50 Things You Never Knew About Iconic Christmas and Holiday Films

Tim Burton didn’t direct The Nightmare Before Christmas. Will Ferrell almost didn’t get the role of Buddy the Elf. The pranks featured in Home Alone were real. Which Christmas movie secrets do you know?

Below, we discuss 50 of the most shocking holiday movie secrets from ten of the most essential Christmas films.

1. It’s a Wonderful Life Bombed (1946)

Though the Christmas classic It’s A Wonderful Life is many Christmas enthusiasts’ favorite Christmas movie, the original release flopped at the box office. When the 1947 film was released, critics and audiences viewed it as a subpar tale with nothing much to say. The $3.7 million budget film returned $3.3 million to the production company. It competed with The Best Years Of Our Lives, which audiences adored. Years later, the film became public domain, entrancing those who looked past it upon its release.

2. The Snow in It’s a Wonderful Life Was Made of Chemicals (1946)

Director Frank Capra refused to implement the traditional fake snow method (painted cornflakes) because of their sound disturbance, so he invented a new way to add snow to the set. He used soap, water, and foam to pump into the—6000 gallons, to be exact—which didn’t crunch when actors stepped on it, and it won an Oscar for special effects.

3. It’s a Wonderful Life Was Filmed During an Intense Heat Wave (1946)

The grueling hit wave plaguing California during filming caused Jimmy Stewart to sweat, which you can see on camera. Filming took place on a large ranch in Encino, California, and one day of filming couldn’t proceed due to the boiling conditions. Capra gave the cast and crew the day off to recover before returning to the blazing ranch.

4. The Slap Scene in It’s a Wonderful Life Is Real (1946)

Method actors assume their roles long before shooting ever starts. Young George prevents his boss from poisoning his customers through medicine distribution in this scene. So, enraged, Mr. Gower strikes George upside the head. The smack draws blood in George’s ear on film, and according to the actor who played George, the strike was genuine.

5. It’s a Wonderful Life Is Based on a Christmas Card (1946)

Before the iconic movie dropped, It’s a Wonderful Life was a book entitled The Greatest Gift written by Philip Van Doren Stern. However, no publisher found interest in the novel, so he transformed the book into a Christmas card. At over 20 pages, a film producer, David Hempstead, saw an idea for a film blossoming within the card.

6. Ralphie’s Dad in a Christmas Story Doesn’t Have a Name (1983)

You may despise Ralphie’s dad in A Christmas Story, but can you recall his name? No, because even though he appears throughout the 94-minute runtime, the grumpy father figure, or The Old Man, never receives a name from his family or friends.

7. Swearing Wasn’t Allowed in a Christmas Story’s Santa Scene (1983)

When the crew searched for malls in which to film the iconic Santa scene, they struggled to find somewhere willing to grant them filming time. He cemented Cleveland, Ohio, and the store that agreed to permit filming said no one in the cast could swear. So, The Old Man groaning at the fireplace is a substitute for swearing.

8. A Christmas Story Inspired the Wonder Years (1983)

Art begets art. Right? The 1983 film inspired the late 80s and early 90s sitcom exploring coming of age and family life through the eyes of a middle-class male protagonist. The series pulled from the narration style of A Christmas Story. They even invited Ralphie (Peter Billingsley) for a few scenes in the finale.

9. Flick’s Tongue Wasn’t Stuck to the Pole in a Christmas Story (1983)

Watching this film as a child terrified me of ever attempting to stick my tongue to an icy pole. Though the method works, as a Mythbusters episode proved, Flick didn’t lick the frozen pole. Well, he did, but his tongue didn’t stick. The crew placed a piece of plastic on the pole and threaded a suction tube through, allowing Flick to remove his tongue.

10. The Christmas Story Started in an Adult Magazine (1983)

Writer Jean Shepherd crafted a series of humorous excerpts based on his life and sent them to a famous adult magazine for publishing between 1964 and 1966. Shepherd saw a film behind these stories, so he elongated the series into a cinematic reel of vignettes for the beloved A Christmas Story.  

11. Jim Carrey Needed CIA Training For How The Grinch Stole Christmas (2000)

Jim Carrey enlisted a CIA agent to help him endure the strenuous and painful makeup process. He sat in the makeup chair for three hours each day, over 92 days, as makeup artists applied heavy prosthetics to the actor. To deal with discomfort and pain, he sought counseling from this CIA agent, specializing in torture-resistance techniques.

12. Anthony Hopkins Completed His Narration for How the Grinch Stole Christmas in a Single Day (2000)

Anthony Hopkins is no stranger to having a lasting impact on film, despite working on a set one day or having a few minutes of screen time in his most famous venture (Silence of the Lambs). He filmed all of his narration scenes in one day, adding depth and character to the narration.

13. The Suit in How the Grinch Stole Christmas Took Hours to Create (2000)

The Grinch’s suit didn’t submit to cheap prop design. Each hair on the infamous red suit features dyed green Yak hair, with each piece sewn individually onto a suit made of spandex. Though the costuming and makeup took hours and led to many sessions of meditation and coping methods, any other suit would look basic.

14. Dr. Seuss’s Wife Had a Say in the Cast of How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000)

After Dr. Seuss passed away, his wife (Audrey Geisel) spoke up about who could play The Grinch in a live-action adaptation of her husband’s vision. She asked for some profit margins, and “any actor submitted for The Grinch must be of comparable stature to Jack Nicholson, Jim Carrey, Robin Williams, and Dustin Hoffman.” She lucked out with Jim Carrey.

15. The Grinch Was Originally a Black and White Character (2000)

Can you imagine The Grinch as anything other than an envious spirit enshrouded in green fur with a red coat? Well, the original iteration of The Grinch is a black-and-white creation with subtle strokes of lighter pink and red colors, but following a foul interaction with a green rental car, Dr. Seuss altered his vision.

16. The Pranks in Home Alone Were Real (1990)

Actors choreographed their pranks. The film cast and crew didn’t cop out with CGI chicanery or tomfoolery. Instead, they brainstormed various traps to entertain and delight audiences. However, they did use a few substitutions to avoid injury.

17. Marv Steps on Candy Ornaments in Home Alone (1990)

Marv’s character, Daniel Stern, climbs through a window, breaking into Kevin’s house in a memorable scene for the Home Alone series. Once he touches down on the ground, his bare feet meet glass, crushing several Christmas ornaments and injuring his ability to walk. Prop designers fashioned the ornaments out of candy, not glass.

18. John Candy Filmed All His Home Alone Scenes in One Day (1990)

John Candy’s minuscule role in the 1990 film saw him as a savior to Kevin’s mom, who scrambled for a flight home to reunite with her forgotten son. Candy’s character, Gus Polinski (of the traveling polka band), notices her concerns and offers her a ride. Candy filmed all of his scenes in a 23-hour shoot and improvised most of his lines.

19. The Spider Take In Home Alone Is Real, the Scream Is Not (1990)

Arachnophobic fans of Home Alone recall a terrifying scene involving a tarantula crawling across Marv’s face as he shrieks. The sound of the shriek isn’t live, but Marv’s motions are real. If he screamed in real-time, the sound would spook the tarantula, so he needed to mime the action. The sound department came in later.

20. For the Second Home Alone Movie, Culkin Brought Home Big Bucks (1992)

Macaulay Culkin, otherwise known as the best (and most successful) child actor, took home $4.5 million for the second Home Alone installment, a considerable step up from his first paycheck of $110,000 for the first film. He grasped the overwhelming success of the first film and asked for more.

21. The Nightmare Before Christmas Had 24 Shots per Second (1993)

Stop Motion is a nightmare to deal with, no pun intended. Each clay figure sits in a different position to evoke movement. In The Nightmare Before Christmas, 24 frames per second fill the screen, meaning each character takes on 24 different placements each second. Crew members dealt with 110,000 placements for the 76-minute runtime.

22. The Nightmare Before Christmas Took Three Years to Film (1993)

Since the film asked for 24 frames per second and 110,000 frames per film, the entire filming process took three years to complete. To perfect just one minute of the movie, animators and sculptors devoted one week to the scene.

23. The Nightmare Before Christmas Used 227 Puppets (1993)

The poem Tim Burton crafted, which spearheaded the film’s birth, had three stars. Jack Skellington, Zero, and Santa. For a feature film, the crew needed to assemble a few more characters. The crew needed to make a few more characters for a feature film. With the stop-motion/claymation requirements and constant maintenance, each character has multiple faces, heads, and bodies, but 227 puppets populate the film.

24. The Nightmare Before Christmas Started as a TV Special (1993)

Tim Burton believed his vision would work best as a TV special as an annual ode to Christmas Day. Burton began pitching television outlets in 1973, 20 years before the film came out, and no one bit the bait. So, he opted for a different route and formulated an idea to make the poem into a movie.

25. The Nightmare Before Christmas Is Based on a Poem (1993)

Burton’s original idea for The Nightmare Before Christmas spawned from a poem he wrote with Jack Skellington, Zero, and Santa Claus. The scene in the film where Jack Skellington delivers terrible toys to the children serves as the majority of the seven-stanza poem, and Jack’s good heart translates to the movie.

26. Japanese Studios Animated Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer (1964)

The studios behind Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer worked with Japanese studios for their expertise in the stop-motion field. The Japanese animators treated Rudolph’s story with an Animagic movement or an animation style using wood and felt to bring the vision to life.

27. Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer Took 18 Months to Film (1964)

Animagic is a practical, creative, and time-consuming process. Each movement has to follow rigid guidelines and slow, subtle movements for each frame to concoct a realistic image. The film crew spent 18 months crafting the 55-minute-long special of the famous Christmas classic about a misfit reindeer.

28. A Woman Voiced Rudolph in Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (1964)

Billie Mae Richards lent her voice to the project as the shy reindeer who learns his purpose later in life. The Canadian actress received film credit under the name Billy Richards to hide her true gender. It helped that Richards imitated a young male’s voice in her astounding work.

29. Billie Mae Richards Received $1,000 for Her Work in Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (1964)

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer made over $100 million after its release, and it is celebrated to this day as a must-watch Christmas classic, especially for kids and those who are kids at heart. But, the actors, including Rudolph’s voice actor, received a compensation of $1,000 for their efforts.

30. Nestor Was a Wannabe Rudolph (1977)

The same studio that made the best-selling Christmas story, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (Rankin and Bass), made a spin-off, Nestor the Long-Eared Christmas Donkey, in 1977. The story stuck to biblical roots, centering around Mary and Joseph in Bethlehem, but the songs and the animation didn’t entice viewers like Rudolph.

31. Elf Could Have Starred Jim Carrey (2003)

What would Elf be without Will Ferrell sitting in a teeny chair, inhaling pounds of sugar as he works on his career as Santa’s elf? A film starring Jim Carrey, maybe? The script found its way into Carrey’s hands circa 1993, when the first drafts of the movie came into the studio, but by 2003, Carrey had worked on different projects, and Ferrell had become Buddy the Elf.

32. No CGI Was Used in Elf (2003)

Like Home Alone, Elf avoided using CGI to enhance the film’s experience. Instead, the director and camera crew focused on stop-motion, scaled sets, and differing perspectives to outline Buddy’s tall figure. The only time the film used CGI was for the snow scenes.

33. Will Ferrell Ate Too Much Sugar While Filming Elf (2003)

Buddy the Elf’s character loves to munch and crunch on sugary snacks and confectionery sweets, so Will Ferrell stepped into the shoes, eating everything Buddy ate in the script. He consumed so much sugar he started getting headaches and had trouble falling asleep from his increased intake.

34. Will Ferrell Walked Around in Costume, Leading To Car Accidents (2003)

Do you remember the scene where Buddy enters New York through the Lincoln Tunnel? During this scene, Will Ferrell and the camera crew trekked through the actual tunnel, distracting many drivers with Ferrell’s elf outfit, leading to a few car accidents in the enclosure. Thankfully, no injuries occurred.

35. Will Ferrell Worked as Santa Before Becoming Famous

Years before his Saturday Night Live and Elf days, Ferrell dressed up as Santa Claus for a mall gig. He learned how children perceive and treat the elves in favor of Old St. Nick. The lackadaisical attitude children showed toward Santa’s little helpers helped craft his hilarious portrayal as Buddy.

36. Olivia Olson’s Voice Was Edited in Love Actually (2003)

Joanna Anderson, or Olivia Olson, covered “All I Want for Christmas is You” at the end of the 2003 Christmas feature in tune, on key, and with a voice that attracted significant record labels to her. However, the director edited the voice since it seemed too perfect for the child in the film to possess.

37. Love Actually’s Airport Scenes Were Real (2003)

Instead of enlisting actors, extras, and stand-ins to recreate happy moments when out-of-state family and friends reconnect with their loved ones during the holidays, Love Actually traveled to the airport and captured those genuine interactions. It makes you a bit sentimental when you put it into perspective.

38. Keira Knightley’s Hat in Love Actually Served a Specific Purpose (2003)

In the film, Keira Knightley donned a navy blue fedora, but not for fashion. Knightley revealed she had a red pimple in the center of her forehead that makeup and lighting would accentuate, so she grabbed the hat. “It was humongous, so there was no choice but to find a hat to cover it,” Knightley said.

39. Kris Marshall Returned His Check for Love Actually (2003)

When critics and fans revisit Love Actually, they notice the problematic nature of the film and the movie’s ill taste in humor. To certify that commentary, Kris Marshall, one of the actors in the movie, returned his check after completing a scene with three women who undressed him. He claimed he’d work for free following that scene.

40. Billy Bob Thornton Confronted His Fears on the Set of Love Actually (2003)

Actors deal with new phobias each day, given they encounter unexpected events and scenarios on set, but no one predicted what Billy Bob Thornton’s phobia would entail. He mentioned his fear of Benjamin Disraeli and his photographed facial hair to crew members. Of course, Thornton went on to have a scene with a photographed version of Disraeli and his facial hair.

41. A Real Hotline Was Shown in the Santa Clause (1994)

An adult humor joke transformed into an ill-fated realization for many parents after bringing their offspring to watch The Santa Clause. In a now-deleted scene, Tim Allen reads a number out loud, 1800-(SpankMe), an actual number connecting to an adult hotline. Many kids called.

42. Tim Allen’s Daughter Thought He Was Santa (1994)

After showing his six-year-old daughter The Santa Clause, Tim Allen confessed that his daughter believed he was the real Kris Kringle. She beamed at her father, excited to inform her friends of her celebrity dad, but he told her he played Santa in the movie, not in real life. He ensured that he consulted with Santa about the character while on set.

43. Disney Ignored Tim Allen’s Criminal Past for His Role in the Santa Clause (1994)

Disney broke one of its strict rules by casting Tim Allen as Santa Claus in The Santa Clause. They established a rule where no one with a criminal record could work on a set, but they saw a sparkle in Allen’s eyes despite his felony drug possession charges. Disney deemed Allen necessary to reprise the role of Santa Claus.

44. Eric Lloyd Wore Fake Teeth as Charlie in the Santa Clause (1994)

Eric Lloyd, who played Charlie Calvin, lost two teeth (in the middle of filming) at a baseball game. Because of this natural occurrence, the film altered their schedule and found a way to give Lloyd fake teeth.

45. Tim Allen Withstood Three-And-A-Half Hours of Makeup for the Santa Clause (1994)

Tim Allen had a similar experience to Jim Carrey’s arduous makeup and costume application in How the Grinch Stole Christmas. Allen’s process took four hours of preparation with facial prosthetics, hair, and a fat suit before returning to the studio for the two-hour removal process.

46. Miracle on 34th Street Was Filmed in the Macy’s Day Parade (1947)

Filming of the Macy’s Day parade occurred during the 1946 parade. The studio wanted to imbue the film with authentic moments surrounding the Christmas spirit, so they decided to film during the November parade, where Edmund Gwenn played Santa. Filming inside the Macy’s store happened in the 34th Street Manhattan location.

47. The Marketing of Miracle on 34th Street Kept Christmas a Secret (1947)

Christmas fans widely regard Miracle on 34th Street as one of the best Christmas movies in the holiday catalog, but when it came out in May of 1947, no one expected the Christmas theme to permeate the film. Releasing the movie in May was a marketing ploy to attract more viewers, as no one charges to the movies in the winter.

48. Miracle on 34th Street Was Based on a Real Life Experience (1947)

Who hasn’t had a midday daydream that spawned into one of the most timeless Christmas movies ever created? Valentine Davies traveled to a famous department store to find a present for his wife. He was sidetracked by the shopping commotion, curious about how Santa would handle the bustling crowds.

49. Natalie Wood Believed Edmund Gwenn Was Santa Claus (1947)

When working on a film with Santa Claus and children, at least one child is bound to believe their co-star is Kris Kringle. The children on The Santa Clause set thought the same about Tim Allen, and Natalie Wood looked at Edmund Gwenn as the real Saint Nick. So, the interactions between the eight-year-old and Gwenn ooze genuine glee.

50. Macy’s Closed Down to Let Workers See the Miracle on 34th Street in Theaters (1947)

The department store had such a monumental impact on the film, setting the scene and inspiration for the feature, that managers granted a half day to over 10,000 employees. The workers flocked to the theaters to watch the silver screen portrayal of their department store.