100 Fun Facts About Holiday Pop Culture

In which year did Mariah Carey's 1994 'All I Want for Christmas Is You' finally reach No. 1 on the Hot 100?

That 25-year climb set the record for the longest trip to No. 1. She co-wrote it with Walter Afanasieff, and the Associated Press put its royalties at around $100 million by 2023.

In which year did Wham!'s 'Last Christmas' finally reach No. 1 in the UK?

It got there on 1 January 2021, the longest wait for a UK No. 1 ever. George Michael wrote it, and the duo gave the royalties to the same Ethiopian famine appeal that had beaten them.

Whamageddon players try to avoid hearing the original 'Last Christmas' in December. On which date does it end?

Remixes and covers do not count. One of the earliest documented references is a German video-game forum in 2009, and losers announce it with #Whamageddon.

In Home Alone (1990), the McCallisters leave Kevin behind while flying to which city?

Chris Columbus directed from a John Hughes script. Kevin's burglars call themselves the Wet Bandits, and the gangster film he blasts at them, Angels with Filthy Souls, was invented for the movie.

In Elf (2003), Buddy travels to New York to find his birth father, Walter Hobbs, played by which actor?

Buddy got to the North Pole as a baby by crawling into Santa's sack at an orphanage. Bob Newhart plays his adoptive elf father and Ed Asner plays Santa.

Which actor made his film debut as Hans Gruber in Die Hard (1988)?

He was already in his early forties. The film is based on Roderick Thorp's 1979 novel Nothing Lasts Forever, and its status as a Christmas movie is officially disputed even on Wikipedia.

Who sang 'You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch' in the 1966 TV special, uncredited?

He went uncredited, so Dr. Seuss wrote to columnists across the country to set the record straight. Ravenscroft was also the voice of Tony the Tiger.

In the 1964 Rudolph special, misfit elf Hermey leaves Santa's workshop to become what?

Burl Ives narrates as Sam the Snowman. It has aired every year since 1964, the longest continuous run of any Christmas special on American TV.

The unmistakable jazz score of A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965) was written by which pianist?

CBS executives hated the slow pace, the jazz and the real kids' voices; it won the Emmy for Outstanding Children's Program anyway. Linus's speech is straight from the Gospel of Luke.

The notorious 1978 Star Wars Holiday Special contained the first appearance of which character?

He debuted in an animated segment by Toronto studio Nelvana. The special has never been rebroadcast or officially released in full, and George Lucas has said letting it happen 'probably wasn't the smartest thing to do'.

In which 1942 film did Bing Crosby first sing 'White Christmas'?

It won the Oscar for Best Original Song and has sold an estimated 50 million physical copies. Berlin told his secretary it was 'the best song anybody ever wrote'.

Bob Geldof wrote Band Aid's 'Do They Know It's Christmas?' in 1984 with which Ultravox frontman?

It was recorded in a single day at Sarm West Studios in Notting Hill and raised £8 million for Ethiopia within a year, spawning We Are the World and Live Aid.

Which act held 'Fairytale of New York' at No. 2 in the 1987 UK Christmas chart?

It has never been Christmas No. 1 but has re-entered the UK Top 20 more than twenty times and is the UK's most-played Christmas song of the 21st century.

Haddon Sundblom painted the red-suited Santa Claus for which brand's ads from 1931?

His friend Lou Prentice was the first model. Sundblom is often wrongly credited with inventing the modern Santa; he standardised an image that already existed.

According to the rules in The Elf on the Shelf, what would make the elf lose its magic?

Carol Aebersold and her daughter Chanda Bell self-published the book in 2005; by 2023 more than 22.5 million elves had been sold and one had flown in the Macy's parade.

How many original Christmas movies did Hallmark Channel's Countdown to Christmas premiere in 2017?

The block runs from the last weekend of October to New Year's Day. By 2017 the channel had 136 Christmas movies in its library.

The Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree in New York is usually which species?

The first, in 1931, was a 20-foot balsam fir put up by construction workers. Since 2007 each tree has been milled into lumber for Habitat for Humanity afterwards.

Before the balloons arrived in 1927, the Macy's parade featured live animals borrowed from where?

The parade began in 1924 and always ends with Santa. It was cancelled from 1942 to 1944 because rubber and helium were needed for the war.

The first New Year's Eve ball drop in Times Square welcomed which year?

The drop was skipped for two wartime New Years in the 1940s because of lighting restrictions. Today's ball is covered in Waterford crystal panels and starts down the pole at 11:59:00.

In which year did 'Monster Mash' hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100?

The BBC banned it that year as 'too morbid'. It came back to the Hot 100 in 1973 and still re-enters most Octobers.

In Hocus Pocus (1993), the Sanderson sisters return on Halloween in which Massachusetts town?

Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker and Kathy Najimy play the witches. The film lost Disney money in cinemas and became a cult hit through October TV airings; a sequel arrived on Disney+ in 2022.

Which SNL cast member debuted 'The Chanukah Song' on Weekend Update in 1994?

He wrote it with Norm Macdonald and two SNL writers, and has since added Parts II, III and IV with updated names.

In a 2000 Friends episode, Ross teaches his son about Hanukkah dressed as which creature?

Ben is half-Jewish and loves Christmas, so Ross improvises with the only costume he can find.

Festivus, from Seinfeld's 1997 episode 'The Strike', is celebrated around an unadorned pole made of what?

It falls on 23 December and includes the Airing of Grievances and the Feats of Strength. Writer Dan O'Keefe's father really did invent it.

In A Christmas Story (1983), the Old Man's prized 'major award' is a lamp shaped like what?

Ralphie, meanwhile, wants a Red Ryder BB gun and is told he will shoot his eye out. TNT began the 24-hour marathon in 1997; TBS took it over in 2004.

In It's a Wonderful Life, which angel second class tries to earn his wings by saving George?

The film flopped in cinemas, then its copyright lapsed in 1974 and free TV airings turned it into a classic. Zuzu explains that a ringing bell means an angel got his wings.

In Love Actually (2003), Hugh Grant plays David, who holds which job?

Richard Curtis's film counts down the five weeks to Christmas through ten stories, including Andrew Lincoln's silent cue-card confession. Curtis reunited the cast for Red Nose Day in 2017.

In Christmas Vacation (1989), Clark Griswold gets a membership in what instead of his bonus?

Cousin Eddie kidnaps the boss in response. Clark's 25,000 exterior lights briefly black out the city, and the film grew out of John Hughes's short story 'Christmas '59'.

Tim Burton conceived The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993), but who directed the stop-motion film?

It grew from a poem Burton wrote in 1982. Danny Elfman wrote the songs and sang Jack Skellington's parts, and Disney released it under Touchstone because it feared the film was too dark for kids.

John Lewis's 2014 Christmas advert starred a boy named Sam and Monty, a what?

The retailer has made one every year since 2007, almost always set to a cover version; later stars included Moz the Monster (2017) and Excitable Edgar the dragon (2019).

Michael Bublé's album Christmas, which resurfaces on the charts every winter, was released in which year?

It has sold more than 16 million copies, topped the Billboard 200 and the UK chart, and went back to UK No. 1 on 1 January 2021, nine years after its first run.

In The Office's 'Christmas Party', Michael Scott turns Secret Santa into what?

He had bought Ryan a $400 iPod against a $20 limit. Jim's teapot for Pam ends up with Dwight before Pam trades the iPod to get it back.

In Miracle on 34th Street (1947), Kris Kringle's case is won when the court accepts that which federal body has recognised him as Santa Claus?

Edmund Gwenn won the Best Supporting Actor Oscar. Studio boss Darryl F. Zanuck disliked the film and released it in May, hiding the Christmas setting in the marketing.

How many roles does Tom Hanks play in the motion-capture film The Polar Express (2004)?

One of them is a small child. Robert Zemeckis directed from Chris Van Allsburg's 1985 book, and the film held the IMAX box-office record until Avatar.

Which 1996 blockbuster has aliens blow up the White House ahead of a Fourth of July counterattack?

Roland Emmerich directed Will Smith, Jeff Goldblum and Bill Pullman as President Whitmore. The White House shot was hailed as a visual-effects milestone.

In Groundhog Day (1993), Bill Murray's Phil Connors wakes up every morning to which song on the radio?

Harold Ramis shot the Punxsutawney scenes in Woodstock, Illinois. Ramis first guessed Phil was stuck for ten years, then revised it to 30 or 40.

In It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, what does Charlie Brown get at every house while trick-or-treating?

Linus spends the night in the pumpkin patch waiting for the Great Pumpkin while Snoopy fights the Red Baron from his doghouse. The Peanuts specials moved to Apple TV+ in 2020.

Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve first aired in 1972 on which network, before its long run on ABC?

Clark hosted every year through 2004, when a stroke put Regis Philbin in the chair; Ryan Seacrest took over the following year and the show remains the highest-rated New Year's Eve broadcast.

In WKRP in Cincinnati's 1978 Thanksgiving episode, what live animals are dropped from a helicopter?

'As God is my witness, I thought they could fly,' he says. The plot was based on a real stunt by a Dallas radio station.

Michael Myers's blank white mask in Halloween (1978) was made from a $1.98 mask of which actor?

It was a Captain Kirk mask spray-painted bluish white. John Carpenter shot the film for about $300,000 and wrote the score in three days after test audiences said it wasn't scary.

Which band recorded 'Killing in the Name', the 2009 UK Christmas No. 1?

Jon and Tracy Morter started the group; the track sold more than 500,000 copies that week and became the first download-only Christmas No. 1.

In Gremlins (1984), one of the three rules for keeping a mogwai is never to feed it when?

The others are no bright light and no water. Complaints about its violence, plus Temple of Doom, led Spielberg to suggest the new PG-13 rating, created within two months.

With which unlikely partner did Bing Crosby record a Christmas duet in September 1977?

Bowie disliked 'Little Drummer Boy', so the writers knocked out the 'Peace on Earth' counter-melody in about an hour in the studio basement. RCA released it as a single in 1982.

In Home Alone 2, Kevin talks his way into a suite at which hotel with his dad's credit card?

Its then-owner Donald Trump appears to give Kevin directions to the lobby. Tiger Electronics made the Talkboy recorder as a tie-in, and it became a real hit toy.

Which song-and-dance legend voices narrator S.D. Kluger in 1970's Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town?

Mickey Rooney voices Kris Kringle, and Paul Frees is the tyrannical Burgermeister Meisterburger who bans toys.

Which ex-Beatle recorded the divisive 'Wonderful Christmastime' (1979) entirely solo?

He played every instrument himself, jingle bells included. A 2010 estimate put his annual take from it at about $400,000.

What does John Candy's Del Griffith sell in Planes, Trains and Automobiles?

John Hughes wrote, produced and directed. It was a hit on release and grew into the Thanksgiving movie in the US.

Which horror legend delivered the spoken-word section of Michael Jackson's 'Thriller'?

He did it in two takes. John Landis's 13-minute video, with Michael Peters's zombie dance, became the first music video in the National Film Registry in 2009.

Which singer recorded 'Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree' at 13 in 1958 and saw it hit No. 1 in 2023?

That made her the oldest artist ever to top the Hot 100, passing Louis Armstrong. Johnny Marks wrote it, and Kevin plays it during his fake party in Home Alone.

Who directed the live-action How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000)?

Rick Baker's makeup won an Oscar; it took up to two and a half hours a day to apply, and Jim Carrey was coached by an ex-Navy SEAL on enduring torture to get through it.

Which act holds the record for most UK Christmas No. 1s, with five, all novelty songs about sausage rolls?

They passed the Beatles' four in 2022 with a fifth consecutive Christmas chart-topper, raising money for the Trussell Trust food banks. The Spice Girls managed three in a row from 1996 to 1998.

The first documented ugly Christmas sweater party was held in 2002 in Coquitlam, in which country?

Bridget Jones's Diary had made the jumper a symbol of embarrassment a year earlier. Save the Children's Christmas Jumper Day now turns the joke into fundraising each December.

'Feliz Navidad', one of the most-played Christmas songs in North America, was written and first recorded in 1970 by which Puerto Rican singer?

The original recording entered the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2010 and eventually peaked at No. 6 on the Hot 100 half a century after release.

Who plays Ebenezer Scrooge in The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992)?

It was Brian Henson's feature directorial debut and the first Muppet film with a human as main protagonist.

In The Santa Clause (1994), what job does Tim Allen's Scott Calvin hold before becoming Santa?

He accidentally causes Santa to fall from his roof and is bound by contract to take over.

In Jingle All the Way (1996), what toy are Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sinbad desperate to buy on Christmas Eve?

The rival fathers race around Minneapolis in a satire of Christmas commercialism.

Bad Santa (2003) was the last live-action film appearance of which actor, to whom it is dedicated?

Ritter died on September 11, 2003, before the film's release; the Coen brothers were executive producers.

In Scrooged (1988), Bill Murray's Frank Cross works as what?

He is haunted while prepping a live broadcast of A Christmas Carol.

In which English town was the 1984 TV film A Christmas Carol, starring George C. Scott, filmed?

Director Clive Donner had been an editor on the 1951 film Scrooge.

Netflix's Klaus (2019) won Best Animated Film at which awards ceremony?

It also took seven Annie Awards including Best Animated Feature.

Who recorded the original, purring 'Santa Baby' in 1953?

Songwriters Philip Springer and Joan Javits were commissioned in August 1953 to write her a Christmas song. Madonna's 1987 cover and Michael Bublé's gender-flipped version followed decades later.

Judy Garland introduced 'Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas' in which 1944 musical?

She sings it to cheer up her little sister Tootie on Christmas Eve. Hugh Martin's first draft was so bleak that Garland refused to sing it, so he rewrote the gloomiest lines.

In 1958's 'The Chipmunk Song', what toy does Alvin keep begging for?

Ross Bagdasarian sped up his own voice to create all three chipmunks, and the single hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and won three Grammys at the very first ceremony.

In Mean Girls, the Plastics perform which 1957 Bobby Helms hit at the Winter Talent Show?

Lindsay Lohan re-recorded the song in 2022 for her Netflix film Falling for Christmas as a nod to the routine. Helms's original reached No. 3 on the Hot 100 in January 2020, 62 years after release.

Who plays a leather-jacketed Santa Claus in Netflix's The Christmas Chronicles (2018)?

His real-life partner Goldie Hawn turns up as Mrs. Claus in the final scene and co-stars in the 2020 sequel. Santa also fronts a jailhouse blues number in the film.

Who voices the Grinch in Illumination's 2018 animated film?

He chose an American accent so the Grinch would not stand out from the rest of the cast. Pharrell Williams narrates, and Tyler, the Creator reworked 'You're a Mean One' for the soundtrack.

The first full Simpsons episode (Christmas 1989) ends with the family adopting whom?

Homer bets his last money on the 99-1 greyhound at Springfield Downs, and it loses. The series was meant to open with a different episode, but that one's animation was a mess.

Which talking character debuted in South Park's first Christmas episode in December 1997?

The sentient piece of feces came from a story Trey Parker's father told him as a child. The episode aired on 17 December 1997 and spawned a Christmas album.

In The Holiday (2006), Kate Winslet's Iris swaps homes with which actress's character?

Amanda finds the cottage on a home-exchange website and they switch for two weeks starting the next day. Jude Law and Jack Black supply the romances on each side of the Atlantic.

Jaws (1975) unleashes its shark on Fourth of July crowds at which fictional beach town?

Martha's Vineyard stood in for the town. The mechanical shark broke down so often that Spielberg hid it for most of the film, which only made it scarier.

Which Friends star made her film debut in the 1993 horror comedy Leprechaun?

Warwick Davis played the gold-obsessed villain. For the wheelchair chase she had to run in slow motion so Davis could keep up, and she has since called the film embarrassing.

Which A-lister played Rachel-hating Will Colbert in Friends' 2001 Thanksgiving episode?

He was married to Jennifer Aniston at the time and went uncredited. Will and Ross had run a high-school 'I Hate Rachel Green' club, and the role earned him an Emmy nomination.

Which carol did the Gemini 6 crew play from orbit in December 1965, a first from space?

Wally Schirra and Tom Stafford first reported a mysterious object in polar orbit, then played it on a smuggled harmonica and bells. The song was copyrighted in 1857 as 'The One Horse Open Sleigh'.

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer began as a 1939 giveaway booklet for which retailer?

Copywriter Robert L. May wrote it, and 2.4 million copies went out the first year. His brother-in-law Johnny Marks later turned it into the Gene Autry hit.

Which jazz singer co-wrote 'The Christmas Song' (Chestnuts Roasting...) in 1945?

He and Bob Wells wrote it in about forty minutes during a July heatwave, trying to think cool thoughts. Nat King Cole made it famous, and his 1961 recording is in the National Recording Registry.

Darlene Love sang 'Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)' yearly on whose show until 2014?

She did it 21 times in all, with Paul Shaffer's band growing bigger each year. Phil Spector produced the 1963 original, released the day John F. Kennedy was shot.

Which Queen song was the UK Christmas No. 1 in both 1975 and 1991?

The 1991 run came weeks after Freddie Mercury's death, with royalties going to the Terrence Higgins Trust. It is the only single to be Christmas No. 1 twice with the same recording.

'Carol of the Bells', heard in Home Alone, comes from a New Year chant of which country?

Mykola Leontovych built 'Shchedryk' on a four-note folk motif about a swallow promising a bountiful year. Peter Wilhousky wrote the English bell lyrics in 1936.

Taylor Swift's 'Christmas Tree Farm' recalls her childhood on a real one in which state?

Pine Ridge Farm is where she grew up before the family moved to Nashville for her career. The video is cut from her family's home movies.

Christmas with the Kranks (2004) adapts Skipping Christmas, a novel by which author?

The legal-thriller writer's 2001 comic novel was his rare departure from courtrooms. Tim Allen and Jamie Lee Curtis play the couple who try to skip the holiday for a cruise.

In Trading Places (1983), the Dukes settle their nature-vs-nurture wager for what sum?

The film runs from Christmas to New Year and ends with Winthorpe paying Valentine the same sum after they bankrupt the Dukes in the orange-juice pit.

Who narrates the 1969 Rankin/Bass special Frosty the Snowman, in his final film role?

He had been one of the first to record the song in 1950 and re-recorded it for the special. Andy Griffith took over narration for 1976's Frosty's Winter Wonderland after his stroke.

The Christmas Invasion (2005) was whose first full episode as the Doctor in Doctor Who?

He spends most of it unconscious after regenerating, then wakes to fight the Sycorax in his pyjamas. Its success made the Christmas special an annual fixture.

Which Mad Men star headlined Black Mirror's 2014 festive special 'White Christmas'?

He was the first American actor in the series and took the part after Bill Hader recommended the show. Rafe Spall co-stars in a snowbound cabin telling three interlocking stories.

In A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving, Snoopy serves toast, popcorn, pretzel sticks and what?

Peppermint Patty invites herself over and is outraged by the menu. The 1973 special won an Emmy, and ice-cream sundaes round off the meal.

NORAD's Santa tracker began in 1955 after a misprinted phone number in whose ad?

The Colorado Springs ad was one digit off the Continental Air Defense Command's line. Colonel Harry Shoup took the first child's call and turned it into a tradition.

Which boy band beat Mariah Carey to the 1994 UK Christmas No. 1?

'Stay Another Day' was written by Tony Mortimer about his brother's suicide; the sleigh bells were a late addition. It remains the band's only UK No. 1.

White Christmas (1954) was the first film released in which Paramount widescreen format?

The process ran 35mm film sideways to double the negative area. Fred Astaire turned down the Danny Kaye role, and the film became the top-grossing release of 1954.

In The Bishop's Wife (1947), Cary Grant plays a suave angel with what name?

Grant was originally cast as the bishop and swapped roles with David Niven. Denzel Washington took the angel part in the 1996 remake The Preacher's Wife.

Which screenwriter set Lethal Weapon, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang and Iron Man 3 all at Christmas?

He calls the holiday a 'stutter in the march of days' and traces the habit to the espionage thriller Three Days of the Condor. The Nice Guys and The Long Kiss Goodnight get the treatment too.

Who guest-voiced the murderous Robot Santa in Futurama's 1999 episode 'Xmas Story'?

The robot judges everyone naughty because its standards were set too high. He was unavailable for the sequel episode, so John DiMaggio took over the role.

Which director made both the slasher Black Christmas (1974) and A Christmas Story (1983)?

He also made Porky's in between. The sorority-house killer film is credited with inventing the 'calls are coming from inside the house' trope before Halloween.

Feuding step-brothers Heat Miser and Snow Miser star in which 1974 Rankin/Bass special?

Mother Nature forces her sons to compromise so it can snow in Southtown. Shirley Booth voiced Mrs. Claus in her final screen role, and the brothers' songs became cult favourites.

Whose New Year's Eve broadcasts made 'Auld Lang Syne' the midnight song in North America?

His Royal Canadians played the song every New Year's from 1929 until his death in 1977, and their recording is still the first song played in Times Square after the ball drops.

Den serving Angie divorce papers on EastEnders at Christmas 1986 drew how many viewers?

It is still the highest-rated episode of any British soap. Angie had lied that she had six months to live, and the scene topped a 2004 poll of the greatest soap moments.

Who sang 'Walking in the Air' in the original 1982 film The Snowman?

The St Paul's Cathedral choirboy went uncredited, and Aled Jones's 1985 cover for a toy advert is the version most people remember. Howard Blake wrote the song and score.

'A Visit from St. Nicholas' first appeared anonymously in 1823 in which NY town's paper?

Clement Clarke Moore did not claim it until 1837, and scholars still argue that Henry Livingston Jr. wrote it. The poem gave Santa his eight named reindeer and his sleigh.

'Baby, It's Cold Outside' won the Best Song Oscar after appearing in which 1949 film?

Frank Loesser wrote it in 1944 as a party piece for himself and his wife, who felt betrayed when he sold it to MGM. Esther Williams and Ricardo Montalbán sang it on screen.

Who, aged ten, played Martian girl Girmar in Santa Claus Conquers the Martians (1964)?

The film was shot in two weeks on Long Island and later skewered on Mystery Science Theater 3000. Its Martians kidnap Santa because their children watch too much Earth TV.

Which band's 1967 hit 'Snoopy's Christmas' has the Red Baron call a festive truce?

It followed their hit 'Snoopy vs. the Red Baron' and nods to the real 1914 Christmas truce. The song reached No. 1 in New Zealand and Australia and is still a staple there.