Every year I learn of some obscure one I've never heard of before, like I've never heard anyone bring up the fact there's a Pacman Christmas special before that airs once in a while.

I Sweden we have the same 1 hour Dittny special that has been aired since the 60's. Between 15:10 to 16:00 the entire society stops working in favour of watching this particularly cut up selection of old cartoons. The same every year. The exact same. So we don't have a christmas special favourite. We have one.

Oy, that sounds painful.

I don't have a favorite Christmas movie or special. There are many that I have fond memories of from growing up, but none that I would classify as my favorite.

-- BK

For movies, I can't think of any. But my favorite Christmas specials are both from SpongeBob. "Christmas Who?" and "It's a SpongeBob Christmas!"

I like The Polar Express and Home Alone (first and second).

As for the specials, I like How The Grinch Stole Christmas, A Charlie Brown Christmas, and Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town.

Die Hard

For most esoteric, The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus gives him an origin story one part The Jungle Book and one part The Lord of the Rings. It's actually based on a book by L. Frank Baum (better known for The Wizard of Oz), and was previously adapted as stop-motion in 1985 (but that I only learned looking clips up now).

There are a lot of good Christmas specials I know that range all over the map emotionally ("Arnold's Christmas" may be the most daring ever done for a child audience), but here's a highlight of offerings close to my heart:

• The Santa Claus Brothers [2001] — Don't let the early-2000s CGI fool you: the archetypal story about Learning the Spirit of Christmas is told with more heart than some theatrical releases. It's also very witty, in the way that the whole family can enjoy: where best to quest for the essence of the holidays than Santa Monica?
• Arthur Christmas [2011] — Created by Aardman Animations (of Wallace and Gromit legend), this is a thoroughly British approach and one of the few Santa films that leans heavy into modern technology without feeling overreaching—indeed, its core message about the human touch amidst computer automation feels even more poignant today.
• Klaus [2019] — A Spanish film with English actors, set in Norway. [Insert Mr. Worldwide meme here.] Apparently I'm not the first to draw likeness with the Rankin/Bass classic Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town: posted to a town at war with itself, the postmaster general's son stumbles into a plan to shore up its mail rate with the help of a reclusive woodworker in a brilliant reimagining of the Santa mythos. (Special shout-out to making the Sámi inspiration for the elves.) The film is also a visual masterpiece that throws down the gauntlet for 2D animation.
• The Nativity Story [2006] — Countless retellings through rote pageants in white Western churches can make the Birth of Jesus feel mythologically distant from our own experience. This film digs deep to turn people who can feel like abstract symbols back into human beings in a historical drama so immersive, you can forget several of the main actors aren't even Palestinian. It also answers one of the biggest plot holes in the New Testament: Why would Rome conduct a census requiring mass migration that would effectively shut down the empire? Answer: Caesar never ordered it.
• The Snowman [1982] — Raymond Briggs' eponymous picture book turned into an equally enthralling animation, essentially the British version of Frosty the Snowman told (almost) entirely silently. More a Winter special than Christmas specifically, and much more existential than the usual kids' fare.
• The Shepherd [1979] — Introduced to me some years ago, this radio reading of the Frederick Forsyth short story is a radically different genre than the other features here. Apparently it's been a Canadian tradition since its first broadcast, which I've come to call the Other Christmas Ghost Story. (N.B.: I have not seen the recent film.)

Two other TV(?) specials have been preying on my mind but that I haven't been able to track down. One is about defective toys searching for a home; the other an orphan boy whose only clue to his father is a sleigh bell found with him.

Favorite Christmas special - 'How The Grinch Stole Christmas' because that little dog...

Favorite Christmas movie - the whole 'LoTR' and 'The Hobbit' movies. 

In regards to the defective toys finding a home, I think the movie is 'April and the Sandman'. 

THAT'S IT!

Now I'm wondering if someone did a similar film, because for some reason I thought the soldier was in polkadots—but that might be memory crosswiring with Charlie from Rudolph. :p

I like the Grinch (1966).

My favorite Christmas specials are the Invader Zim one, and the Alvin and the Chipmunks one (from the 2015 reboot).