Have you wrapped all of your presents yet? We certainly have not – between watching Leg Up contest entries and sending out all of the Equiflexsleeves that our customers are ordering for themselves or as gifts, we’ve been so busy!  Thank you all again for a wonderful year!

However, the holidays are really about spending time with those you love, and we encourage you to snuggle up with your pets and your family this weekend to watch one of these Christmas movies we’ve dug up.  There are a lot of “Top Christmas Movie” lists on the internet, but we’d like to think we know how much our fans love their pets, so here’s Equiflexsleeve’s movie list – Top Christmas Movies Featuring Animals!

Annabelle’s Wish – This cute animated family film came out in 1997. It takes place in a rural Tennessee farming town and stars a young calf named Annabelle and her best friend, Billy, who is the farmer’s grandson. Annabelle is born on Christmas Eve, meets Santa Claus, and wants to become one of his flying reindeer. Her friendship helps young Billy, who became mute after a traumatic barn fire. This is a heartwarming Christmas movie featuring animals that portrays an animal friendship that us horse people can really relate to!

Gremlins – This 1984 comedy-horror movie all starts when a well-meaning father purchases a strange mogwai named Gizmo as a Christmas gift for his son, Billy.  The shopkeeper who sells Gizmo warns the man to never get him wet, never feed him after midnight, and never expose Gizmo to strong sunlight.  Billy’s friend accidentally spills a glass of water on Gizmo, starting a chain of reactions that leads to the sweet little mogwai turning into an army of Gremlins, who wreak havoc on the town. While this isn’t a traditional Christmas movie featuring animals shrouded in morals and family matters, it is absolutely a cult classic and one of the most fun movies of all time.

A Charlie Brown Christmas – This wonderful movie has been appearing on TV since 1965. Backed up by a wonderful Jazz soundtrack, Charlie Brown sets off on a quest to remind the rest of the Peanuts gang about the true meaning of Christmas.  While at first his friends laugh at his attempt at directing a school play, they come together at the end to support Charlie Brown. It may be a bit of a stretch to call this a Christmas movie featuring animals, but Snoopy and Woodstock are key characters in this classic Christmas special.

Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer – Perhaps the very first movie that comes to mind when you think about Christmas movies featuring animals is this TV special from 1964.  Rudolph sets out to prove to his Reindeer friends that he should not be judged by his red nose alone.  However, he’s mocked by the other reindeer, and runs away to the island of Misfit toys.  In the end, Rudolph saves the day when Santa needs a beacon of light to guide his sleigh!

The Grinch – This feature-length film is the second highest grossing Christmas movie of all time!  Based on the Dr. Seuss book How the Grinch Stole Christmas, the movie expands on the book’s plot and explains why the Grinch is so heartless and mean. Cindy Lou Who is determined to help the Grinch find the true meaning of Christmas.  By their side the whole time is the Grinch’s dog, Max, who dresses up the reindeer to help the Grinch’s evil plan, and who also learns to have a heart when Cindy Lou Who finally gets through to the Grinch!

Bonus: Maybe you’ve seen all of the movies above too many times, or you’re looking for something new.  If you’ve got a good sense of humor and a bit of an open mind, we’ve got one last suggestion for you…

Bojack Horseman Christmas Special – This Netflix special deserves a spot on the list, being that it is a recent Christmas movie featuring animals almost exclusively in the lead roles.  It’s animated, and we’ll warn you now, that it may not be everbody’s cup of tea.  The dry humor in Bojack’s entire series is present throughout the Christmas Special, when washed-up former sitcom star Bojack revisits his sitcom’s Christmas special with his roomate, Todd. In the episode, a young orphan named Sabrina discovers Santa and wishes for her parents to be alive again.  While the strange ending leads Todd to be very confused, it reignites Bojack’s passion for watching himself act on screen, and he insists to Todd that they continue to watch the series’ eight other Christmas specials.