Holiday classics — Home Alone, Elf and the black-and-white era
These are the films playing on a loop from Thanksgiving to New Year's. Everyone thinks they know them cold — this round finds out who actually does.
Q1.In Home Alone, where is the McCallister family flying when they leave Kevin behind?Tap to reveal
Answer: Paris
The family trip is to visit relatives in Paris for Christmas; Kevin's mom fights her way back from France.
Q2.What is the full name of the boy left behind in Home Alone?Tap to reveal
Answer: Kevin McCallister
Macaulay Culkin was 10 when the 1990 film made him the biggest child star in the world.
Q3.According to Buddy in Elf, what are the four main food groups?Tap to reveal
Answer: Candy, candy canes, candy corns, and syrup
Buddy demonstrates by pouring maple syrup on spaghetti at the family dinner table.
Q4.Who plays Buddy the Elf in Elf (2003)?Tap to reveal
Answer: Will Ferrell
Ferrell reportedly walked through New York in the costume for real reactions during filming.
Q5.In It's a Wonderful Life, what happens every time a bell rings?Tap to reveal
Answer: An angel gets his wings
Zuzu delivers the line at the end, right before Clarence's book appears under the tree.
Q6.What is the name of George Bailey's guardian angel in It's a Wonderful Life?Tap to reveal
Answer: Clarence
Clarence Odbody is an "Angel Second Class" who has waited over 200 years to earn his wings.
Q7.In A Christmas Story, what gift does Ralphie desperately want?Tap to reveal
Answer: A Red Ryder BB gun
The full wish: an official Red Ryder carbine-action, 200-shot range model air rifle.
Q8.What warning does every adult in A Christmas Story give Ralphie about his wish?Tap to reveal
Answer: "You'll shoot your eye out"
His mother, his teacher, and even the mall Santa all repeat the line.
Q9.In Miracle on 34th Street, Kris Kringle works as Santa for which department store?Tap to reveal
Answer: Macy's
The 1947 original was set at the real Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York.
Q10.Who sings the title song in the 1954 film White Christmas?Tap to reveal
Answer: Bing Crosby
Crosby first introduced Irving Berlin's "White Christmas" in the 1942 film Holiday Inn, and it became the best-selling single of all time.
Animated favorites — the Grinch, the Polar Express and stop-motion classics
The animated round spans from 1960s TV specials to modern CGI — and includes the single most-missed question in Christmas movie trivia: who actually directed The Nightmare Before Christmas.
Q1.In How the Grinch Stole Christmas, what is the name of the Grinch's dog?Tap to reveal
Answer: Max
Max gets a single antler strapped to his head so he can pose as a reindeer.
Q2.At the end of the Grinch story, his heart grows by how much?Tap to reveal
Answer: Three sizes
"The Grinch's small heart grew three sizes that day" — one of Dr. Seuss's most quoted lines.
Q3.Which horror icon narrated the 1966 Grinch TV special and voiced the Grinch?Tap to reveal
Answer: Boris Karloff
The Frankenstein star did both jobs, though singer Thurl Ravenscroft performed "You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch."
Q4.In The Polar Express, what does the boy ask for as the first gift of Christmas?Tap to reveal
Answer: A silver bell from Santa's sleigh
Only true believers can hear the bell ring — his parents can't.
Q5.Which actor voices the conductor and several other characters in The Polar Express?Tap to reveal
Answer: Tom Hanks
Hanks performed five roles via motion capture, including the hobo and Santa.
Q6.In A Charlie Brown Christmas, what kind of tree does Charlie Brown bring back for the pageant?Tap to reveal
Answer: A tiny, drooping real sapling
He picks the only real tree on the lot of shiny aluminum ones — and the gang decorates it into shape.
Q7.What is the name of the snowman narrator, voiced by Burl Ives, in the 1964 Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer special?Tap to reveal
Answer: Sam the Snowman
Ives also sang "A Holly Jolly Christmas" in the special, turning it into a holiday standard.
Q8.In Frosty the Snowman, what magical object brings Frosty to life?Tap to reveal
Answer: A silk top hat
The magician Professor Hinkle's discarded hat lands on Frosty's head — "Happy Birthday!" are his first words.
Q9.In The Nightmare Before Christmas, who is the Pumpkin King of Halloween Town?Tap to reveal
Answer: Jack Skellington
Bored with Halloween, Jack stumbles into Christmas Town and decides to run Christmas himself.
Q10.Who directed The Nightmare Before Christmas?Tap to reveal
Answer: Henry Selick
Tim Burton created the story and produced, but stop-motion veteran Selick directed — the most-missed fact in holiday trivia.
Modern hits and rom-coms — from Love Actually to Die Hard
The round where the Die Hard debate gets settled by points instead of shouting. Rom-coms, action, and the Griswold family Christmas all live here.
Q1.In Love Actually, who plays the British Prime Minister?Tap to reveal
Answer: Hugh Grant
His character's dance through 10 Downing Street to "Jump (For My Love)" became the film's signature scene.
Q2.Die Hard takes place during a Christmas party at which company's headquarters?Tap to reveal
Answer: The Nakatomi Corporation
Nakatomi Plaza is played by Fox Plaza in Los Angeles, the real headquarters of the studio that made the film.
Q3.Who plays NYPD officer John McClane in Die Hard?Tap to reveal
Answer: Bruce Willis
Willis was mainly known as a TV comedy actor from Moonlighting before the 1988 film redefined action heroes.
Q4.In The Holiday, what do Cameron Diaz's and Kate Winslet's characters do that sets up the story?Tap to reveal
Answer: They swap homes for the holidays
An LA mansion for a Surrey cottage — the house exchange website plot made the film a genre template.
Q5.What is the first name of the Griswold family patriarch in National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation?Tap to reveal
Answer: Clark
Chevy Chase's Clark Griswold pursues the perfect "fun, old-fashioned family Christmas" into total disaster.
Q6.In Christmas Vacation, what does Clark receive from his boss instead of his expected cash bonus?Tap to reveal
Answer: A one-year membership in the Jelly of the Month Club
Cousin Eddie calls it "the gift that keeps on giving the whole year" — then kidnaps the boss.
Q7.Who plays Scott Calvin, the man who becomes Santa in The Santa Clause (1994)?Tap to reveal
Answer: Tim Allen
After Santa falls off his roof, Scott puts on the suit and is legally bound by the fine-print "Santa clause."
Q8.In Jingle All the Way, what sold-out action figure is Arnold Schwarzenegger's character hunting for his son?Tap to reveal
Answer: Turbo-Man
The 1996 film satirized real toy crazes like Cabbage Patch Kids and Tickle Me Elmo.
Q9.Who plays Ebenezer Scrooge in The Muppet Christmas Carol?Tap to reveal
Answer: Michael Caine
Caine said he played it dead straight, "as if I were working with the Royal Shakespeare Company" — opposite Kermit the Frog.
Q10.Who plays Willie, the safe-cracking con man in a Santa suit, in Bad Santa?Tap to reveal
Answer: Billy Bob Thornton
The 2003 dark comedy was produced by the Coen brothers' longtime collaborators and became a cult classic.
Quotes, songs and details — the tiebreaker round
Anyone can name the movie. This round asks for the line, the rule, and the town — the details that decide championships.
Q1.In Home Alone, the line "Keep the change, ya filthy animal" comes from what?Tap to reveal
Answer: A fictional gangster movie called Angels with Filthy Souls
The black-and-white film-within-a-film was shot specifically for Home Alone — many viewers assumed it was real.
Q2.According to Buddy in Elf, what is the best way to spread Christmas cheer?Tap to reveal
Answer: Singing loud for all to hear
The line pays off in the finale, when crowd singing powers Santa's sleigh over Central Park.
Q3.Which Charles Dickens novella has been adapted into dozens of Christmas films?Tap to reveal
Answer: A Christmas Carol
Published in 1843, it has been filmed with everyone from Alastair Sim to the Muppets to Bill Murray.
Q4.What is Ebenezer Scrooge's famous two-word dismissal of Christmas?Tap to reveal
Answer: "Bah! Humbug!"
In Dickens's text, "humbug" means a fraud or hoax — Scrooge is calling Christmas a scam.
Q5.Counting Jacob Marley, how many ghosts visit Scrooge in A Christmas Carol?Tap to reveal
Answer: Four
Marley's ghost warns Scrooge before the spirits of Christmas Past, Present, and Yet to Come arrive.
Q6.What song do the Whos sing together at the end of How the Grinch Stole Christmas?Tap to reveal
Answer: "Welcome Christmas"
The "Fahoo fores, dahoo dores" chorus was written with invented Latin-sounding lyrics; hearing it changes the Grinch's heart.
Q7.In Home Alone 2, which city is Kevin lost in?Tap to reveal
Answer: New York
He checks into the Plaza Hotel using his dad's credit card and battles the same two burglars.
Q8.In It's a Wonderful Life, what is the name of George Bailey's hometown?Tap to reveal
Answer: Bedford Falls
In the dark alternate timeline where George was never born, the town becomes Pottersville.
Q9.In Gremlins, what are the three rules for taking care of a Mogwai?Tap to reveal
Answer: Keep it away from bright light, don't get it wet, and never feed it after midnight
All three rules are broken, which is how a small town's Christmas turns into a monster movie.
Q10.Who plays cynical TV executive Frank Cross in Scrooged (1988)?Tap to reveal
Answer: Bill Murray
The film is a modern retelling of A Christmas Carol set at a television network staging a live Scrooge broadcast.
How to host a Christmas movie trivia night
Run one round per course at Christmas dinner, or play all four back-to-back with teams. House rule worth stealing: any team that answers the Nightmare Before Christmas director question correctly gets a bonus point — they've earned it.
For year-round movie questions, Trivio.NET's Movies and Holidays & Events categories deal fresh packs daily, plus real-time 1v1 battles for the family members who take this far too seriously.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I play these Christmas movie trivia questions and answers online?
Yes — this page includes a playable quiz widget, and the Trivio.NET app has movie and holiday packs with daily quizzes and live 1v1 battles.
Is Die Hard really a Christmas movie?
It's set entirely at a Christmas Eve party with a holiday soundtrack, so we count it — which is why it's in the modern hits round above.
What's the hardest question in this Christmas movie trivia set?
The director of The Nightmare Before Christmas — most players answer Tim Burton, but Henry Selick directed it; Burton created the story and produced.
Which Christmas movie trivia questions work best for kids?
The animated round — the Grinch, Frosty, Rudolph and The Polar Express are all fair game for ages 7 and up.
What is the highest-grossing Christmas movie?
Home Alone (1990) held the crown for decades with about $476 million worldwide; the animated The Grinch (2018) later passed it with over $500 million.
