Home Alone voted greatest family Christmas movie

Classic comedy Home Alone was today voted the greatest family Christmas movie of all time.

The Oscar nominated film, in which Macaulay Culkin fends off idiotic burglars after his parents abandon him, beat animated classic It’s a Wonderful Life, starring James Stewart to claim the title.

The 1946 movie told the story of an angel who helps a frustrated businessman by showing him what life would had been like if he never existed.

Third in the poll of 3,000 adults was the animated classic, The Snowman, which tells the story of a young boy whose made a snowman on Christmas Eve.

Fourth place went to timeless Christmas classic Miracle on 34th Street (1994) and fifth was the legendry Bing Crosby hit White Christmas.

The poll was conducted by Buffalo Technology, makers of the LinkStation network storage solution.

A spokesman said: ”Classic Christmas movies get everyone in the mood for the festive season and there is nothing better than staying in in the warm to watch a Christmas flick.

”Home Alone is a worthy winner and is enjoyed by children and adults alike, equally no Christmas would be complete without watching The Snowman.”

Other classics to make the top twenty included the popular romantic comedy Love Actually, Mary Poppins and The Wizard of Oz.

National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation also appeared in the list, just ahead of Jack Frost and the 1993 hit animation The Nightmare Before Christmas.

The sequel to Home Alone, Home Alone 2 came 19th.

Despite no references to Christmas, science fiction comedy Back to the Future completed the top 20, due to being aired so frequently over the festive holidays.

The poll also revealed families will watch an average of four movies together during the festive season.

Nearly a quarter of adults said settling down to watch a good film was one of the few relaxing aspects of Christmas.

A spokesman for Buffalo Technology added: “Christmas is synonymous with great family films but if you haven’t got time to watch all of them, our LinkStation devices allow you to store your movies, photos and music at home and access them anywhere in the world via the internet.

”So if playing charades at Grannie’s house gets tedious, you can always watch one of your favourite Christmas films instead.”

TOP 20 CHRISTMAS MOVIES

1. Home Alone
2. It’s a Wonderful Life
3. The Snowman
4. Miracle on 34th Street (1994)
5. White Christmas
6. A Christmas Carol
7. Love Actually
8. Santa Claus: The Movie
9. Elf
10. The Wizard of Oz
11. The Muppet Christmas Carol
12. Mary Poppins
13. National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation
14. Jack Frost
15. The Nightmare Before Christmas
16. The Polar Express
17. The Muppets Christmas Carol
18. Bad Santa
19. Home Alone 2
20. Back to the Future