Image via Complex Original
21.
Before your stomach even has a chance to digest the embarrassing amount of Thanksgiving plates you inhaled, the focus turns to Christmas. The Black Friday commercials have commenced and the race to Dec. 25 has begun. Not only are Mariah Carey’s falsetto tones filling the airwaves, but your television guides are quickly immersed with holiday films. It wouldn’t be a Christmas movie without a cameo from Santa. As the season nears closer, it’s only right that you brush up on these festive films with our definitive guide to Santa Claus in Hollywood.
Looking for more holiday spirit or a last-minute gift? Check out the Best Buy Holiday Gift Guide for ideas and inspiration.
20.John Call
Movie: Santa Claus Conquers the Martians
Year: 1964
Whoever thought of this was immensely ahead of their time. Fifty years later and it’s still way over our heads.
19.Charles Dierkop
Movie: Silent Night, Deadly Night
Year: 1984
An ’80s Santa slasher film. Watch at your own risk.
18.Edward Ivory
Movie: The Nightmare Before Christmas
Year: 1993
Oh, Sandy Claws. You have no choice but to love the innocence, but he let those little kids punk him. There’s no doubt about that.
17.Nigel Hawthorne
Movie: Call Me Claus
Year: 2001
After 200 years of serving the world as The Claus, Whoopi Goldberg is the obvious choice as your replacement. Right?
16.Al “Red Dog” Weber
Movie: Scrooged
Year: 1988
What they didn’t tell us as children was that Santa and the Mrs. have an arsenal of ammo to ward off the non-believers.
15.Paul Giamatti
Movie: Fred Claus
Year: 2007
Imagine that Ol’ Saint Nick is your older brother—that’s almost as major as having Beyoncé as your sister. Regardless of which superstar it is, living in the shadows is never flattering. Fred has a difficult time in his brother’s domain. Fred Claus is sibling rivalry in a nutshell.
14.Patton Oswalt
Movie: A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas
Year: 2011
You’ve got to admit that Harold and Kumar are an incredibly clumsy duo. They couldn’t even handle a trip to White Castle, so it’s no surprise that they ruined Christmas. Santa took a bullet to the face for us, and for that we are forever indebted.
13.James Belushi
Movie: Jingle All the Way
Year: 1996
Any clique of Santas that would squad up to Arnold Schwarzenegger is okay in our book.
12.Mekhi Phifer
Movie: This Christmas
Year: 2007
A bit different than his other roles, Mekhi proved that ladies really do love a man in a suit. Maybe a Santa suit will finally get bae’s attention. Don’t knock it until you try it.
11.Douglas Seale
Movie: Ernest Saves Christmas
Year: 1988
What was the ’80s without an Ernest flick? The holiday season wouldn’t be the same if the dude in the denim vest didn’t have his hands on Christmas. Unlike some of the other candidates on this list, Douglas Seale had a true Santa-like charm, filled with an eerily cool omnipresence.
10.James Cosmo
Movie: The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
Year: 2005
The grand entrance; the sleigh; the suit—it was all very Kanye of him. The flyest Santa Claus, hands down.
9.Ricky Smiley
Movie: Friday After Next
Year: 2002
Ricky Smiley took a page out of the Grinch’s playbook when he jacked all of Craig and Day-Day’s Christmas gifts—including rent money and a sandwich. Klepto Santa for the win.
8.Richard Attenborough
Movie: Miracle on 34th Street
Year: 1994
The beard tug felt around the world didn’t budge in this case. Santa basically pulled a Drake and said: “But point the biggest skeptic out, I’ll make him a believer.”
7.Edward Asner & Artie Lange
Movie: Elf
Year: 2003
Elf is probably one of the funniest Christmas movies to hit the big screen and we were lucky enough to get both sides of the Santa spectrum. There was Edward Asner versus Mall Santa Artie Lange—the two were pretty much polar opposites. Lange’s thick New York accent and faux beard were not enough to fool Buddy and all hell broke loose.
6.Tom Hanks
Movie: The Polar Express
Year: 2004
The animation alone is a force to be reckoned with. If this traditional holiday classic doesn’t make you feel good, then you’re probably just the Grinch. Don’t debate it.
5.Jeff Gillen
Movie: A Christmas Story
Year: 1983
After begging for a Red Ryder carbine action, two-hundred shot range model air rifle and being shot down every single time, the last thing that Ralphie thought the Mall Santa would do was say, “No, you’ll shoot your eye out.” No loyalty.
4.Mickey Rooney
Movie: Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town
Year: 1970
It’s not really Christmas if you haven’t watched this on ABC Family a million times during the month of December.
3.Billy Bob Thornton
Movie: Bad Santa
Year: 2003
It’s only right that Billy Bob Thornton play a not-so-nice version of our favorite guy in red. Who would’ve thought that a kid with a headful of blonde curls could have warmed the heart of a guy who was colder than the North Pole itself?
2.Tim Allen
Movie: The Santa Clause
Year: 1994
For all intents and purposes, Tim Allen may as well be Santa. Allen’s transformation from everyday dad to king of the North Pole was so seamless and natural that it spawned two spin-off films.
1.Dan Aykroyd
Movie: Trading Places
Year: 1983
The originator of the “bad Santa” has to go to Dan Aykroyd for his portrayal of a trill Kris Kringle. Sure you’ve been to the typical company Christmas party, but did it have a gun-toting, inebriated Santa? Didn’t think so.