15 Stop-Motion Christmas Movies and TV Specials Ranked

Wait. There are more titles in the stop-motion Christmas canon than just the cheery, fuzzy-filtered Rankin/Bass productions we guarantee you’ve already watched 3,000 times?

Absolutely! But it took us a minute to track down all the movies and TV specials we felt were worthy of your precious seasonal couch potato time.

What makes these titles stand out (and come up) against stop-motion animated classics from Rankin/Bass like Nestor, the Long-Eared Christmas Donkey, and Rudolph’s Shiny New Year are their contributions to the finicky art of claymation as well as their overall merry-making stories. Some are musical, others are part of greater TV franchises, but all are original while staying consistent to the Christmas stop-motion storytelling formula popularized by Rankin/Bass in the ’60s and ’70s.

Here are 15 of some of the best (as well as some of the more unique and lesser-known) stop-motion animated Christmas movies and TV specials, ranked by their critical score on the Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer or the audience score on IMDB (depending on what was most readily available for the title).

Jack Frost

Not to be confused with the terrifyingly smug-looking snowman in Jack Frost (1998) starring Michael Keaton, Jack Frost (1979) is a Rankin/Bass production that combines Christmas and Groundhog Day all into one gorgeous animated TV special.

Jack Frost has a special place in several holiday lovers’ hearts given its ability to make a lesser-known Christmas figure’s story come to life in a memorable tale about heroism, love, and dreams. Its plot also has many similarities to The Little Mermaid throughout (just with heaps of snow instead of a singing Sebastian crab) that Disney fans will appreciate in this film that pre-dates the 2D coming-of-age classic by nearly a decade.

Critic’s Score: 57% on the Tomatometer

Where to Watch: Tubi

Mickey Saves Christmas

Can Mickey save Christmas?

Well, duh, but it’s the journey that counts most, and this one is absolutely adorable to get absorbed into during its brief 24-minute runtime. Join Mickey and all of his pals — Minnie, Pluto, Donald, Daisy, Goofy, and more — as they try to salvage Santa’s presents after they fall from his sleigh and discover the true meaning of the holiday along the way.

Does the animation in Mickey Saves Christmas seem strangely familiar, almost like watching a visual déjà vu? That might be because the folks behind Mickey Saves Christmas are also behind another title on this list (It’s a SpongeBob Christmas!) as well as every mid-to-elder Millennial’s favorite stop-motion adult animated comedy, Robot Chicken.

Critic’s Score: 61% on the Tomatometer

Where to Watch: Disney+

‘Twas the Night Before Bumpy

Close your eyes and you might hear the silly honey-scarfing stuffed teddy bear, Winnie-the-Pooh, but open your eyes and you’ll encounter, well… A creepy green monster covered in purple warts named Mr. Bumpy. Yup, Disney veteran Jim Cummings tackled the voice of Mr. Bumpy in the ABC stop-motion animated TV series Bump in the Night, which can only be described as sort of a blend of Toy Story antics with some Coraline and family-friendly horror-inspired aesthetics.

The 90s series gifted its audience with a stop-motion Christmas special — ‘Twas the Night Before Bumpy — which features the titular sock-eating monster trying to steal Christmas (à la fellow green monster, The Grinch) by setting up mouse-traps to halt Santa’s sleigh in its tracks. Several Christmas songs are parodied in this special, and it includes the recognizable guest voice of Cheech Marin, a Disney vet in his own right who has collaborated with Cummings in the past, in addition to the half of the beloved Cheech & Chong comedic duo.

Critic’s Score: 6.9/10 on IMDB

Where to Watch: Tubi

It’s a SpongeBob Christmas!

In Season 8, Episode 23 of Nickelodeon’s critically acclaimed and much-memed 2D maritime animated series, Bikini Bottom gets the claymation treatment with a holiday-themed stop-motion special. In this Christmas story, yet another anti-Christmas spirit green monster (Plankton) tries to foil Christmas cheer by stealing Mr. Krabs’ Secret Krabby Patty Formula.

How does Plankton hope to get the coveted list of hamburger ingredients in December? By turning everyone into a jerk, of course, and subsequently getting everyone’s name in the undersea town on Santa’s Naughty List.

Critic’s Score: 7.2/10 on IMDB

Where to Watch: Paramount+

Nutcracker Fantasy

Nutcracker Fantasy is a dainty fever dream, replete with Sugarplum Fairies and scraggly-looking dancing rats and Sanrio-style characterizations, all set against the backdrop of a Nutcracker-esque storyline with Tchaikovsky’s memorable ballet ballads laced throughout.

You may find the animation to be reminiscent of other Christmas specials you grew up watching, and that’s because it had loads of Rankin/Bass alumni behind-the-scenes. Even if the story deviates far from most of the Nutcracker tales you’ve seen adapted for the stage and screen, It’s an absolutely spellbinding watch. Thankfully, it can be streamed for free on YouTube in a lovely English dub featuring the recognizable voices of Sir Christopher Lee (Sarumon, for us Lord of the Rings geeks), Jo Anne Worley, and Eva Gabor.

Critic’s Score: 74% on the Tomatometer

Where to Watch: YouTube

Shaun the Sheep: The Flight Before Christmas

If you love the Britishness and sitcom-style shenanigans of the classic stop-motion animated film series Wallace & Gromit, then you’ll get a kick out of this Wallace & Gromit Christmas-themed spinoff, Shaun the Sheep: The Flight Before Christmas.

No need to say baaah-humbug when watching this adventurous title: join Shaun as he attempts to rescue little cousin Timmy after a Christmas stockings mission goes sour at the Mossy Bottom farmhouse.

Critic’s Score: 80% on the Tomatometer

Where to Watch: Netflix

Sandy’s Country Christmas

In this special stop-motion animated Season 14 episode of SpongeBob SquarePants, Texan inventor extraordinaire and squirrelly Bikini Bottom transplant Sandy Cheeks is the star of the show this time around.

On the night before Christmas, something goes amiss with one of Sandy’s experiments, and it is up to the rest of the Cheeks family to save Sandy and her bubbly pals. The Cheeks family reprise their roles from the 2024 movie, Saving Bikini Bottom: The Sandy Cheeks Movie, and the whole gang gets together in Sandy’s iconic airy Treedome for the holidays — Pa, Ma, Granny, Randy, Rosie, and Rowdy included.

Critic’s Score: 8.2/10 on IMDB

Where to Watch: Paramount+

A Claymation Christmas Celebration

This one is an easy sell, albeit a weird one without any recognizable characters across classic Christmas tales or animated IP— or so you thought!

See that funny-looking wrinkly dude in the earmuffs? That’s a California Raisin, of the California Raisins, one of our country’s best and brightest rhythm and blues bands of the 80s and 90s (who also happened to be a claymation anthropomorphized advertising vehicle for, well, California Raisins).

So that means you should expect to hear fabulous renditions and re-imaginations of your favorite Christmas tunes, with some additional stop-motion sparkle thrown in there to get you deep in the holiday groove. Songs include “We Three Kings,” “Carol of the Bells,” “O Christmas Tree,” “Angels We Have Heard On High,” “Joy to the World,” “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer,” and numerous parodies of the lesser-known carol “Here We Come A-Wassailing.”

Critic’s Score: 88% on the Tomatometer

Where to Watch: Amazon Prime Video

Elf: Buddy’s Musical Christmas

After Elf became a de-facto Twelve Days of Christmas watch (and subsequently adapted into a well-received Broadway musical of the same name about seven years later), the producers of Elf and Elf: The Musical had more to do. They knew they had to find a way to join forces to keep the IP hotter than Buddy’s favorite cocoa and as fresh as a rendition of “Baby, It’s Cold Outside” with Zooey Deschanel in the women’s restroom.

Thus, Elf: Buddy’s Christmas Musical was born, merging elements from both the musical and the Will Ferrell-led comedy to create a wholly original story while building upon the plot that has become a holiday perennial. Only this time, a different cast is brought into the fray to voice its beloved characters, like Rachel MacFarlane (who you may know as Hayley from American Dad!), Jim Parsons (The Big Bang Theory), and Mark Hamill (who hopefully needs no introduction post-Star Wars and Batman). However, Elf: Buddy’s Christmas Musical was able to wrangle the late Ed Asner again to voice Santa Claus and narrate the special, after doing the same for the 2003 flick.

Critic’s Score: 89% on the Tomatometer

Where to Watch: Paramount+

The Year Without a Santa Claus

There’s a reason why we all unilaterally think about classic Christmas Rankin/Bass productions when we’re discussing stop-motion animation, and that’s because the duo’s best specials never feel outdated or get old, no matter how many times you’ve seen them pop up on your TV.

Of the Rankin/Bass specials, there are a handful of gems, and The Year Without a Santa Claus is one of the shiniest in the collection thanks to its unique storyline that raises the stakes for Yuletide traditions amid familiar faces.

Critic’s Score: 90% on the Tomatometer

Where to Watch: Sling TV

Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town

Leave it to a Christmas stop-motion animated TV special nearly 100 percent based on the lyrics of a hit Christmas song to become one of the most enduring titles in the claymation Christmas canon.

This Rankin/Bass production is narrated by none other than the legendary performer and actor Fred Astaire, and features loads of original holiday jingles beyond the titular Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town.

Critic’s Score: 93% on the Tomatometer

Where to Watch: Amazon Prime Video

The Nightmare Before Christmas

The Nightmare Before Christmas haters will kick and scream when they see this one ranked so highly on the list, but you know what? Let them get mad!

After several years of this gloriously odd musical stop-motion masterpiece being maligned as a Halloween movie after being marketed at Hot Topic stores as such, we are making a final proclamation: The Nightmare Before Christmas is, and always will be, a Christmas movie first and a Halloween movie second (and one of the best ones out there in both seasonal categories, at that)!

But what makes The Nightmare Before Christmas so charming — and its legacy so enduring — is how well it incorporates spookiness and jolliness in its swift, almost 90-minute runtime with infectious tunes and a story that will be enjoyed by both children and adults alike.

Critic’s Score: 95% on the Tomatometer

Where to Watch: Disney+

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer

Saving the best Rankin/Bass for last, this one was only produced with one creator of the classic Christmas animations — Arthur Rankin Jr. — but it is still widely considered part of the Rankin/Bass portfolio. Nevertheless, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer’s magic is bolstered by pioneering Japanese stop-motion animator Tadahito Mochinaga, whose warm-hued reindeer, covered in felt and stuffed with cotton, seem to prance out of the screen with all of their texture and whimsy.

Plus, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer is what started Rankin/Bass’s reign on the holidays, and after a watch, it’s obvious why we entrusted one of our most treasured seasonal practices — Christmas-themed TV show and movie binge-watching — in their capable hands.

Critic’s Score: 95% on the Tomatometer

Where to Watch: Sling TV

Alien Xmas

The Chiodo Brothers, best known for their equal parts creepy and kooky cult-favorite 80s horror-comedy Killer Klowns from Outer Space, as well as for their hilarious claymation segments in The Simpsons, quietly released the family-friendly Alien Xmas in 2020 on Netflix. The story focuses less on the Santa-ness of Christmas, and instead centers on the true reason for the season minus the consumeristic obsession that seems to have been lumped together with the holiday.

If you need even more convincing, Alien Xmas is executive produced by Jon Favreau, one of the most significantly involved filmmakers in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, a regular in (on-camera and behind-the-scenes) beloved sci-fi projects, and the director of Elf. It’s no wonder Alien XMas features two of the components Favreau loves to champion in his projects: extraterrestrials and the holidays.

Critic’s Score: 100% on the Tomatometer

Where to Watch: Netflix

Robin Robin

Someone pass the tissues.

Robin Robin is, unlike the majority of the titles on this ranked Christmas stop-motion media list, probably the most heartfelt and original story of them all. But, like all good stories, there are shades of familiarity.

Robin Robin is a Tarzan and Jungle Book tale, of a child raised by a different species, but instead of that child being raised by gorillas or wolves, it’s a little bird raised by even teenier mice.

The only problem with Robin Robin is that it’ll definitely leave you wanting more. After watching Robin Robin, which only runs for a cool half-hour, you may start frantically searching for more Robin Robin stories that take place beyond Christmas. Thankfully, the co-writers and co-directors of Robin Robin, Dan Ojari and Mikey Please, confirmed that more stories will be set in the Robin Robin-verse (and who knows — maybe another darling Christmas-set short to tack onto this list in the future)!

Critic’s Score: 100% on the Tomatometer

Where to Watch: Netflix