The 15 Best Christmas Cartoons to Stream This Holiday Season

Nothing brings a Christmas vibe more than a good animated holiday special. The 1960s and '70s were the golden age for holiday cartoon characters, like the Grinch, Rudolph and Charlie Brown, but more recent decades have brought their own flavor to the season, usually in the form of full-length Christmas movies.

Whether you're looking for a quick 30-minute cartoon or a long-form animated movie, there are plenty of streaming options this Christmas, including on free services like Tubi and Kanopy. Scroll on to find the best Christmas cartoons available for streaming, and where to find them.

In this full-length animated movie, the trials and tribulations of postal clerk Jesper Johansen (voiced by Jason Schwartzman) land him in a tiny island town where he forms a strange partnership with an imposing woodsman who crafts toys for children. The convoluted plot doesn't distract from the holiday fun and ultimately satisfying resolution.

Centered around a children's stage performance of the Christmas nativity, this classic cartoon finds poor old Charlie Brown struggling with the growing materialism of Christmas and finding comfort in a humble little tree. The essential winter soundtrack by the Vince Guaraldi Trio sets the holiday mood perfectly.

In this Japanese anime holiday adventure, three homeless people discover a newborn baby on Christmas Eve and decide to find its parents, setting them off on an epic journey across Tokyo. Adult situations earn the full-length movie a PG-13 rating, but overall it's a heartfelt story about finding your family, even if you have to make it yourself.

The most popular animated holiday special from Rankin/Bass loses points for its muddled message about bullying reindeer with different abilities, but the struggles and ultimate success of Donner's red-nosed son are a timeless TV tradition.

A young boy growing skeptical of Santa Claus takes a special journey to the North Pole on a magical train in this 2004 full-length movie. A combination of live-action and motion capture gives the film a dreamy look that captures the spirit of the original children's book.

The origin story of Kris Kringle is another big favorite among the Rankin/Bass productions. Burgermeister Meisterburger has banned all toys in Sombertown, but with a little magic and help from friends, Santa keeps finding a way to deliver presents to the children.

The Christmas showdown between the furry green Grinch and the Whos of Whoville remains a top-notch animated holiday special, even 56 years after its release. Who can resist poor Max the dog/reindeer, precious little Cindy Lou Who or the Grinch's heart growing three sizes larger?

The North Pole goes high-tech in this full-length animated movie from 2011. Santa's youngest son, Arthur, delivers a missing gift in an epic adventure that changes the future of Christmas forever. It's streaming free on Tubi this season.

Set in 1914 Ireland, this 30-minute cartoon is based on a passage from the book Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt. A young girl snatches the Baby Jesus from a nativity scene, which leads to learning some deep truths about her family's history.

The Rankin/Bass hits keep coming. In a holiday twist, Santa Claus thinks no one cares about Christmas anymore and decides to take the year off. Two bumbling elves, Jingle and Jangle, set off on a mission to prove Santa wrong, running into colorful characters like the Heat Miser and Snow Miser along the way.

There are a lot of interpretations of Charles Dickens' famous morality play, but perhaps none is as quintessential as this 1983 Disney retelling. Mickey plays Bob Cratchit, with Uncle Scrooge McDuck as (of course) Ebenezer Scrooge. Three ghosts played by Jiminy Cricket, Willie the Giant and Pete eventually show the old duck the error of his ways.

A kids' snowman comes to life when a hat from the bumbling magician Professor Hinkle lands atop his head, in this classic cartoon based on the Christmas song of the same name. A wild plot sends Frosty to the North Pole, where only intervention from Santa can save him and his little friend.

This 1974 holiday special based loosely on the famous poem by Clement Clarke Moore features a rebellious mouse who sends a nasty letter to Santa Claus and gets Christmas canceled for the whole town. Can little Albert fix the Christmas clock in time for Santa to hear its special song?

Looking for some superhero action this Christmas? Based on the Avengers Assemble series, this full-length animated movie from 2015 sees mischievous Loki and frost giant Ymir trying to take over the world by stealing Santa's powers. Iron Man, Captain America, Hulk and the Guardians of the Galaxy crew team up to make sure that doesn't happen.

Is it a Christmas movie or a Halloween movie? Who cares! The exploits of Jack Skellington in Halloween Town are a blast, whether you enjoy the movie in October or December.