Thirty questions on Christmas films, from It's a Wonderful Life and White Christmas to Elf, Die Hard and Klaus, in five rounds of six. The answers sit under each round, folded away, so the host can open them when the pens go down and nobody at the table sees them early.

It is a free sampler of The Christmas Film Quiz, our printable pack, and it is pitched for a mixed table. Most of the questions suit teenagers and grandparents alike, and the last one or two in each round are there to sort out the uncle who has seen everything.

How to run it

  • Play solo or in teams. One point for every correct answer.
  • In round two, give the missing words for a point, then name the film for a bonus point. That makes 36 points in all.
  • In the anagram round, each phrase uses exactly the same letters as the film title. Ignore spaces, punctuation and capitals.
  • Spelling does not count, as long as the host knows what you mean. Open the answers at the end of each round, or save them all for the end.

Round 1: Name the film

Name the Christmas film from its plot.

  1. An eight-year-old is accidentally left behind when his family flies off for Christmas, and two burglars learn the hard way.
  2. A young man is given a cute pet for Christmas with three rules: no bright light, no water, and never feed it after midnight. Oops.
  3. Two heartbroken women, one in a Surrey cottage and one in Los Angeles, swap homes for Christmas. Romance follows, naturally.
  4. A Coventry primary school teacher fibs that Hollywood is coming to watch his school nativity play. Cue chaos.
  5. Santa's clumsy younger son races to deliver one forgotten present, a bicycle, to a child in England before Christmas morning.
  6. Three homeless friends in Tokyo find an abandoned baby on Christmas Eve and set out to find her parents. An anime by Satoshi Kon.
Round 1 answers
  1. Home Alone (1990). Chicago's O'Hare Airport played itself and also doubled for Orly Airport in Paris.
  2. Gremlins (1984). Complaints about scenes in Gremlins and Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom led the US to create the PG-13 rating.
  3. The Holiday (2006). Jude Law plays Graham, the brother of Kate Winslet's character, Iris.
  4. Nativity! (2009). It was set and filmed in Coventry, and parts of it were improvised.
  5. Arthur Christmas (2011). Bill Nighy voices Grandsanta, who is 136 years old.
  6. Tokyo Godfathers (2003). They name the baby Kiyoko, after the Japanese title of Silent Night, meaning "pure child".

Round 2: Finish the line

Give the missing words for a point, then name the film for a bonus point.

  1. "The best way to spread Christmas cheer is..."
  2. "To me, you are..."
  3. "Welcome to the party..."
  4. "Every time a bell rings..."
  5. "Light the lamp, not the..."
  6. "You'll shoot your..."
Round 2 answers
  1. "...singing loud for all to hear." Elf (2003). It is rule three of the Code of the Elves.
  2. "...perfect." Love Actually (2003). Andrew Lincoln's Mark shows it on a cue card at Juliet's door. Juliet is played by Keira Knightley.
  3. "...pal." Die Hard (1988). John McClane says it as a body lands on Sergeant Al Powell's police car.
  4. "...an angel gets his wings." It's a Wonderful Life (1946). Little Zuzu says it, quoting her teacher, as a bell on the Christmas tree rings.
  5. "...rat." The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992). Rizzo the Rat yells it after his tail is accidentally set alight.
  6. "...eye out." A Christmas Story (1983). All Ralphie wants is a Red Ryder air rifle, and even Santa tells him this.

Round 3: Who played...?

Name the actor who played the part.

  1. Who played Kevin McCallister in Home Alone?
  2. Who played Buddy in Elf?
  3. Who played the Grinch in the 2000 live-action film How the Grinch Stole Christmas?
  4. Who played the villain Hans Gruber in Die Hard?
  5. Who played Ebenezer Scrooge in The Muppet Christmas Carol?
  6. Who voiced the giant toymaker Klaus in the 2019 animated film Klaus?
Round 3 answers
  1. Macaulay Culkin. He played Kevin again in Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992).
  2. Will Ferrell. Bob Newhart plays Papa Elf, Buddy's adoptive dad, and narrates the film.
  3. Jim Carrey. In one scene Carrey improvised an impression of the film's director, Ron Howard.
  4. Alan Rickman. Hans Gruber was Rickman's first big-screen role, and he was already in his early 40s.
  5. Michael Caine. It was the first Muppet film made after Jim Henson's death, and was directed by Brian Henson.
  6. J. K. Simmons. Jason Schwartzman voices the reluctant postman, Jesper.

Round 4: Anagrams

Unscramble each phrase to find a Christmas film title. The letter count is in brackets.

  1. HEN, SWAN, TOM (10 letters)
  2. DIRT PIES (8 letters)
  3. EXPERT HORSE PALS (15 letters)
  4. EATS LUNCH AT SEA (14 letters)
  5. PLANTED CIGARS (13 letters)
  6. WIT, CHARM, HEISTS (14 letters)
Round 4 answers
  1. The Snowman. Raymond Briggs's original picture book has no words at all.
  2. Spirited. Will Ferrell plays the Ghost of Christmas Present, opposite Ryan Reynolds.
  3. The Polar Express. Author Chris Van Allsburg only sold the film rights after learning Tom Hanks was involved.
  4. The Santa Clause. It took about $190 million worldwide on a $22 million budget.
  5. Trading Places. A 2010 US law banning insider trading on commodities markets is nicknamed the Eddie Murphy rule.
  6. White Christmas. It was the first film shot in VistaVision and the highest-grossing film of 1954.

Round 5: Christmas number one

The finale: songs, records and box office.

  1. The 2019 romcom Last Christmas, starring Emilia Clarke, is built around the songs of which singer?
  2. In The Nightmare Before Christmas, Jack Skellington is the Pumpkin King of which town?
  3. What is the name of the Grinch's loyal dog in both the 2000 and 2018 films?
  4. Elf and Love Actually both opened in cinemas in which year?
  5. In Love Actually, Billy Mack's single Christmas Is All Around is a festive rewrite of which hit song?
  6. Which film is the highest-grossing Christmas film of all time worldwide, ahead of Home Alone?
Round 5 answers
  1. George Michael (Wham! also counts). Wham!'s Last Christmas first became the UK Christmas number one in 2023, 39 years after its release.
  2. Halloween Town. Composer Danny Elfman also provides Jack's singing voice.
  3. Max. Six different dogs were used to play Max in the 2000 film.
  4. 2003. Elf opened in the US on 7 November 2003, a week before Love Actually.
  5. Love Is All Around. Wet Wet Wet's 1994 version, from Four Weddings and a Funeral, spent 15 weeks at UK number one.
  6. The Grinch (2018), the animated one, not the 2000 Jim Carrey version. It took about $553 million worldwide, against about $477 million for Home Alone.

The full quiz: The Christmas Film Quiz

These 30 questions come from The Christmas Film Quiz, and the pack includes them. On top of them it has 30 more written questions, among them a whole behind the scenes round of multiple choice, plus a picture round where teams name the film from three icons and a tiebreaker. That is 70 questions in seven rounds, and every answer comes with a fact for the host to read out.

It is built for the night itself: host sheets to print, answer sheets for each team, a score sheet, a PDF screen version and an animated PowerPoint with a timer on every question, so you can run it straight off the telly. It costs £4.99 including VAT and downloads straight after checkout.

More quizzes and games

There is a free horror movie quiz for Halloween and a British gangster film quiz for the people at the table who would rather watch a heist than a nativity, both with answers. For something to play between rounds, Frame a Day is one still from a film every day, and you have to name it.