People all across the country will be spending the season watching their favorite tried-and-true Christmas flicks. But what it is about those movies that make us come back to watch them each year?

A holiday movie becomes a classic by fulfilling multiple criteria, said Jeff Bibbee, associate professor of history. 

 “A good holiday movie is one that’s real, but also has a certain amount of fantasy to it,” Bibbee said. “I think they have to help us escape a little bit, but at the same time they have to feel real. You know holidays are about being with your family and with your friends, so you have to have a sense of reality to them.”

 Bibbee’s favorite holiday movie, “The Holiday,” accomplishes that task, he said.

 “It’s about two characters that trade houses for the holidays between L.A. and London,” Bibbee said “They both are trying to escape, but what they realize is that they need their family and friends. They find what they’re looking for in the places where they go.”

 A love for holiday movies grew from her childhood, said freshman Peyton Sheffield.

 “When I was little, I (was) diagnosed with cancer,” Sheffield said. “(My mom) would always try to make the Christmas lights and everything look magical to me, because she wasn’t sure if I was going to make it. She also started getting me a lot of Christmas movies, which made the Christmas addiction worse.”

 “The Polar Express” is a personal favorite, Sheffield said.

 “I love Polar Express because when I was in fourth grade, I had actually been in a private school, and the principal was the pastor’s wife,” Sheffield said. “She thought she could preach to us about what she thought, so she ended up getting in my face and telling me Santa wasn’t real. When Polar Express came out, it just made me believe in Santa for a little bit longer.”

But for some, like senior Elizabeth Hauck, family favorites are not always the “classics.”

 “Narnia is one of our Christmas movies, along with Harry Potter for some reason,” Hauck said. “We have traditional stuff on top of that, like Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and Frosty from back in the 90s.”

 Personality plays a big part in these choices, Hauck said.

 “We’re all a family of nerds,” Hauck said. “Plus, my dad likes anything fantasy. (Those movies) kind of remind us of the Christmas spirit, which is supposed to be full of wonder and amazement.”

 The purpose of a classic holiday film is to bring the family together, said freshman Tyler Cutt.

 “I like a movie called ‘This Christmas,’” Cutt said. “It sort of shows how, during the holiday season, families are really hectic. Then they come together at the end and everything is peaceful.”