humbug is a television executive, appropriately named Frank Cross (played by Bill Murray), who gets a chance to reverse his selfish path.
Yogi's First Christmas: 7.2
Yogi Bear had been around for a couple of decades by the 1980s, but he was still a favorite cartoon character for kids. Yogi's First Christmas (1980) is a feature-length animated movie that allows Yogi and Boo Boo to join in the Christmas festivities.
It looks like nostalgic fans will get their Yogi Christmas wish, since the 80s movie is on HBO Max.
Planes, Trains, And Automobiles: 7.6
Even though Planes, Trains, and Automobiles takes place around Thanksgiving, it is a great way to kick off the Christmas season. The movie came out just in time for the holidays in 1987.
Roger Ebert aptly described it as "securely planted in the twin genres of the road movie and the buddy picture." Steve Martin and John Candy make a comical pair of pals, both trying to get from Manhattan back to their Chicago homes in time for the holiday. The John Hughes movie is one that people love to revisit.
National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation: 7.6
Christmas Vacation is an 80s movie through and through, but some 90s kids like it, too, since it didn't come out until 1989. Chevy Chase and Beverly D'Angelo reprised their roles as Clark and Ellen Griswold from non-Christmas movies National Lampoon's Vacation (1983) and European Vacation (1985).
There's nothing quite like spending Christmas with the Griswolds. Written by John Hughes, the hilarious movie might have made some kids wish for gigantic Christmas trees or develop a fear of carving into a turkey like the one the Griswolds got...
A Christmas Story: 7.9
Peter Billingsley made A Christmas Story (1983) a cult classic among Christmas films. He played Ralphie Parker, a boy growing up in the 1940s. An older version of Ralphie narrates the film and looks back on his youth. The movie is based on Jean Shepherd's book, In God We Trust: All Others Pay Cash.
The film was popular enough to get a lesser-known sequel (with a different cast) on the Disney Channel in 1988 called Ollie Hopnoodle's Haven of Bliss.
Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer: 8.1
There weren't as many choices for children's programming in the 1980s, but Rudolph was a constant friend who was on television Christmas after Christmas.
The Rankin/Bass stop-motion film was originally released in 1964, bringing to life a famous character who was born in 1939. From the captivating story to the hit title track, Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer is a delight to many generations.
How The Grinch Stole Christmas! (1966): 8.3
For 80s kids, How the Grinch Stole Christmas! had been around for roughly two decades, and the live-action version wouldn't exist for another two.
The annual animated feature was something children of the 80s and 90s looked forward to each year. It was fun to watch something that one's parents also grew up with, and the special program taught kids Dr. Seuss's important lessons of giving generously to others.