Movies like It Nearly Wasn't Christmas

If you like "It Nearly Wasn't Christmas" you are looking for movies about / with christmas, santa claus, youth, race, magic, elf and train themes of Adventure and Comedy genre shot in USA.
Find your next favorite and similar movies in two steps: 1. Identify all themes of interest from this film (block below). 2. Look for them in the presented list.
It Nearly Wasn't Christmas (1989)
 5.8
 252
It Nearly Wasn't Christmas (1989)
Genre: Adventure, Comedy
Country: USA
Duration: 100 min.
Story: Feeling unneeded, a disillusioned Santa Claus (Charles Durning) quits Christmas. Through the selflessness of a little girl looking to reunite her parents for Christmas (and the help of his bumbling chief elf, Philpot (Bruce Vilanch), Santa and the child travel across America and Santa discovers that people really do need him and care about other people.
Plot: christmas, santa claus, youth, race, magic, elf, train, criminal, family relations, african american, missing child, father daughter relationship, runaway, christmas eve, mother daughter relationship, bus, balloon, little girl, letter, factory, husband wife relationship, shopping mall, limousine, absent father, intergenerational friendship ...
Place: los angeles

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Most similar movies to It Nearly Wasn't Christmas

The list contains related movies ordered by similarity. Recommendation engine sorted out feel good, humorous, entertaining and captivating films with plots about christmas, christmas movie, family relations, holiday, xmas, santa claus and youth mostly in Comedy, Family and Adventure genres. Some movies like It Nearly Wasn't Christmas: The Santa Suit (2010), Christmas In Palm Springs (2014), A Different Kind of Christmas (1995), The Christmas Consultant (2012), To Grandmother's House We Go (1992). The matching attributes are highlighted in bold.
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The Santa Suit (2010)
Genre: Adventure, Comedy, Family, Fantasy
Country: Canada, USA
Duration: 89 min.
Story: Drake Hunter, the president of Hunter Marketing, has the perfect plan to boost sales for his father's toy company over the holiday season--hire department store Santas to promote his father's merchandise. When the real Santa Claus turns ...
Style: semi serious, humorous, light, sentimental, entertaining
Plot: christmas, christmas eve, christmas present, homeless shelter, social worker, marketing, little girl, santa claus, xmas, store, gift, first date ...
⇓ similarity ⇓
95%
Christmas In Palm Springs (2014)
Genre: Comedy
Country: USA
Duration: 84 min.
Story: Jessica has a big presentation in Palm Springs. There are a couple of problems though: her two kids who will do anything to get mom and dad back together again - even if they have to hack mom's phone or pose as a secretary to make sure ...
Style: christmas comedy, family comedy
Audience: girls' night
Plot: christmas, youth, divorce, separation, bad mother, christmas romance, dinner, husband wife relationship, gift, father son relationship, embarrassment, loyalty ...
Place: new york
⇓ similarity ⇓
91%
The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause (2006)
Genre: Adventure, Comedy, Family, Fantasy
Country: USA, Canada
Duration: 97 min.
Story: Now that Santa and Mrs. Claus have the North Pole running smoothly, the Counsel of Legendary Figures has called an emergency meeting on Christmas Eve! The evil Jack Frost has been making trouble, looking to take over the holiday! So he launches a ...
Style: feel good, christmas special, humorous, christmas classics, semi serious ...
Audience: kids, girls' night, pre-teens, family outing
Plot: christmas, santa claus, holiday, reindeer, christmas eve, christmas season, xmas, time travel, north pole, hidden identity, nothing goes right, disorder ...
Time: 2000s, 21st century
Place: canada
⇓ similarity ⇓
83%
The Christmas Chronicles: Part Two (2020)
Genre: Adventure, Comedy, Family, Fantasy
Country: USA
Duration: 112 min.
Story: Kate Pierce is reluctantly spending Christmas with her mom’s new boyfriend and his son Jack. But when the North Pole and Christmas are threatened to be destroyed, Kate and Jack are unexpectedly pulled into a new adventure with Santa Claus.
Style: captivating, sincere, light, feel good, fairy tale ...
Audience: family outing, kids, teens
Plot: santa claus, christmas, christmas season, holiday, saving christmas, christmas spirit, snow, magic, teenage girl, north pole, brother sister relationship, imaginary character ...
Time: future, year 1990, 2020s
Place: boston, turkey, south pole
⇓ similarity ⇓
76%
Movie in collections
A Different Kind of Christmas (1995)
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 90 min.
Story: When you're the city attorney you don't need the kinds of problems that her father was giving her. After her mother died, her father began doing his "Santa Schick," as she called it, much more intensely... which meant that he ...
Style: christmas comedy
Audience: girls' night
Plot: christmas, holiday, xmas, youth, father daughter relationship, family relations, christmas movie, santa claus suit
⇓ similarity ⇓
67%
The Christmas Consultant (2012)
Genre: Comedy
Country: Canada
Duration: 88 min.
Story: Christmas is just around the corner but suburban workaholics Maya Fletcher and her husband Jack are too busy to get into the holiday spirit. As their Christmas to do list grows and deadlines fast approach, holiday spirit is at an all time low. Maya ...
Style: feel good, light, humorous, entertaining, funny ...
Plot: christmas, planning, family holiday, counselor, family relations, holiday, family life, christmas eve, christmas present, husband wife relationship, mother daughter relationship, humour ...
⇓ similarity ⇓
66%
To Grandmother's House We Go (1992)
Genre: Adventure, Family, Comedy
Country: USA
Duration: 96 min.
Story: When the twins feel like their mom is tired of them, they take off on an exciting adventure to grandmother's house and encounter a pair of villains along the way.
Style: semi serious, realistic, humorous, touching, feel good
Audience: kids, girls' night, family outing, preschool
Plot: twins, christmas, holiday, youth, xmas, single parent, family relations, disorder, nothing goes right, mischievous children, siblings relations, down on your luck ...
Time: 90s
⇓ similarity ⇓
66%
Dorf's Christmas Specials (2015)
Genre: Comedy
Country: USA
Duration: 46 min.
Story: This Christmas extravaganza is filled with sidesplitting short films and joyous comedy sketches starring Santa's favorite elf, Dorf (Tim Conway.
Plot: snow, holiday, elf, santa claus, reindeer, sketch, christmas, christmas movie
⇓ similarity ⇓
65%
Grumpy Cat's Worst Christmas Ever (2014)
Genre: Action, Adventure, Comedy, Family
Country: USA
Duration: 87 min.
Story: A lonely cat living in a mall pet shop has a sour outlook on life until, in the midst of the holiday rush, she’s swept up into a robbery and a friendship with a human girl.
Style: semi serious, humorous, feel good
Audience: family outing, kids, preschool
Plot: christmas, pets, friendship, shopping mall, supernatural ability, heroes, talking cat, escapades, rescue, sarcasm, youth, dog ...
Time: 21st century
Place: usa
⇓ similarity ⇓
64%
Santa's Boot Camp (2016)
Genre: Adventure, Comedy, Family, Fantasy
Country: USA
Duration: 93 min.
Story: When kids become so bratty and self-centered that Santa's elves go on strike, Santa, in desperation, must bring six unscrupulous youths to his boot camp to help save Christmas.
Style: entertaining, captivating, funny, humorous, feel good
Audience: kids
Plot: christmas, holiday, spoiled brat, elf, santa claus, children, teenage boy, theft, adventure hero, teenager, xmas, christmas movie
⇓ similarity ⇓
63%
Troop Beverly Hills (1989)
Genre: Adventure, Comedy
Country: USA
Duration: 105 min.
Story: A Beverly Hills housewife in the middle of a divorce tries to find focus in her life by taking over her daughter's Wilderness Girls troop.
Style: family comedy, independent film, realistic, not serious, humorous ...
Audience: chick flick, kids, girls' night, teens, pre-teens ...
Plot: wilderness, divorce, female bonding, fish out of water, self discovery, friendship between girls, scout, wealth, female protagonist, competition, socialite, rivalry ...
Time: 80s, year 1989, 20th century
Place: california, beverly hills, los angeles, usa, southern california
⇓ similarity ⇓
61%
A Very Harold & Kumar Christmas (2011)
Genre: Adventure, Comedy
Country: USA
Duration: 90 min.
Story: Six years have elapsed since Guantanamo Bay, leaving Harold and Kumar estranged from one another with very different families, friends and lives. But when Kumar arrives on Harold's doorstep during the holiday season with a mysterious package in ...
Style: funny, humorous, parody, not serious, cult classic ...
Audience: boys' night, teens
Plot: holiday, christmas, stoner, buddy, road trip, weed, marijuana, new year, stupidity, unlikely friendships, xmas, nothing goes right ...
Time: year 2011, 2010s, 21st century
Place: new york, new jersey, kolkata, usa
⇓ similarity ⇓
59%
Jingle All the Way (1996)
Genre: Adventure, Comedy, Family
Country: USA
Duration: 89 min.
Story: Meet Howard Langston, a salesman for a mattress company is constantly busy at his job, and he also constantly disappoints his son, after he misses his son's karate exposition, his son tells Howard that he wants for Christmas is an action figure ...
Style: humorous, slapstick, christmas classics, sentimental, melancholic ...
Audience: kids, family friendly, pre-teens, family outing, teens
Plot: christmas, father son relationship, holiday, santa claus, chase, toys, postman, shopping, superhero, christmas party, motorcycle, neighbor ...
Time: 90s, 20th century, year 2016
Place: minnesota, usa, minneapolis minnesota
⇓ similarity ⇓
58%
The Town Christmas Forgot (2010)
Genre: Comedy, Family
Country: USA, Canada
Duration: 84 min.
Story: An urban family that can’t seem to get along gets stranded in a remote, impoverished lumber town two days before Christmas. When they become involved in the town’s home-grown Christmas pageant, they not only help solve the town’s problems but ...
Style: sincere, touching, captivating, humorous
Plot: christmas, husband wife relationship, stranded, mayor, old man, abandoned mine, interracial friendship, father son relationship, party, intergenerational friendship, contest, xmas ...
⇓ similarity ⇓
58%
12 Dogs of Christmas: Great Puppy Rescue (2012)
Genre: Adventure, Comedy, Family
Country: USA
Duration: 102 min.
Story: The dogs of Doverville are in trouble again... but Emma O'Conner is back to save them in a song-filled, seasonal extravaganza. Mean-spirited mogul Finneas James plots to shut down the local puppy orphanage, unless Emma can come up with the ...
Style: feel good, sentimental, sincere, humorous, independent film
Audience: kids, family outing
Plot: christmas, young heroes, rescue, small town life, pets, youth, animal life, danger, farm, social relations, small town, dog ...
Time: 20th century, 1930s
Place: usa
⇓ similarity ⇓
54%
The Christmas Chronicles (2018)
Genre: Adventure, Comedy, Family, Fantasy
Country: USA
Duration: 104 min.
Story: Siblings Kate and Teddy try to prove Santa Claus is real, but when they accidentally cause his sleigh to crash, they have to save Christmas.
Style: light, atmospheric, sincere, feel good, sentimental ...
Audience: family outing, teens, kids, family friendly
Plot: christmas, christmas spirit, santa claus, reindeer, holiday, firefighter, children, loss of father, new year, winter, snow, xmas ...
Time: 2010s, future, year 2009, 90s, 20th century
Place: massachusetts, chicago, mexico city
⇓ similarity ⇓
52%
Very Cool Christmas (2004)
Genre: Comedy, Family, Adventure
Country: Canada
Duration: 90 min.
Story: 16 year-old Lindsay decides to give Santa Claus an extreme makeover.
Style: humorous, funny, light, entertaining, feel good ...
Audience: family outing, teens
Plot: christmas, teenage girl, gay parent, gay father, youth, love and romance, coming of age, self discovery, fish out of water, parents and children, teenage life, eccentric family ...
Place: vancouver
⇓ similarity ⇓
51%
Meet The Santas (2005)
Genre: Comedy, Family, Fantasy
Country: USA
Duration: 96 min.
Story: Because she is marrying the man who assumed the mantle of Santa Claus last December 26, Beth's postponed wedding has to be rescheduled for Xmas eve. Overwhelmed by selling the house she and her son share and the prospect of the duties of Mrs. ...
Style: fairy tale, sentimental, light, feel good, sincere
Audience: girls' night
Plot: christmas, santa claus, holiday, family relations, parents and children, kids and family, couple relations, love and romance, christmas eve, fight, magic, self discovery ...
⇓ similarity ⇓
51%
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A Grandpa for Christmas (2007)
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 84 min.
Story: An old-time movie-star singer/ hoofer rebonds with his estranged daughter and 9-year-old granddaughter.
Style: semi serious, sentimental, touching, humorous, realistic ...
Audience: family outing
Plot: christmas, family relations, elderly, youth, mother daughter relationship, father daughter estrangement, grandfather granddaughter relationship, holiday, chess, xmas, estrangement, age-gap relationship ...
Time: 21st century
Place: usa
⇓ similarity ⇓
51%
A Bad Moms Christmas (2017)
Genre: Comedy
Country: USA, China
Duration: 104 min.
Story: Amy, Kiki and Carla – three under-appreciated and over-burdened women – rebel against the challenges and expectations of the Super Bowl for mothers: Christmas. And if creating a more perfect holiday for their families wasn’t hard enough, they ...
Style: funny, buddy comedy, captivating, humorous, feel good ...
Audience: chick flick
Plot: christmas, mother daughter relationship, female friendship, holiday, female protagonist, single mother, woman, girlfriend girlfriend relationship, winter, father daughter relationship, single parent, christmas season ...
Time: year 2017, 2010s, 21st century
Place: chicago
⇓ similarity ⇓
49%
The 12 Days of Christmas Eve (2022)
Genre: Comedy
Country: USA
Duration: 90 min.
Story: When Brian Conway, a successful businessman whose family relationships have suffered, gets in a car accident on Christmas Eve, Santa gives him twelve chances to redo the day and repair the relationships in his life, including with his daughter ...
Style: gay cinema
Plot: christmas, time loop, reindeer, second chance, diner, father daughter relationship, santa claus, grandfather granddaughter relationship, animal shelter, girl, death, christmas cookies ...
Time: 2020s
⇓ similarity ⇓
47%
A Dog for Christmas (2015)
Genre: Comedy
Country: USA
Duration: 89 min.
Story: The entire family stays at Dave and Sandy's home for the holidays. Kassandra wants a puppy for Christmas, but Mom and Dad aren't ready for that. Will Santa grant Kassandra's only wish for Christmas?
Style: feel good, captivating, semi serious, entertaining, funny ...
Audience: family outing
Plot: christmas, dog, girl dog relationship, family relations, christmas present, human animal relationship, animal, gift, animal human communication, pets, owner dog relationship, pet dog ...
⇓ similarity ⇓
45%
 5.3
 783
Elf Me (2023)
Genre: Adventure, Comedy, Family, Fantasy
Country: Italy
Duration: 99 min.
Story: A bumbling Christmas elf whose Santa's helper job is jeopardized by a complete inability in building toys teams up with a kid harassed by bullies.
Plot: santa claus, elf, christmas, north pole, bad boy, child protagonist, male protagonist, bullying, christmas present, absent father, mother, girl ...
⇓ similarity ⇓
45%
Movie in collections
 6.3
 27K
Noelle (2019)
Genre: Comedy, Family, Fantasy
Country: USA
Duration: 100 min.
Story: Kris Kringle's daughter, Noelle, sets off on a mission to find and bring back her brother, after he gets cold feet when it's his turn to take over as Santa.
Style: light, fairy tale, feel good, humorous, exciting ...
Audience: kids, chick flick
Plot: christmas, christmas eve, elf, holiday, fish out of water, family business, new year, disorder, north pole, buddies, santa claus, magic ...
Time: 2010s, 21st century
Place: usa, phoenix arizona, arizona
⇓ similarity ⇓
43%
A Child's Christmases in Wales (2009)
Genre: Comedy
Country: UK
Duration: 59 min.
Story: One-off period comedy, peeping into the lives of a south Wales family's Christmases across the 1980s, written by comedian Mark Watson and inspired by a Dylan Thomas short story. Christmas in this household may be a less than poetic affair, but ...
Plot: christmas, family relations, rehearsal, christmas spirit, christmas eve, christmas movie
Time: year 1983, year 1989, year 1986, 80s
Place: england, wales
⇓ similarity ⇓
42%
How to Train Your Husband (2018)
Genre: Comedy
Country: USA
Duration: 85 min.
Story: A marriage therapist attempts to fix her own marriage by focusing on how to change her husband.
Style: humorous, captivating, entertaining, sincere, light
Audience: chick flick, boys' night
Plot: husband wife relationship, marriage, male female relationship, love and romance, hopes, lifestyle, youth, society, couples, family relations, christmas, anniversary ...
Place: boston
⇓ similarity ⇓
42%
 4.2
 455
3 Day Test (2012)
Genre: Comedy, Family
Country: USA
Duration: 90 min.
Story: Martin Taylor has totally lost touch with his family. He has no clue who his teenage daughter's friends are, why his son only communicates with an electronic sign outside his bedroom door, or why his youngest child only watches faith TV. ...
Style: captivating, psychological, entertaining, satirical
Audience: family outing
Plot: christmas, family relations, lifestyle change, parents and children, family problems, changing lives, husband wife relationship, eccentric family, father daughter relationship, problem, self discovery, satire ...
⇓ similarity ⇓
42%
Christmas Eve (2015)
Genre: Comedy
Country: USA
Duration: 95 min.
Story: Hilarity, romance, and transcendence prevail after a power outage traps six different groups of New Yorkers inside elevators on Christmas Eve.
Style: sweet, feel good, funny, touching, christmas comedy ...
Audience: family outing, family friendly
Plot: christmas, holiday, christmas eve, family relations, friendship, parents and children, winter, animal, save the day, gift, family life, trust ...
Place: new york
⇓ similarity ⇓
42%
Santa's Little Helper (2015)
Genre: Comedy, Family
Country: Canada
Duration: 91 min.
Story: After getting fired from his job, a slick, fast-talking businessman is thrown into an elf competition to become Santa¹s next second-in-command. Put through a series of rigorous training exercises to prepare for the contest, The Miz and another ...
Style: entertaining, feel good, light, sweet, fairy tale ...
Plot: christmas, santa claus, magic, north pole, holiday, christmas eve, toys, wrestling, wrestler, christmas movie, world wrestling entertainment
⇓ similarity ⇓
40%
Marry Us for Christmas (2014)
Genre: Comedy
Country: USA
Duration: 90 min.
Story: In the sequel to the popular UP Original Movie Marry Me For Christmas, it's a year after Marci and Blair declared their love for each other and decided to tie the knot. But as the big day approaches, Marci is so consumed with work that she ...
Style: entertaining, feel good, funny, semi serious, satirical ...
Plot: christmas, relationship vs career, love interest, relationship problems, couples, family problems, couple relations, love and romance, male female relationship, love story, family relations, satire ...
⇓ similarity ⇓
39%
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