It happened earlier this week. A cute new show about puppies and Christmas seemed safe enough--so much so that without much thought I turned it on the television and quit paying attention. Perhaps fifteen minutes into the show, a puppy starts talking about a child doubting what he's been told about Christmas. I didn't notice. My husband started making frantic hand gestures and mouthing words I couldn't understand as I phone-surfed obliviously.
"Narrative!"
It's the code word we have for shows and movies that are disruptive of the Santa narrative. These things pop up where you'd least expect them. And after the Puppy Incident, we'll be sticking to tried-and-true, mostly-made-for-toddlers holiday shows this year. It stinks, in some ways, because my oldest would definitely enjoy much of the narrative-killing drama. And there are lots of holiday shows on this year--in fact there's a fabulous comprehensive list on Tvguide.com: The Ultimate 2020 Christmas and Holiday Viewing Guide: Movies, Specials, and More
But it quickly became apparent after weeding through that long list that only a handful meet our criteria for viewing this season (and probably another two seasons if I had to guess). Since this is a common issue for the three-to-eight (nine?) parenting crowd, I've narrowed that list down substantially below.
Why do we do it? I wasn't even raised with a Santa narrative to protect, but especially this year with all that 2020 has destroyed, I think we'll keep a little magic in the season for as long as we can.
Here are the movies we'll be considering on the streaming services given our narrative restrictions. You might want to double-check Common Sense Media, or Wikipedia for the non-movie episodes, for your personal media concerns.
(The list of movies to avoid is longer than you might think--even my husband had forgotten the Gremlins scene. But if you're wanting to make sure not to damage the narrative for the season, here's a resource list of articles looking at likely offenders: Common Sense Media, Today's Parent, Washington Post.)
By all means if you discover one of these shows harms the Narrative in any way, let me know and I'll amend or note accordingly!
Netflix
Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey (highly recommend! although it is long and took us two nights)
How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000)
Klaus (Santa origin story)
Super Monsters Save Christmas
Hulu
Barbie in A Christmas Carol
Barbie: A Perfect Christmas
Curious George: A Very Monkey Christmas
Disney Prep & Landing
Ice Age: A Mammoth Christmas
Minions Holiday Special
My Little Pony: A Very Minty Christmas
Amazon Prime
It's a Wonderful Life
Disney+
Arendelle Castle Yule Log (Dec. 18) (virtual yule log)
Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas (scary themes)
Lego Star Wars Holiday Special (not holiday specific)
Mickey's Christmas Carol
Mickey's Twice Upon a Christmas (NOT Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas--it includes A Very Goofy Christmas, which pretty much spoiled the narrative for our kids)
Olaf's Frozen Adventure (originally the short before CoCo)
Winnie the Pooh: A Very Merry Pooh Year
ABC
Friday, Dec. 18 at 8:30 p.m. - Shrek the Halls
HBO Max
Looney Tunes Cartoons aka Bugs Bunny's 24 Carrot Holiday Special
Sesame Street: Holiday at Hooper's (Christmas and Hanukkah)
A Flintstone Christmas
A Flintstone Family Christmas
Scooby-Doo! Haunted Holidays
Smurfs Christmas Special
Tis The Season To Be Smurfy
Tom and Jerry: A Nutcracker Tale
Tom And Jerry: Santa's Little Helpers
