Favorite Christmas Movies and TV Specials Quiz

Answer: Burgermeister Meisterburger

Toys were declared a menace to society when the Burgermeister tripped and fell over a roller skate. This TV special produced by Rankin/Bass first aired in December 1970. It featured Fred Astaire as the narrator and Mickey Rooney as the voice of Kris Kringle/Santa Claus.

Answer: John Candy

In this holiday classic released in 1990, Kevin and his family are going to Paris for Christmas. The night before they are to leave Kevin misbehaves and is sent to sleep on the the third floor apart from the rest of the family. During the night the power goes out causing the entire family to oversleep.

In the rush to get to the airport they don't realize Kevin is still sleeping because when the final headcount is taken one of the neighbor children is counted inadvertently and off they go. When Kevin's mom realizes what happened she flies back from Paris only to get as far as Scranton.

She is aided by Gus Polinski, the 'Polka King of the Midwest', played by John Candy.

Answer: A homemade backscratcher

Jon takes Garfield and Odie back to his childhood home on the farm. There we meet Jon's mom, dad and grandmother plus Jon's brother Doc Boy. While there Odie uses his imagination to make Garfield's gift from a miniature hand rake, plunger handle, a piece of wood and some wire. This heartwarming holiday special first aired on CBS in December 1987.

Answer: Uncle Billy

George's Uncle Billy was set to make the cash deposit for the Bailey Brothers Building and Loan but ends up losing it. To make matters worse the person who does find the money is Mr. Potter (played by Lionel Barrymore), the meanest man in town who owns practically all of Bedford Falls, NY where the story takes place. "It's a Wonderful Life" is a true holiday classic released in December 1946 and produced/directed by Frank Capra. Both Capra and Jimmy Stewart were nominated for Academy Awards for the film but neither won. Harry Bailey was George's younger brother and Clarence Odbody was the Angel sent to help out George.

Answer: Boris Karloff

Boris Karloff was born William Henry Pratt and was known primarily for his roles in so many horror films. He appeared in several different Frankenstein and Mummy movies and made frequent radio and TV appearances.
The Grinch first aired on the CBS network December 19, 1966. The song "You're A Mean One, Mr. Grinch" was sung by Thurl Ravenscroft who was also the voice of Tony the Tiger of Kellogg's Frosted Flakes fame.

Answer: A Red Ryder BB gun

To be more specific, he wanted a Red Ryder Carbine Action 200-shot Range model BB gun. However, his mother feared he was too young and might shoot his eye out. When Ralphie wrote his Christmas essay about how much he wanted the air rifle even his teacher remarked on the paper, "You'll shoot your eye out kid!"
This Christmas movie classic first aired in 1983 and starred Peter Billingsley as Ralphie and Darren McGaven as Ralphie's 'old man'.

Answer: Mister Magoo's Christmas Carol

Lovable ol' Mister Magoo produces a cartoon version of Charles Dickens "A Christmas Carol'. This TV special first aired in December 1962 with Jim Backus as the voice of Quincy Magoo. There are several wonderful songs in this feature written by Jule Styne and Bob Merrill.

Answer: The Waltons

This touching holiday special first aired on CBS in December 1971. It featured all the same cast as "The Waltons" TV series except Andrew Duggan played the father, John Walton; Patricia Neal played the mother, Olivia Walton; and Edgar Bergen played the grandfather, Zeb Walton. It was narrated by the series creator Earl Hamner whose own family was the inspiration for the show.

Answer: Maureen O'Hara

A true classic featuring John Payne as Fred Gailey, Maureen O'Hara as Doris Walker, Edmund Gwenn as Kris Kringle and Natalie Wood as Susan Walker. The story is set in New York City and opens with the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade. The movie was released on June 4, 1947 but none of the movie's previews mention the fact that it was a Christmas film fearing the public might not go to the theaters to watch a Christmas movie in summertime.

Answer: King Moonracer

This classic first aired in December of 1964. Narrated by Sam the Snowman (voiced by Burl Ives) it tells the story of how Rudolph came to save the day one very snowy Christmas Eve. Initially the young red-nosed Rudolph is ridiculed because he is different from the other reindeer but when he ends up saving Christmas because of his red glowing nose he suddenly is a hero (reindeer sure are a fickle bunch!).

Answer: Scott Calvin

Tim Allen of "Home Improvement" fame portrays advertising executive Scott Calvin. One Christmas Eve he and his young son Charlie hear a noise up on their roof and go to investigate. It turns out to be Santa and his gang of reindeer making their annual journey. Scott startles Santa and he slips and falls to the ground. Scott and Charlie go to see if Santa is alright but all that is left is Santa's red suit. Long story short, Scott believing he has killed Santa puts on the suit and fills in for Saint Nick so none of the kiddies around the world are disappointed.

Answer: He wishes it were Christmas every day

Silly Elmo! He used his first wish and asked for a glass of water. Santa tells him that he should carefully think about what to use the remaining two wishes on. So he ends up wishing for Christmas everyday and all kind of trouble ensues. This holiday movie aired in December 1996 with Maya Angelou as the narrator and all the Sesame Street regulars plus a cameo by Harvey Fierstein.

Answer: Convince a local kid's TV show host to take over as Santa

Santa arrives at the Orlando airport in hopes of finding a replacement for himself in the person of Joe Carruthers, a local celebrity who hosts a kid's TV show. While at the airport Santa meets taxi cab driver Ernest P. Worrell and enlists him to help with his mission since Carruthers agent will not agree to let Santa meet with his client. Santa is portrayed by Douglas Seale and Joe Carruthers is played by Oliver Clark (Mr. Hurd from "The Bob Newhart Show"). KnowhutImean?

Answer: By flying Spot to The North Pole to tour his toy factory

Spot is an amimated puppy created by Eric Hill and first appeared in a series of children's books in 1980. The books proved so popular that several videos were made including "Spot's Magical Christmas" which was released in 1995. The premise of this story is that two of Santa's reindeer accidentally lose Santa's sleigh while out on a test flight Christmas Eve.

The reindeer enlist the help of Spot and his friends -- Helen, Steve and Tom -- since they believe the sleigh was lost somewhere near where Spot lives.

The sleigh is found in time to save Christmas and the reindeer as a reward ask Spot if he'd like to take a sleigh ride to the North Pole. After asking his parents, Sam and Sally, Spot takes the ride of his life.

Answer: "Hark The Herald Angels Sing"

In this TV special which first aired on December 9, 1965 on CBS, Charlie Brown finds the true meaning of Christmas. It was written by Charles Schulz, directed by Bill Melendez, produced by Lee Mendelson and featuring the music of The Vince Guaraldi Trio.

As Charlie Brown becomes more and more frustrated by the commercialization of Christmas, Linus finally sheds light on what Christmas is all about by reciting the passage from Luke chapter 2, verses 8 - 14. This is my all-time favorite and Christmas just isn't complete without watching this at least once during the season!