As soon as Halloween ends, people are outside with string lights, decorations, and hopefully well-maintained ladders. While we love decorating our own houses for the season, a favorite holiday pastime is to tour the neighborhood for light displays. On extra chilly nights, however, all anyone wants to do is kick back, get cozy under a blanket, and stay warm. So why not watch some fantastic festive films that feature stunning holiday light decorations? To help you on your quest for holiday movie glory, we have compiled a list of our top three favorite holiday movies that feature inspiring holiday light displays. Fair warning, spoilers ahead!
How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000)
A subplot of How the Grinch Stole Christmas was Martha and Betty Lou's Christmas light contest. Each year the two Whos from Whoville go head to head to create the biggest and best Christmas light display. Every year Martha wins, and so every year Betty Lou ups her twinkle light game, even though the Mayor (who has a crush on Martha) gives Martha first prize every year.
The two houses are truly festooned in all their cartoonish glory. Martha's home is done in exacting single white bulbs that stretch along every edge and features a sizable light-up sign that declares "Winter Wonderland." Betty Lou's house is much more colorful with red, green, and white lights, as well as three giant flashing signs that tell Santa "Free Parking," "Free Cookies," and "Santa Drop" right over the chimney. Betty Lou's display also needs a generator, powered by her twin sons riding stationary bikes, to turn on. Both houses are wonderful! What we really want, though, is Martha's holiday light decorating gun that shoots the lights along the eaves of her house with ease. Please note, we don't recommend trying to make one yourself at home.
Deck the Halls (2006)
A large part of Deck the Halls is about Danny DeVito's character, Buddy, trying to make his house visible from space by decorating with holiday lights. This ends up putting him in competition against his new neighbor, Steve, the self-titled Mr. Christmas, who wants to retain the unofficial position of having the best holiday display in town. The shenanigans, including hiring a real camel for a nativity scene and almost blowing up their houses, get so severe that both of their families leave. In the end, the two men realize that the fighting needs to stop. Buddy and Steve band together and use all of the holiday lights to create a true winter wonderland for their families, who return now that the ridiculousness has stopped.
Buddy's attempts to have his house seen from space have not gone without notice though, and news crews are soon descending on the town. The entire town decides to pitch in, and together they all decorate the house with programmable LED lights, spotlights, and everything else that Buddy has bought. After technical difficulties (they forgot to plug in one string of lights) the display shines bright, and a reporter confirms that the house can be seen from space!
Christmas Vacation (1989)
"Lotta lights dad," is the fair warning given by Rus to his father, Clark, in Christmas Vacation. This movie is our absolute favorite for showing off the pure and total frustration when it comes to detangling and checking strings of mistreated holiday lights. We have all been there: standing on the driveway, trying to figure out how something you shoved in a box last January got so tangled throughout the year. The beach ball-sized globe of tangled lights that Clark hands off to Russ makes us cringe just thinking about it. It's why we are firm believers in storing holiday lights with the utmost care.
The same can be said later when he tries to turn on his holiday light display, and nothing happens. Although he plugged six strands into one outlet, that didn't even end up being the problem. It was the fact a switch in the garage controlled the outlet he chose. Been there. Once it's up and running his house is dotted in countless classic white holiday lights that shine so brightly that they disturb the neighbors. The switch in the garage ends up being the hilarious catalyst to Clark taking his frustrations out on some of his decorative reindeer. Before he can give up completely though, his wife, Ellen, figures out the problem and Clark and the entire family get to bask in his hard work.
Holiday Lights at Home
We hope that our top three movies featuring fantastic light displays will keep you entertained this holiday season and get you inspired to create your own. We have everything you need to rival the Whos from Whoville. Browse through the vast selection on our site, and if you have any questions please contact us! Have a happy holiday season.
