Few things unite Arizonans come the holidays quite like retiring to an overstuffed couch and flipping on a beloved feature film.
Whether it be a timeless classic, like “A Charlie Brown Christmas” or a newer mainstay, such as “Polar Express,” everyone seems to have a favorite movie come the home stretch of the year.
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Although BetArizona.com usually covers Arizona sportsbooks, we’ve joined in the holiday spirit to determine the state’s favorite Christmas film.
Utilizing Google Trends, we determined the most popular Christmas movies of state residents by looking at search results over the past five Christmases. The movies used in the analysis are the 40 most popular Christmas films over the past year based on global traffic from AhRefs.
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Favorite Christmas Movies of Arizona Residents
| Rank | Christmas Movies | % of Interest |
| 1 | The Polar Express | 29% |
| 2 | Home Alone | 26% |
| 3 | How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000) | 18% |
| 4 | Elf | 14% |
| 5 | A Christmas Story | 13% |
As you bet on college football bowl games and the NFL during the holiday season, come to BetArizona.com for all the Arizona sportsbook promos.
Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER (Available in the US) Call 877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY) Call 1-800-327-5050 (MA), 1-800-NEXT-STEP (AZ), 1-800-BETS-OFF (IA). 21+ only. Please Gamble Responsibly. Terms and conditions apply. Subject to eligibility requirements. Bonus bets are non-withdrawable. This promotional offer is not available in Mississippi, Nevada, Ontario, or Puerto Rico.
What to Know About Arizona’s Holiday Movie Favorites
It appears Arizonans favor new-school takes on holiday films over the more tried-and-true “classics,” with four of the top five finishers made in the 21st century.
Arizona residents enjoy “The Polar Express” a lot more than critics did, with 29% of search queries aimed at the 2004 film, compared to the movie’s 56% ranking on film aggregation site Rotten Tomatoes.
The runnerup holiday film, 1990’s “Home Alone,” garnered 26% percent of searches, coming in three percentage points behind “The Polar Express.”
The Chris Columbus-directed cult classic starring Macaulay Culkin beat out two other 21st century “classics,” in 2000’s “How The Grinch Stole Christmas” and “Elf.”
The 21st century remake of Dr. Seuss’ holiday mainstay brought in 18% search interest, while “Elf” garnered 14% of all holiday film searches in Arizona to claim the fourth spot.
Rounding out the top 5 is the 1983 comedy film, “A Christmas Story,” which unstuck itself from the proverbial pole to garner 13% of all Arizona holiday film searches.
Of the quintet of Arizona Christmas film favorites, only “A Christmas Story” was selected for preservation by the Library of Congress’ National Film Registry.
But there’s no need to holler “What the Elf?” though, as Arizona’s list is sure to change with time as residents’ movie habits do.
For now, it’s time to sit back, sip on some nice hot cocoa, and fire up whatever film sparks joy through the flutter of the holiday season.
When you’re done watching holiday movies, log back in to BetArizona to read reviews of new Arizona sports betting apps.
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