Every year, families around the country who celebrate Christmas break out classic Christmas kids movies for the holiday season. While this may seem like a harmless, fun tradition, some of these movies may preach negative messages to children.  Unfortunately,  these movies are also the most popular in the genre.

The most popular children’s Christmas movie is probably the animated film “Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer.” This film gives one of the most negative messages out of all the other movies in the genre. Rudolph, a young reindeer, is born with a deformity that is despised by all the other reindeer. Even Santa Claus himself dislikes Rudolph for his strange red nose. His parents, worried and unaccepting of his nose, force him fit in by using a fake nose.

Eventually, this plan fails and he his  mocked by all the other reindeer. Outcast from Christmas Town, he runs away off into the Arctic to escape from humiliation. While he does go on an interesting adventure, near the end of the film he is once again accepted by his fellow reindeer and by Santa Claus himself only once his deformity becomes useful to them.

This movie is more or less about a special needs kid who is rejected from society and is then beloved by all once his deformity is used to their advantage. It gives the message that it is acceptable to be different as long as your difference is useful to society. Rudolph goes down in history only because he happened to light the way on a stormy night, not because the other citizens in the North Pole truly accept him for who he is.

Another movie that presents a negative message is “The Polar Express.” This movie, while with impressive animation for its time, preaches the message that children should run away from home with strangers simply for candy and hot chocolate. The protagonist, Hero boy,  in the movie runs away from home on a strange train with other children with no consideration for the “stranger danger” policy that majority of parents teach their children. While he does encounter some magical experiences along the way, he also encounters a strange homeless person on top of the train which is far more realistic of how actually running away from home would be like than drinking hot chocolate with eccentric train personnel.

“The Nutcracker,” which has been depicted in multiple movies, is most commonly portrayed in ballets and plays. This movie promotes the message that toys are the most important aspect of the Christmas season. The little girl in the story chases obsessively after a nutcracker which she wishes to have as her own toy. This story promotes vanity and materialism as the most dominating elements at Christmas time.

While some of kids’ Christmas movies portray negative messages, many of them contain positive messages, too. Before showing these movies to children, parents should  make sure that these animated films do not possess negative elements that can affect a child’s outlook on Christmas or life.