LIMPOPO –

No Christmas holiday is complete without movie nights, snacks and stories that capture the magic of the season.

Whether you prefer heartfelt classics, animated tales or laugh-out-loud comedies, these films remain favourites across generations.

Here are the must-watch Christmas movies to add to your festive watchlist:

1. Scrooge: A Christmas Carol

On Christmas Eve, miserly businessman Ebenezer Scrooge is visited by the ghost of his former business partner, Jacob Marley, and the spirits of Christmas past, present and future, in the hope that he will learn the error of his ways.

2. The Claus Family 2

Jules Claus has embraced Christmas again and, together with grandpa Noël, is getting ready for the busiest time of the year. At first, everything goes smoothly, until Jules receives a letter from a girl with a special Christmas wish.

3. A Christmas Story

Based on the humorous writings of author Jean Shepherd, this beloved holiday movie follows the wintry exploits of youngster Ralphie Parker (Peter Billingsley), who spends most of his time dodging a bully (Zack Ward) and dreaming of his ideal Christmas gift, a “Red Ryder air rifle.”

Frequently at odds with his cranky dad (Darren McGavin) but comforted by his doting mother (Melinda Dillon), Ralphie struggles to make it to Christmas Day with his glasses and his hopes intact.

4. Home Alone

When bratty 8-year-old Kevin McCallister (Macaulay Culkin) acts out the night before a family trip to Paris, his mother (Catherine O’Hara) makes him sleep in the attic.

After the McCallisters mistakenly leave for the airport without Kevin, he awakens to an empty house and assumes his wish to have no family has come true.

But his excitement sours when he realizes that two con men (Joe Pesci, Daniel Stern) plan to rob the McCallister residence, and that he alone must protect the family home.

5. The Santa Clause

Divorced dad Scott (Tim Allen) has custody of his son (Eric Lloyd) on Christmas Eve.

After he accidentally kills a man in a Santa suit, they are magically transported to the North Pole, where an elf explains that Scott must take Santa’s place before the next Christmas arrives.

Scott thinks he’s dreaming, but over the next several months he gains weight and grows an inexplicably white beard. Maybe that night at the North Pole wasn’t a dream after all and maybe Scott has a lot of work to do.

6. Elf

Elf is a 2003 American Christmas comedy starring Will Ferrell and Zooey Deschanel.

The story is about one of Santa’s elves who learns of his true identity as a human and goes to New York City to meet his biological father, spreading Christmas cheer in a world of cynics as he goes.

7. The Polar Express

On the night of Christmas Eve in the late 1950s, a boy witnesses a train called the Polar Express that is about to embark to the North Pole.

The conductor lets the boy board the train, and he meets the other children including a little girl who has lost her ticket.

The conductor, instead of ejecting her from the train, takes her for a walk on the rooftops of the train.

A magical Christmas tale.