🔒 Best Christmas movie? Local 4 team picks their favorites

DETROIT – What’s your all-time favorite Christmas movie? We asked this question to our Local 4 team this year and we got a wide array of answers.

Local 4 picks for best Christmas movie (for WDIV Insiders only):

Devin Scillian: I’m sorry it’s not a particularly original thought, but I have to go with the OG. Every year at the end of “It’s a Wonderful Life,” Harry Bailey comes in out of the snow and offers a toast, and when he says “To my big brother George, the richest man in town” I fall apart like a blubbering idiot. Every. Single. Year. And it’s bliss.

Karen Drew -- Home Alone: My daughter Morgan LOVES LOVES this one and we watch it multiple times a season. After we watch it, we are always repeating the lines and laughing! Of course, It’s a Wonderful Life is awesome, too – but watching my little girl laugh and smile during Home Alone – warms my soul!

Hank Winchester -- I’m old school. Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. This year was the best because I got to watch it with my daughter for the first time. However, she was only obsessed with the Abominable snowman and not much more.

Jason Colthorp: The list of Christmas movies that I love is quite long, but at the top is It’s A Wonderful Life. Since its rights were bought, we only see it once a year now, but when I was a kid, it was on around the clock. WGN, TBS, TNT, WOR, USA, and many more would all show it which meant you could see it 20+ times every holiday season— and I watched it so much, I could recite it to family members and in the classic Jimmy Stewart voice of George Bailey. While that’s my favorite, I do acknowledge that the BEST Christmas movie, despite featuring the world’s worst parenting, is Home Alone. P.S. Die Hard is NOT a Christmas movie.

Paula Tutman: I have two. The Ref- Denis Leary and the cast are wickedly funny and compelling and the soundtrack is killer. It’s not a typical Christmas movie but it’s worth watching. White Christmas - It’s so ridiculous to think Bing Crosby and his pals could pull off such a production in Vermont like that, but it sure is fun to watch and the costumes are wonderful.

Mara MacDonald -- White Christmas: To hear Bing Crosby sing that ultimate Christmas tune is just the best. It’s a classic.

Priya Mann: It’s a toss up between Home Alone and Elf. One I loved as a kid, and the other spoke to my inner child!

Nick Monacelli: Mine might be a little traditional – but by far it’s A Christmas Story. Come on – the scene in the Chinese restaurant? “It’s smiling at me” Freaking fantastic.

Kim DeGiulio -- Home Alone: I think Kevin McAllister is so adorable and I love how resourceful he is while left at home. I love the scene when he gets all of the cardboard cutouts and puts them in the motorized trains to make it look like there’s a party going on at his house. I especially love the Michael Jordan cardboard cutout.

Grant Hermes -- The Muppet Christmas Carol: My family would go see A Christmas Carol on stage every year during the holidays (a non-muppet version). It’s easily my favorite Christmas story and the muppet version is the closest to the actual story They also do Dickens in their version. Also it’s pretty hard to beat watching Michael Cane try to sing and dance.

Jamie Edmonds -- Christmas Vacation HANDS DOWN: “And why is the carpet all wet Todd?I don’t know Margot!” We quote that all the time in my family.

Brandon Roux -- Santa Claus Is Comin’ To Town: I’m a sucker for the Rankin Bass Claymation, and I have two words that make this a classic to me, ‘Burgermeister Meisterberger.’ My favorite non-animated Christmas Movie is National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation. Again, two words, Randy Quaid! “Save the neck for me, Clark.”

Paul Gross -- It’s a Wonderful Life, and for two reasons: First, there’s no movie that better conveys the importance of what’s truly important in life. Many people lose sight of the important stuff...it’s drowned out in the noise of everyday life. This movie, filters through the noise and makes you appreciate the miracle of life and all that is good. Second, early in the movie, there’s the scene where the angels select Clarence to go to Earth and help George Bailey. That scene where the angels are talking to each other is what appears to be a bunch of stars and galaxies. In actuality, it really is! It’s a 1940s telescopic view of a cluster of galaxies called Stephan’s Quintet! Just a cool science aspect in a wonderful movie...

Brett Collar -- The Santa Clause: Because they’re is nothing jollier than Tim Allen around Christmas. Except maybe Tim the Tool Man Taylor around Christmas (Insert Tim Taylor Grunt here).