Quick answer: 75 Christmas movie trivia questions with answers, in thirteen rounds: Home Alone, Elf, It's a Wonderful Life, Die Hard, A Christmas Story, Christmas Vacation, the Grinch, Love Actually, The Polar Express and Miracle on 34th Street, the Muppets and Nightmare Before Christmas, Gremlins, The Holiday and the new animated classics, plus a behind-the-scenes round and a quote round. Every answer comes with one short fact, because that is the part people repeat at the next party.
Everybody at a Christmas table has seen Home Alone. That is exactly why a Christmas movie quiz works: nobody feels left out, and everybody is sure they will win. The questions below skip the obvious ones and go one layer deeper, into the details you saw twenty times without noticing.
Each round sticks to one or two films, so you can pick the rounds that match your crowd. If you want a broader December quiz with songs, history and food, start with our 100 Christmas trivia questions. For the whole season in one place, with a quiz and a countdown to the big day, there is the Christmas hub.
How to run it: read only the bold question, give teams thirty seconds, then read the answer and the fact after it. Three or four rounds make a good evening. Save the quote round for last: it is fast, loud, and everybody can play.
Round one: Home Alone
1. What is the name of the black-and-white gangster film Kevin watches?
Angels with Filthy Souls. It is not a real film: Chris Columbus shot it for Home Alone, modelled on the 1938 Cagney classic Angels with Dirty Faces.
2. In which Chicago suburb do the McCallisters live?
Winnetka, Illinois. The house at 671 Lincoln Avenue became a tourist attraction after the film came out.
3. What does Buzz tell Kevin about Old Man Marley, the neighbour with the snow shovel?
That he murdered his whole family with that shovel. In the end Marley, played by Roberts Blossom, turns out to be a lonely old man who saves Kevin from the burglars.
4. Which comedian plays Gus Polinski, the Polka King of the Midwest?
John Candy. His polka band, the Kenosha Kickers, drives Kevin's mother from Scranton to Chicago in a rented van.
5. Which composer wrote the score, and was it nominated for an Oscar?
John Williams, and yes, twice: for the score and for the song Somewhere in My Memory. Both lost.
Round two: Elf
6. Who plays Walter Hobbs, Buddy's real father?
James Caan. Walter is a grumpy children's book publisher with an office in the Empire State Building.
7. Which department store does Buddy wander into, and ends up working at?
Gimbels. It was a real New York store, the old rival of Macy's, and it had already closed in 1987.
8. Who plays Papa Elf, Buddy's adoptive father?
Bob Newhart. Santa is played by Ed Asner.
9. The director of Elf has a small part in it. Who is he, and what does he play?
Jon Favreau, as the family doctor who runs the DNA test that proves Buddy is Walter's son.
10. Which actor plays Miles Finch, the children's author who does not like being called an elf?
Peter Dinklage. It is the scene where Buddy learns that not every small person comes from the North Pole.
11. Which song is Jovie singing in the shower when Buddy joins in?
Baby, It's Cold Outside. Zooey Deschanel sings it herself.
Round three: It's a Wonderful Life
12. What is the name of George Bailey's hometown?
Bedford Falls. In the world where George was never born, it is called Pottersville.
13. How much money does Uncle Billy lose on Christmas Eve?
$8,000 of the Building and Loan's money. Mr. Potter finds it and keeps it.
14. Who plays Mr. Potter, the meanest man in town?
Lionel Barrymore, of the famous acting family.
15. The film is based on a short story. What is it called?
The Greatest Gift, by Philip Van Doren Stern. He could not find a publisher, so in 1943 he printed it himself as a booklet and sent it to friends.
Round four: Die Hard
16. What does McClane write on the sweatshirt of the first terrorist he kills?
"Now I have a machine gun. Ho-ho-ho." He sends the body down to Hans Gruber in the lift.
17. What tip does a fellow passenger give McClane on the plane to Los Angeles?
To take off his shoes and socks and make fists with his toes on the carpet. It is the reason McClane spends the rest of the film barefoot on broken glass.
18. What is Sergeant Al Powell buying when he gets the call to check out Nakatomi Plaza?
Twinkies, which he says are for his pregnant wife.
19. How much money in bearer bonds is Hans Gruber after?
$640 million.
20. What name does McClane give Powell over the radio?
Roy. It is a joke on the radio chatter with Hans Gruber: when Gruber sneers that he is just another American who thinks he is John Wayne, McClane says he was always partial to Roy Rogers.
21. Which rap song is playing in Argyle's limo?
Christmas in Hollis by Run-DMC. When McClane asks for Christmas music, Argyle tells him this is Christmas music.
Round five: A Christmas Story
22. What is the Old Man's "major award"?
A lamp shaped like a woman's leg in a fishnet stocking. He reads "fragile" on the crate as "fra-gee-lay" and decides it must be Italian.
23. What secret message does Ralphie decode with his Little Orphan Annie decoder pin?
Be sure to drink your Ovaltine. In Ralphie's words, a crummy commercial.
24. What happens to Flick after a triple-dog-dare?
He sticks his tongue to a frozen flagpole, and the fire brigade has to free him.
25. Who eats the Parkers' Christmas turkey, and where does the family eat instead?
The Bumpus family's hounds. The Parkers end up at a Chinese restaurant.
26. What does Aunt Clara give Ralphie for Christmas?
A pink bunny suit, with feet and ears, which his mother makes him try on.
27. Director Bob Clark also made one of the first slasher films, set at Christmas. What is it called?
Black Christmas, from 1974. Nine years later he made the gentlest Christmas film on this list.
Round six: National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation
28. How many lights does Clark Griswold put on the house?
25,000. When he finally plugs them in, they do not light up.
29. What does old Aunt Bethany wrap as a Christmas present?
Her cat. At dinner she also says the Pledge of Allegiance when asked to say grace.
30. Which animal jumps out of the Griswolds' Christmas tree?
A squirrel, which then chases the family through the house.
31. Which future Seinfeld star plays Margo, the neighbour next door?
Julia Louis-Dreyfus. She and her husband Todd are the yuppies who keep ending up on the wrong side of Clark's plans.
Round seven: How the Grinch Stole Christmas
32. Who narrates the 1966 cartoon and voices the Grinch?
Boris Karloff, the actor who played Frankenstein's monster.
33. Who sings You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch?
Thurl Ravenscroft, who was also the voice of Tony the Tiger. His name was left out of the credits, so Dr. Seuss wrote to newspaper columnists to set the record straight.
34. Which Looney Tunes director made the 1966 special?
Chuck Jones. He and Dr. Seuss agreed to make the Grinch green.
35. Who voices the Grinch in the 2018 animated film?
Benedict Cumberbatch.
Round eight: Love Actually
36. What is Billy Mack's comeback single called, and which song is it a rewrite of?
Christmas Is All Around, a cheap rewrite of Love Is All Around. The Troggs had the original in 1967, and Wet Wet Wet had a huge hit with it in 1994 thanks to Four Weddings and a Funeral, which Richard Curtis also wrote.
37. What present does Karen find under the tree instead of the necklace?
A Joni Mitchell CD, Both Sides Now. The necklace was for someone else.
38. To which US state does Colin fly, sure that his accent will make him irresistible?
Wisconsin. Against all odds, it works.
39. What job does Rowan Atkinson have in the film?
Jewellery salesman. He takes so long gift-wrapping the necklace that Harry nearly gets caught.
40. Which instrument does young Sam learn to impress Joanna?
The drums, for the school Christmas concert.
Round nine: The Polar Express and Miracle on 34th Street
41. Who wrote the picture book The Polar Express?
Chris Van Allsburg. It came out in 1985 and won the Caldecott Medal in 1986. He also wrote Jumanji.
42. Which actor plays the conductor, the hobo, Santa and the boy's father in the film?
Tom Hanks. He also did the motion capture for the boy.
43. What word does the conductor punch into the boy's ticket at the end?
Believe.
44. In Miracle on 34th Street, how does the court decide that Kris Kringle is the real Santa?
The US Post Office delivers bags of letters addressed to Santa Claus to him. If the federal government says he is Santa, the judge is not going to argue.
45. Which future star plays the little girl, Susan?
Natalie Wood, aged eight. Her mother Doris is played by Maureen O'Hara.
46. In which month did the Christmas film Miracle on 34th Street open in 1947?
May. Studio boss Darryl F. Zanuck thought more people went to the cinema in warm weather.
47. In the 1994 remake, why is the store not called Macy's?
Macy's refused permission, so the film invented a store called Cole's.
Round ten: The Muppet Christmas Carol and The Nightmare Before Christmas
48. Which Muppet plays Bob Cratchit?
Kermit. Miss Piggy plays his wife, Emily, and Robin plays Tiny Tim.
49. The Muppet version gives Scrooge two dead partners instead of one. Who plays them?
Statler and Waldorf, as Jacob and Robert Marley.
50. What does Fozziwig run, where the young Scrooge works?
A rubber chicken factory. In Dickens it is Fezziwig's warehouse.
51. Who sings for Jack Skellington?
Danny Elfman, who also wrote the songs. Chris Sarandon does Jack's speaking voice.
52. What does Jack Skellington keep calling Santa?
Sandy Claws.
53. Why did Disney release The Nightmare Before Christmas under its Touchstone label in 1993?
The studio thought it might be too dark and scary for children. Tim Burton had first written the story as a poem in 1982, while he worked at Disney.
Round eleven: Gremlins and the new classics
54. Who wrote the screenplay for Gremlins?
Chris Columbus, six years before he directed Home Alone.
55. Which film are the gremlins watching, and singing along to, in the cinema?
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. They sing Heigh-Ho, which is how Billy and Kate manage to trap them.
56. Which film rating was created partly because of Gremlins?
PG-13. Gremlins and Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom were too violent for a PG, and Steven Spielberg, who produced one and directed the other, suggested a new category. It arrived within months.
57. In The Holiday, how long do Iris and Amanda swap houses for?
Two weeks. Iris flies from her cottage in Surrey to Amanda's house in Los Angeles, and Amanda goes the other way.
58. In Klaus, how many letters must Jesper post within a year to get his old life back?
6,000, from a town where nobody writes letters.
59. The director of Klaus, Sergio Pablos, came up with which huge animated franchise?
Despicable Me. Klaus was his first film as director and Netflix's first animated feature. It won the BAFTA for best animated film.
60. Which actor plays both Billy Mack in Love Actually and Grandsanta in Arthur Christmas?
Bill Nighy. In Arthur Christmas, the one child who has been missed is Gwen, in Trelew, Cornwall.
Round twelve: behind the scenes
61. What was the snow in It's a Wonderful Life made of?
A new mix of foamite, the foam from fire extinguishers, with soap flakes, sugar and water. Before that, Hollywood snow was mostly painted cornflakes, which crunched too loudly for recorded dialogue. The new snow won the RKO effects team a technical award from the Academy.
62. How did Alan Rickman's fall from Nakatomi Plaza get such a real look of shock?
He was told he would be dropped on the count of three, and they let go early.
63. Whose burp is Buddy's giant burp in Elf?
Not Will Ferrell's. It was dubbed by the voice actor Maurice LaMarche.
64. Was the tarantula on Marv's face in Home Alone real?
Yes. The fake one looked too fake, so Daniel Stern got a live tarantula on his face.
65. What real event did Miracle on 34th Street film for its opening?
The 1946 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, filmed live while it happened, with Edmund Gwenn in the parade as Santa.
66. Roughly how many heads did the puppet makers build for Jack Skellington?
Around four hundred, each with a slightly different face, swapped by hand between frames.
67. What record did The Polar Express set?
The 2006 Guinness World Records listed it as the first film made entirely with performance capture, where the actors' movements are recorded and turned into animation.
Round thirteen: which Christmas movie is this line from?
The fastest round of the night. Read the line, give ten seconds, move on.
68. "Keep the change, ya filthy animal."
Home Alone. It comes from the fake gangster film, and Kevin plays the tape to scare off the pizza delivery boy.
69. "Son of a nutcracker!"
Elf. Buddy says it when a snowball hits him.
70. "Welcome to the party, pal!"
Die Hard. McClane shouts it after he drops a body on Al Powell's police car.
71. "Save the neck for me, Clark."
National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation. Cousin Eddie, just before Clark cuts into a very dry turkey.
72. "Remember, no man is a failure who has friends."
It's a Wonderful Life. It is the note Clarence writes inside the copy of Tom Sawyer.
73. "Faith is believing in things when common sense tells you not to."
Miracle on 34th Street (1947). Doris says it to her daughter Susan.
74. "To me, you are perfect."
Love Actually. It is written on one of Mark's cue cards for Juliet.
75. "A true act of goodwill always sparks another."
Klaus. It is the idea the whole film is built on.
How to score a Christmas movie quiz
One point per answer, and be generous with half points for close guesses on names: nobody remembers that it is Gus Polinski and not Gus Polanski. In the quote round, give a bonus point to anyone who can name the character who says the line.
Mixed tables do best when the rounds mix eras. Grandparents take It's a Wonderful Life and Miracle on 34th Street, parents take Die Hard and Home Alone, and the teenagers win Klaus. For more rounds, add the film questions from our movie trivia questions and answers, a few Christmas riddles for the children, and the Christmas facts for the long pause while the pudding comes out. If the evening needs more than a quiz, the Christmas party games keep it going.
And if you are the person who suddenly wants to know how motion capture works, or who Philip Van Doren Stern was, that is the kind of thing NerdSip turns into a five-minute lesson. The rest of the year, there are trivia questions by category and a full pub quiz waiting.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are good Christmas movie trivia questions?
Questions about details people saw but never noticed. What does McClane write on the terrorist's sweatshirt in Die Hard? (Now I have a machine gun. Ho-ho-ho.) How many lights does Clark Griswold put on his house? (25,000.) What word does the conductor punch into the boy's ticket in The Polar Express? (Believe.)
Is the gangster movie in Home Alone a real film?
No. Angels with Filthy Souls was shot specially for Home Alone by director Chris Columbus, in black and white, as a nod to the 1938 James Cagney film Angels with Dirty Faces. The line Keep the change, ya filthy animal comes from it.
Is Die Hard a Christmas movie?
It is set on Christmas Eve, at an office Christmas party, with Christmas songs on the soundtrack, although it opened in cinemas in July 1988. Whether that makes it a Christmas movie is the best argument you can start at a Christmas quiz.
Who sings You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch in the 1966 cartoon?
Thurl Ravenscroft, the voice of Tony the Tiger. His name was accidentally left out of the credits, so many people assumed the narrator, Boris Karloff, sang it. Dr. Seuss later wrote to newspaper columnists to put the record straight.
What was the snow in It's a Wonderful Life made of?
A mix of foamite, the foam used in fire extinguishers, with soap flakes, sugar and water. It fell quietly enough to record dialogue on set, unlike the painted cornflakes used before, and it earned the RKO effects team a technical award from the Academy.
How many questions should a Christmas movie quiz have?
Thirty to forty is plenty for one evening: three or four rounds of eight to ten questions. Pick rounds from different decades so every generation at the table gets one round they can win.
Every NerdSip course clears a four-layer fact-checking pipeline before it reaches the app: grounded in live sources, scored nightly, gated on failure, and reviewable by a person at one tap. Articles on this blog are drafted with AI assistance, then researched, verified, and edited by our team.
Editorial responsibility: ai51 UG (haftungsbeschränkt). Responsible editor named in the imprint.
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