The Twelve Posts of Christmas: Entertaining The Kids... Small and Big

Kids movies are the best.

And Christmas kids movies are even better.

There's laughter and adventure and cute little animals that make you go oo and ah.  There's old favourites and new favourites and movies just to wile away the hours.

So let your little and not so little kids loose with just a few of these.

The Naughty List

When Snowflake's mis­chief-loving brother Winter goes too far with a prank, they both get stuck on the Naughty List, doing a seemingly never-ending list of chores for Santa. Along with a spunky young reindeer named Sparkle, they try to make up for Winter's misde­ed.,Winter's i­nability to follow the rules put the North Pole in a serious jam. Suddenly Christmas needs to be saved and there's nobody else who's up to the task. It's up to the trio of mischief makers to save the holiday and make Santa proud.


The Christmas Bunny

The Christmas Bunny tells the story of a lonely foster child who finds a lost, injured rabbit in the woods on Christmas Eve. The rabbit is nursed back to health by the Bunny Lady, who runs a rabbit rescue in an old barn behind her farmhouse. The girl begins to help the Bunny Lady around the farm, and through her love for the rabbits, slowly begins to grasp the feeling of being loved.

Arthur Christmas

How CAN Santa deliver billions of presents to the whole world in just one night? With an army of one million combat-style Field Elves and a vast, state-of-the-art control center under the ice of the North Pole! So how could this incredible operation have MISSED one child?! To Santa's young son, Arthur, it threatens to end the magic of Christmas. With retired Grandsanta, a rebellious young elf, an old sleigh and some untrained reindeer, Arthur sets out in a crazy mission to deliver the last present!

Mandie and the Forgotten Christmas
  
When Mandie is thrust into Miss Heathwood's School for Girls at Christmastime, she struggles to grasp the boarding school's new rules and the finer points of high society. As Mandie tries to stay out of hot water with Miss Heathwood, she stumbles upon a mystery in the school's forbidden attic. Will Mandie ignore the warning to flee or try to get to the bottom of the strange noises beyond the boarded-up doors? Uncovering the truth might unlock the memories of of a long-forgotten Christmas .

The Polar Express

Santa Claus does not exist. Or does he? For one doubting boy, an astonishing event occurs. Late on Christmas Eve night, he lies in bed hoping to hear the sound of reindeer bells from Santa's sleigh. When to his surprise, a steam engine's roar and whistle can be heard outside his window. The conductor (voice of Tom Hanks) invites him on board to take an extraordinary journey to the North Pole with many other pajama-clad children. There, he receives an extraordinary gift only those who still believe in Santa can experience.

And some not so Christmasy movies.  Just because.

The House of Magic

When housecat Thunder is abandoned by his owners he fights to stay safe on the strange and lonely streets. Just in time Thunder comes across a big, scary house occupied by an old magician. Making friends with the old man and most of his inventions, Thunder finally feels safe. When the magician is taken ill his nephew sees an opportunity to sell the house and cash in on the fortune. Hearing the news, Thunder and his new friends put their heads together to think of a way to save the old man and his magical house.

Frozen

When a prophecy traps a kingdom in eternal winter, Anna, a fearless optimist, teams up with extreme mountain man Kristoff and his sidekick reindeer Sven on an epic journey to find Anna's sister Elsa, the Snow Queen, and put an end to her icy spell. Encountering mystical trolls, a funny snowman named Olaf, Everest-like extremes and magic at every turn, Anna and Kristoff battle the elements in a race to save the kingdom from destruction.

How To Train Your Dragon 2

It's been five years since Hiccup and Toothless successfully united dragons and vikings on the island of Berk. While Astrid, Snotlout and the rest of the gang are challenging each other to dragon races (the island's new favorite contact sport), the now inseparable pair journey through the skies, charting unmapped territories and exploring new worlds. When one of their adventures leads to the discovery of a secret ice cave that is home to hundreds of new wild dragons and the mysterious Dragon Rider, the two friends find themselves at the center of a battle to protect the peace. 

Postman Pat: The Movie

Like always, Postman Pat is happily going about his duty delivering letters and parcels around the fictional town of Greendale. One day, auditions for the TV talent show, “You’re the One”, are held in Greendale, which Pat manages to pass. With Pat required to be away from Greendale whilst participating in the contest, various Patbot 3000 robots are deployed to take Pat’s postal duties. This soon turns out to be an evil plot to take over the world, which Pat must now stop.

 
Rio 2

It's a jungle out there for Blu, Jewel and their three kids after they're hurtled from Rio de Janeiro to the wilds of the Amazon. As Blu tries to fit in, he goes beak-to-beak with the vengeful Nigel, and meets his father-in-law.

Tinker Bell and The Pirate Fairy

Zarina, a smart and ambitious dust-keeper fairy, flees Pixie Hollow and joins forces with the scheming pirates of Skull Rock, who make her captain of their ship. Tinker Bell and her friends must embark on an epic adventure to find Zarina, and together they go sword-to-sword with the band of pirates led by a cabin boy named James who’ll soon be known as Captain Hook, himself.

The holiday catch-up - DVDs

Forget getting together with extended family or the chance to finally spring-clean your house, now it's actually summer. Christmas is a time to catch up on all the great films and shows you missed out on during the year. All you need is 15 minutes of sun per day to get your recommended dose of vitamin D. The rest of the time, draw your blinds, relax your eyes from the harsh glare, and float away on a wave of unreality.

(If you really will miss removing sand from your orifices and clothing and sheets for days on end, I recommend eating mince pies or chips in bed while you watch. Ready-salted chips provide the greatest seaside authenticity. Or you could just explode a beanbag and sit on the filling after turning on your fan heater.)

Scriven's picks for best holiday watching:

Lulu and the Bankrobber
This TV show is a bit like a Danish Outrageous Fortune - if you're not afraid of subtitles, you really should take a look. Lulu is the fond but long-suffering fiancee of Leon, who has a long criminal past and some very dodgy friends and family. When he's arrested just after saying "I do" at their wedding, it's up to Lulu to find out exactly why and save their house from foreclosure. Leon swears he's been framed, but can she really trust him? Cue various encounters with lawyers, Serbian prostitutes, Turkish mobsters, motorcycle gangs, suspicious cops, hormonal teenagers and lots more. By turns scary, funny and touching, you'll want to watch right to the end. If you like this, also try The Bridge.

The Angels' Share
A Ken Loach movie that's a bit more uplifting than usual. A group of Scottish petty crims on a community work programme come up with a plan to get them out of their dead-end lives for good. I won't spoil the plot, but it involves some very rare whisky, some very clever tactics and that fantastic, dark Scottish humour, with Loach's fantastic eye for the realities of British life. A wee gem.

Despicable Me 2
One for the whole family. If you haven't seen it yet, buy it or rent one of our bestseller copies. You've no hope of getting it before April otherwise. Those little minions are back, every bit as yellow, cute and punchy as ever, in a plot that involves former archvillain Gru going undercover to find a mystery nemesis who's stolen a potentially dangerous substance that turns cute little things into violent purple monsters. I think you can guess where this leads...

Argo
Now's your chance to see this, if you haven't. Nailbiting and funny, and beautifully shot, it's the Oscar-winner by Ben Affleck about the 1980 siege of the US embassy in Iran, and how they managed to smuggle some American embassy staff out of the country under cover as Canadian film-makers. Deserves the hype.

Much Ado About Nothing
Haven't seen this yet, but it's by Joss Whedon, he of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and so forth, and I personally can't wait to see what he's done with the play. It was shot over just a few days at Whedon's house, starring a whole bunch of unknown actors, and it's been updated and given the Whedon treatment. It's got great reviews.

Wreck-It Ralph
Another family movie that's actually a lot better than it sounds. I was a bit dubious about watching a movie with video game characters from the 80s (or pretend ones, anyway) and a villain who wants to be a hero. I mean, it just sounded so cheesy. But it had a lot of heart, some sarcastic humour and some really great chase scenes and I actually thoroughly enjoyed myself. Kids will love it - and maybe you will too.

The Bletchley Circle
Those of you who like Call the Midwife may not have come across this short TV series set during the 1950s. A group of women were codebreakers at Bletchley Park during World War II, and are rather adrift now that the war is over. Until one of them decides to hunt down a serial killer by charting patterns in his behaviour, even when the cops think they're mad. More sisters doing it for themselves.

And if you haven't seen The Hobbit yet, it's probably about time you did. Not Jackson's best, admittedly, but the scenery's fantastic, and Martin Freeman makes it all worth watching. Plus number two is supposed to be pretty awesome, and you won't know who all those people being toasted and eaten are if you haven't seen this. You know you want to see the dragon. So get to it.