Now that Halloween has passed, many people’s minds have started flipping forward to Christmastime. Though Daylight Savings Time insists that we fall back in November, many are instead looking ahead to what most consider to be the most wonderful time of the year.
However, despite the fact that so many Christmas movies are watched over, and over, and over again, by many, every single year, there are so many details that tend to slip by unnoticed. Test your own knowledge (and the knowledge of your friends and family members at Christmas parties!) with the ten most difficult Christmas movie trivia questions (and the answers, in case you wanna check).
Updated December 17th, 2019 to include even more fun trivia before the holiday!
15. Who is Kevin’s neighbor in Home Alone?
Everyone remembers the creepy neighbor from Home Alone. Before the McAllister family even leaves for France (forgetting Kevin in the process and kicking off the events of the film), we see the unsettling neighbor outside. Buzz, Kevin’s older brother, tells him about how the neighbor is a murderer and a monster who dissolves bodies in his trash can of salt for the sidewalks. Later, however, Kevin runs into his neighbor at the church when he’s having a hard time, and the two of them bond. After that, even, the neighbor saves Kevin from dying at the hands of the Wet Bandits. And the name of this neighbor? None other than “Old Man” Marley, played by the late Roberts Blossom.
14. Which Cheers actor gave his voice to Disney Christmas narrations?
Disney has some truly wonderful Christmas content for all of us to consume. Since they’ve absorbed pretty much every other company, they’ve got everything for us, but their original Christmas content is the cream of the crop. Among our favorites are Mickey’s Once Upon A Christmas and Mickey’s Twice Upon A Christmas. The narrator of Mickey’s Once Upon A Christmas may sound familiar to some fans of Cheers, though — and to some fans of Frasier, because the voice actor was none other than Kelsey Grammer.
13. Who is the only one to say Krampus’ name in Krampus?
The 2015 film Krampus came at just the right time. The horror renaissance is in full swing, and audiences are in the market for a good Christmas horror film now more than ever. With remakes of movies like Black Christmas popping up all over the place, we’re all happy to reflect on this decade’s holiday horror achievements. One of our favorites was Krampus, but, in the movie itself, the titular Krampus is only referred to once by name, and it’s by none other than Omi Engel, the grandmother!
12. What job does Iris Simpkins have in The Holiday?
A Christmas classic written, directed, and produced by Nancy Meyers, The Holiday from 2006 features Iris Simpkins, played by Kate Winslet, and Amanda Woods, played by Cameron Diaz, swap houses to spend a holiday separate from their difficult lives. Amanda then falls in love with Graham Simpkins, played by Jude Law, who is Iris’ brother; Iris falls in love with Miles Dumont, played by Jack Black, who is Amanda’s coworker. Iris Simpkins has a pretty cool job, though, as a wedding and society columnist for the real British newspaper The Daily Telegraph.
11. What is the name of Ralphie’s father in A Christmas Story?
Every Christmas day, many families keep the television on the all-day televised marathon of A Christmas Story. The movie is timeless, still hilarious even after all these years, but even better, the story is told in a series of almost vignettes, which makes it the perfect movie to come in and out of, or just pay casual attention to during your Christmas party. However, some viewers may feel a little stumped trying to figure out the name of Ralphie’s father in A Christmas Story. That’s because he’s never named! Instead, he’s only ever referred to as “The Old Man.”
10. What does George promise to Mary in It’s A Wonderful Life?
Though It’s A Wonderful Life was a total box office flop when it was first released in 1946, it has since become a holiday staple, and is considered by many to be their favorite Christmas movie. In the movie, George makes Mary a promise, and what does he promise to her?
He promises her the moon. “What is it you want, Mary? What do you want? You want the moon? Just say the word and I’ll throw a lasso around it and pull it down. Hey. That’s a pretty good idea. I’ll give you the moon, Mary.” Mary tells him she’ll take it.
9. What’s the name of the movie Kevin watches in Home Alone?
Everyone has wanted to watch the movie that Kevin gets to watch when he’s left home alone in the accurately named 1990 film Home Alone. It’s a pretty universal childhood experience to have a forbidden movie that’s so bad adults don’t want you to watch it, and that just makes it like the apple to Eve.
Kevin’s forbidden fruit is the movie Angels with Filthy Souls, which even his Uncle Frank won’t let him watch. Kevin watches it once he’s alone — with a huge ice cream sundae he made himself — and fulfills all of our childhood dreams.
8. What does Buddy apologize for in his note when he runs away in Elf?
In the movie Elf, Buddy, played by Will Ferrell, is a human raised by elves who’s just trying to find his biological father. James Cann, best known for being the dad from Elf, has a hard time connecting with him since they have such fundamental differences. The biggest difference, of course, is that James Cann is on the naughty list.
When Buddy decides their differences are irreconcilable, he leaves and leaves a letter apologizing for the following: “I’m sorry I ruined your lives and crammed eleven cookies into the VCR. I don’t belong here. I don’t belong anywhere. I’ll never forget you. Love, Buddy.”
7. How many characters did Tom Hanks play in The Polar Express?
There are, some say, two answers to this question. Some people think Tom Hanks only plays one character — maybe they recognize him as the Conductor, or maybe as the Narrator. There are two characters right there. Many say there are six characters he plays: the Hero Boy’s Father, the Conductor, the Hobo, the Ebenezer Scrooge Puppet, the Narrator, and, of course, Santa Claus himself.
However, these people are missing one crucial detail. The question is not how many characters did he voice, it’s how many did he play, and he did the motion-capture only for Hero Boy, too! This brings him to seven total characters.
6. What Christmas movie villain is #6 on the American Film Institute’s list of the top 100 movie villains?
The AFI, or the American Film Institute, is known for its hard-hitting opinions on film. As the American Film Institute, it is sort of their job. They keep running lists, too, of specific best-ofs, including a list of the Top 100 Movie Villains.
The first five people on this list have little to do with Christmas: Dr. Hannibal Lecter, Norman Bates, Darth Vader, The Wicked Witch of the West, and Nurse Ratched. From there, the list takes a sharp right turn: #6 on this list is Mr. Potter, from It’s A Wonderful Life! What are the odds?
5. What message does John McClane write on a dead henchman for Hans Gruber in Die Hard?
Not to be too controversial, but Die Hard ought to be considered a Christmas movie. Life is short, language is made up, and any labels we give to anything are arbitrary in the end, so everyone may as well let people enjoy silly things like action movies on Christmas.
John McClane feels strongly about getting to celebrate the holidays, too, because he decides to invoke the spirit of the season when he writes a message to villain Hans Gruber on the sweater of his dead henchman. That season’s greeting was this: “Now I have a machine gun. Ho-Ho-Ho.”
4. The song “White Christmas” first appeared in what Christmas movie?
When nostalgia comes in and time is no object, movies like White Christmas are some of the most enjoyable films that can be watched near the holidays. They remind many of a simpler time.
One of the most charming sequences in the film is when the characters in White Christmas sing the Christmas song “White Christmas” together for the first time. However, despite the fact that this is the film’s titular song, this is not the movie the song originated in. That honor goes to the earlier film Holiday Inn.
3. Which iconic actor’s last film role was in the classic 1969 TV movie Frosty the Snowman?
While Frosty the Snowman is now aired simply as a special episode of television, when it was first released in 1969, it was considered a television movie.
Though this could be a bit of trivia in and of itself, it’s not quite difficult enough for our standards here. No, we want to dig a little bit deeper, and instead ask you: Which iconic actor’s last film role was in the classic 1969 TV movie Frosty the Snowman? That actor was Jimmy Durante, who plays the Narrator.
2. What are the names of the Griswolds’ neighbors in Christmas Vacation?
All of the movies in the Vacation franchise tend to be looked back on through a haze of comedic nostalgia, but Christmas Vacation holds up not only as a hilarious movie but also a heartwarming one. The long-suffering neighbors to the Griswolds are one of the funniest parts of the movie, but it’s easy to forget their names.
As it turns out, their names are Todd and Margo Chester, and they have one of the best parts in the movie if you want to remember their names. An icicle goes through their window and melts into the carpet, which prompts Margo to shout, “Why is the carpet all wet, Todd?” and Todd snaps back, “I don’t know, Margo.”
1. What is the name of the saber-toothed tiger sidekick to Turbo Man in Jingle All The Way?
Here’s the last question, and one of the most difficult, especially if you’ve only seen Jingle All The Way once, like most people who were asked this question during the testing trial period for these trivia questions. However, those people are wrong, because Jingle All The Way, a 1996 Arnold Schwarzenegger-led Christmas movie (can’t go wrong there!), is just as essential to Christmas as the rest of the movies mentioned on this list.
And so, we ask the final question: What is the name of the saber-toothed tiger sidekick to the famous (or infamous) Turbo Man? The answer: Booster!
