Editor’s note: This story has been updated for 2024. A version was released in 2023.

It’s all about New Jersey.

Even the holiday season.

The Garden State plays a role in some of the best – and frankly, worst – that Christmas cinema has to offer. Some of these Christmas movies are dripping with Jerseyness. Other classics require more work to find the essential Jersey tie.

But there probably is one.

Here are 26 holiday movies with a Garden State connection. And if you want even more Jersey movies, read it List of the 51 Greatest Jersey Movies.

“Home Alone”, 1990 and “Home Alone 2”, 1992

The McCallister House is in Illinois, the setting of many John Hughes films. And Catherine O’Hara and John Candy are Canadian, of course. But Joe Pesci was born in Newark and, until recently, had a home in Lavallette.

As for what’s next? Its hit soundtrack song, Darlene Love’s “All Alone on Christmas,” was written by Middletown High School graduate Steven Van Zandt and featured other members of Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band.

“It’s a Wonderful Life”, 1946

Did you know that Bedford Falls was based on Little Califon in Hunterdon County?

“It’s a Wonderful Life” was adapted from a Christmas card submitted by Rutgers University graduate Philip Van Doren Stern. And its fictional setting was actually inspired by the small New Jersey town with an iron bridge that became the focal point of the film.

One of the film’s prominent actors is also from New Jersey. Thomas Mitchell, who played Uncle Billy, was born and raised in Elizabeth.

“Die Hard,” 1988

The debate still rages: is “Die Hard” a Christmas movie? But one thing is certain: John McClane is a Jersey guy. Bruce Willis grew up in Salem County and attended high school and college there.

Oh, and one of the film’s producers, Joel Silver, grew up in South Orange.

“The family stone”, 2005

Downtown Madison served as a backdrop for scenes from the comedy-drama starring Diane Keaton and Sarah Jessica Parker. Claire Danes and Dermot Mulroney even stopped by St. Vincent Martyr School to sign autographs after filming.

“White Christmas”, 1954

Dick Stabile, the musician who played the conductor of the Carousel Club, was born in Newark.

A distant link? Of course. But the connection between Jersey and this iconic film is real.

“Miracle on 34th Street”, 1947

No movie about New York can escape a bit of Jersey.

Actor William Forrest, who played Dr. Rogers in Bellevue, was a star athlete at Princeton University.

“A Christmas Story,” 1983

Have you ever heard of the TV show “Shepherd’s Pie”? Otherwise, you are welcome.

A few years before Jean Shepherd told “A Christmas Story” — a film based on some of her stories — the author a humorous chronicle of life in New Jersey for the New Jersey PBS network.

“Bad Santa”, 2003

New Jersey wouldn’t have anything to do with a story about a con artist dressing up as Santa to rob malls, would it? Of course it would.

Screenwriter Glenn Ficarra attended St. John Vianney High School in Holmdel Township.

“Meet Me in St. Louis,” 1944

The Garden State can’t claim Judy Garland or Margaret O’Brien. But Joanne Carrollwho played Garland’s younger sister, Agnes Smith, was born in Elizabeth.

“The Polar Express”, 2004

It’s hard to find the local connection when Tom Hanks plays six different characters.

But the beloved children’s book turned animated film starring Hanks as the train conductor features music by Teaneck native Alan Silvestri, whose score was nominated for an Oscar.

The film also includes a scene about one Steven, a boy from Maplewood, who “put gum in his sister’s hair” and set off a naughty alarm at the North Pole on Christmas Eve.

Way to represent, Steven!

“Lethal Weapon”, 1987

Some might argue that if “Die Hard” is a Christmas movie, so is “Lethal Weapon.” And like “Die Hard,” one of its producers is South Orange-raised Joel Silver.

“Elf”, 2003

OK, we know this one is about a human raised as an elf who leaves the North Pole for Manhattan.

But do you remember how he got there? Going through the Lincoln Tunnel. That means he had to start in Weehawken.

“Scrooged”, 1988

This update of the Reagan-era “Christmas Carol” starring Bill Murray has some supporting actors from Jersey.

John Forsythe, who played the ghost of Lew Hayward, was born in Penns Grove. And Michael J. Pollard, who played the homeless Herman, grew up in Garfield and Clifton.

“The Pastor’s Wife”, 1996

Whitney Houston. Need we say more?

Well, maybe this was filmed partly in Paterson and in Newark, the pop legend’s birthplace.

“Decorate the Halls,” 2006

This Christmas decorating comedy is a double for Jersey: Its stars include Asbury Park native Danny DeVito and “Sex and the City” actress Kristin Davis, a graduate of the Mason Gross School of the Arts in Rutgers University.

“Surviving Christmas,” 2004

Critics hated this Christmas movie starring Ben Affleck, who was at the height of his pop culture pariah period. But we know the real draw is Tony Soprano himself: Park Ridge’s James Gandolfini.

“Gremlins”, 1984

Another selection of Christmas movies with a Garden State twist. This horror comedy – featuring the saddest, scariest Santa story known to man – was directed by Joe Dante, who grew up in Livingston.

“Just Friends”, 2005

Sometimes you just need to unexpectedly return home to New Jersey at Christmas to fall in love with your once unrequited crush.

At least that’s the gist of this romantic comedy, starring Ryan Reynolds as an obese former record producer who ends up at his mother’s house in Jersey for the holidays and reconnects with the woman he once adored in high school.

“The Family Man”, 2000

The fantasy comedy-drama starring Nicolas Cage is a sort of twisted, modern-day version of “It’s a Wonderful Life” — set in Jersey and partially filmed in Teaneck.

Cage plays a Wall Street executive who magically wakes up in a Garden State suburb on Christmas Day, having an idea of ​​what his life might have been like if he had taken a different path.

“The Perfect Vacation”, 2007

Jersey spirit abounds in this film about an aspiring songwriter, played by Morris Chestnut, who also works as Santa at Jersey Gardens Mall in Elizabeth.

Portions were filmed in Hoboken, Jersey City, Clifton, Rutherford, Westfield and Bergenfield.

And the narrator of the film? Queen Latifah, raised in East Orange.

“Paul Blart: Mall Cop”, 2009

Is this a Christmas movie?

Pretty close. This movie about a mall security guard turned action hero takes place on Black Friday in a “New Jersey” mall decked out in holiday decorations.

Plans to film at Willowbrook Mall in Wayne were dashed when filmmakers couldn’t get a permit. So, Kevin James was filmed in Massachusetts while pretending to be in the fictional West Orange Pavilion mall in Jersey.

“A Christmas Carol”, 2004

The modern musical version of the holiday classic stars Jason Alexander of Livingston as Jacob Marley and Jane Krakowski of Parsippany as the Ghost of Christmas Past.

“Everything is Bright”, 2013

Two former thieves try to start selling Christmas trees. One is played by Paul Giamatti. The other by Paul Rudd, born in Passaic.

“The way of sugar cane”, 2023

Star Eddie Murphy is one of many celebrities who have called the upscale Alpine home over the years.

“The Nightmare Before Christmas”, 1993

Tim Burton is the name most associated with this Halloween/Christmas movie. But true fans know that the film was directed by Henry Selick, a stop-motion wizard. who grew up in Rumson.

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Adam Clark can be reached at [email protected].

Brent Johnson can be reached at [email protected].