Michigan’s cold weather and abundance of snow makes it a natural winter wonderland, so it’s no wonder that production companies would choose it as the shooting location for a Christmas movie.
Here’s a handful of Christmas movies you can enjoy this season that were shot right here in Michigan.
“Prancer” (1989)
“Prancer” stars Sam Elliott as a widowed father with two children that discover one of Santa’s reindeers on their farm and proceed to try to return him to the North Pole on time for Christmas.
Exterior shots for the film were taken in Three Oaks. Director John Hancock is also noteworthy for directing “Bang the Drum Slowly” in 1971, which features one of Robert De Niro’s earliest performances before achieving stardom.
“The Christmas Bunny” (2010)
Directed by Grand Rapids native Tom Seideman, who worked on the classic “Dead Poets Society,” “The Christmas Bunny” tells the story of a young girl who helps nurse an injured rabbit she finds in the woods back to health.
It was filmed on location during an especially snowy Michigan winter in Lowell, Alto, Wyoming, and Zeeland.
“A Very Harold & Kumar Christmas” (2011)
Set in New York, but filmed in several locations including Detroit, “A Very Harold & Kumar Christmas” is the third film in the raunchy stoner comedy series Harold and Kumar.
The film focuses on the comedy duo, who are a modern take on Cheech and Chong, attempting to get the perfect Christmas tree to impress a cantankerous father-in-law, but the duo find themselves more preoccupied with acquiring another type of “tree.”
A racy, R-rated comedy, this Christmas story is better left off being enjoyed by the adults in the family.
“Christmas at the Holly Hotel” (2022)
Just released on several streaming services, “Christmas at the Holly Hotel” is the story of a woman returning home from New York City to spend Christmas with her parents, who own the historic Holly Hotel in Michigan.
U.S. Representative Elissa Slotkin, who grew up in Holly, gave the film a shoutout on her official Facebook page.
Another recent Christmas film that was produced in Holly is “Cupid’s Christmas,” which tells the tale of a small-town banding together in order to raise money to save a historic train depot.
