Entertainment
8 Unexpected Christmas Movie Sequels
The holidays bring out so many wonderful things — pretty decorations, delicious cookies and cheery music. As great as all that can be, nothing makes it feel more like Christmas to me than movies. My family, like many families, has a stash of Christmas themed movies that get pulled from the back of the DVD collection every December. Whether it's The Holiday, How The Grinch Stole Christmas or my dad's personal favorite, the supremely odd Emmett Otter's Jug-Band Christmas, everyone seems to have a film that gets them in the holiday spirit.
There are so many Christmas movies and more coming out every year. With the success of some holiday movies, it's not hard to see the appeal to capitalize on the demand by making sequels. Hollywood loves making sequels, (I mean, do we need a fourth Expendables movie? No. Are we getting one? Heck yes.) Sometimes, Christmas sequels pay off big time — case and point, Home Alone 2: Lost In New York. I've probably seen that more than the original, to be perfectly honest. Not all sequels work out though (looking at you Weekend At Bernies 2), and some are doomed to vanish into obscurity, like they never even happened. With that in mind, here are eight Christmas movie sequels that you never knew existed.
1. Frosty's Winter Wonderland
The first sequel — yes, there's more than one — to the 1969 classic, Frosty the Snowman, follows Frosty as he visits the children once again. Jack Frost is there too, and he gets really jealous of the attention Frosty is getting, so he starts causing trouble. Also, Frosty has a wife named Crystal. They were married by Parson Brown, go figure.
2. A Christmas Story 2
This 2012 follow-up the to beloved '80s original, understandably went straight to DVD. Despite taking place nearly three decades later, the plot picks up only five years after the events of A Christmas Story. There's something about teenage Ralphie wanting a car? I don't know.
3. The Little Drummer Boy, Book II
The Little Drummer Boy, the story of a young boy who played the drums for baby Jesus, doesn't seem like an obvious candidate for a sequel. That story seems pretty self-contained. However, it got one in 1976 and it actually received an Emmy nomination. He goes to visit an elderly bell-maker and then something happens with tax collectors. You know, normal holiday special type stuff.
4. Santa Baby 2: Christmas Maybe
Because one Jenny McCarthy Christmas movie just wasn't enough, ABC Family made a second one and gave it a name that sounds like Carly Rae Jepsen's holiday album. The plot follows Santa's daughter as she tries to juggle the family business and her own high-powered career in New York. And she has a boyfriend, so there's some romance mixed in there too.
5. Rudolph's Shiny New Year
The '70s were a strange time for holiday specials. In this follow-up to Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Santa and Father Time enlist Rudolph to help them find a magical baby that controls the new year. No, seriously, that's the premise. There's also a whale, a caveman and Benjamin Franklin, because why the hell not?
6. National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation 2: Cousin Eddie's Island Adventure
Yes, this is real. It premiered on NBC back in 2003 and follows Cousin Eddie from Christmas Vacation, and his family getting shipwrecked in the South Pacific. But they all get to spend Christmas together, so, I guess it works out.
7. Elf: Buddy's Musical Christmas
This stop-motion Christmas special was essentially a mash-up of the movie Elf and its musical adaptation. It starred Jim Parsons as Buddy and aired on NBC last year. It's the same story as the movie, but with more singing. Unnecessary? Probably. Fun? Totally.
8. Richie Rich's Christmas Wish
OK, OK, so the original wasn't a Christmas movie, but this one deserves to be acknowledged, because it featured David Gallagher from 7th Heaven and Michelle Trachtenberg from Buffy the Vampire Slayer. It's about the world's wealthiest kid and a machine that grants wishes, but only on Christmas Eve. How could I not include it?
So, there you have it. In case you were feeling like you hadn't gotten enough of your favorite Christmas movie, there just might be a sequel out there. There's even talk of a follow-up to It's A Wonderful Life . Personally, I'm putting The Holiday 2 on my Christmas list.
Images: NBC Universal, Walt Disney/ABC, Warner Brothers
