There are two types of people: those who start playing Christmas music the day after Halloween, and those who don’t. Whether you’re the former or the latter, the holiday season is indeed creeping up upon us! And one thing that comes with the Most Wonderful Time of the Year is not just the holiday tunes, but the Christmas movies. There are so many classics! (Home Alone, It’s a Wonderful Life, and Love Actually are just a few that immediately come to mind.)
Whether you prefer the sappy romances — Hallmark Channel, we’re looking at you — or Christmas comedies, there’s a holiday film for everyone. If you’re a fan of mistletoe, we’ve got you covered. Here are 17 of the cutest mistletoe moments in holiday movies and TV shows.
This Kiss on Bones
People who say you shouldn’t date your coworkers have obviously never worked with someone where the chemistry was as strong as that between Booth and Brennan. They share their first on-screen kiss around the holidays, when, long story short, prosecutor Caroline Julian insists they kiss under the nearby mistletoe. Caroline had pulled some strings to enable Brennan to spend time with her father, who’s in prison, so obvi the only way to pay her back would be by a big ol’ smooch sesh nearby? Either way, it’s clear from the look on Caroline’s face that she wasn’t expecting the passionate embrace that it turned into. We later find out in a flashback that Booth and Brennan actually kissed previously, but this was the first look into the steamy developing romance.
Harry’s First Kiss in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Cute: Harry Potter’s first kiss, ladies and gentleman! It took him nearly five years at Hogwarts, saving countless lives and winning plenty of Quidditch games, for this to happen! You go, Harry!
Not Cute: The kiss is prefaced by Cho literally crying over her ex-boyfriend, Cedric Diggory, who was murdered by Lord Voldemort last school year in front of Harry.
Cute: Harry is awkward af and mentions nargles after Cho brings up the mistletoe hanging above them, which are in all likelihood a fictitious creature he learned about from Luna Lovegood. Flirting has never been Harry’s strong suit.
The one in the Scrooged movie
In a modern take on Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol, Bill Murray as Frank Cross is the movie’s version of Ebenezer Scrooge. A rude, workaholic TV producer, Frank is visited by three ghosts of Christmas past, present, and future. After the three have done their magic, Frank is a changed man. He kisses an actress on-set under mistletoe, but the cute part is what comes afterward, when he confesses his feelings for his long lost love, who happened to get a ride to the TV studio with the ghost of Christmas past and saw the whole thing.
This iconic Lizzie McGuire/Aaron Carter moment
In this holiday episode of Lizzie McGuire ft Aaron Carter, everything falls apart and the parents get involved, but it ends with a happy ending, as only a Disney Channel series can. When Lizzie, Miranda, and Gordo try to sneak onto the set of Aaron’s “I Want Candy” music video shoot, they get denied, though annoying little brother Matt makes it through. After a series of ups and downs, it’s through sheer luck that Lizzie runs into Aaron Carter. In a moment that truly seemed to be ripped from our tween-selves’ dreams, they happen to be under mistletoe so the famous pop star actually kisses her. I only wish their real life relationship had worked out as easily.
Justin Bieber’s “Mistletoe” song
“Mistletoe” was the lead single of Justin Bieber’s 2011 Christmas album, Under the Mistletoe. In fall of 2011, Bieber’s relationship with Selena Gomez was alive, if not 100% well — the couple had been public for over a year, but Justin was hit with a paternity suit and breakup rumors inevitably followed. It’s a mystery to me why Selena herself wasn’t cast in this music video about a Justin who is smitten with a different dark-haired beauty (though she seems to be insecure about a random blonde chick throughout the whole song). Fortunately, at the end, Justin and his woman end up on a dance floor together, conveniently twirling beneath the song’s namesake. Cue a teenage makeout.
A mistletoe kiss in I’ll Be Home for Christmas that’s sooooo ’90s
The premise of this movie is pretty ridiculous, but that’s 1998 and anything with leading man Jonathan Taylor Thomas for you. Don’t get me wrong, I had a huge crush, but he’s known for Home Improvement, cheesy is kind of his style. The mistletoe kiss in this movie actually occurs when JTT’s girlfriend, a pre-Justin Timberlake Jessica Biel, kisses another guy, who happens to be JTT’s arch-nemesis — played by Adam LaVorgna.
He goes on to seduce/date Jessica Biel in 7th Heaven a few years later. So no, it’s not necessarily “cute” in a traditional sense, but it ends up televised on a local news station, which I guess would have been cute if it had been an actual couple and not a girl getting back at her flake of a boyfriend by making out with his rival. (JTT and Jessica Biel are pictured above because obviously, they end up back together.)
When Sandra Bullock Kisses Her Fake-fiancé’s Brother in While You Were Sleeping
If you’re bored this holiday season, why not find a guy in a coma and lie to his whole family about how you’re his fiancé? Okay, to give Lucy a little credit, she actually saves the guy’s life — a guy who happens to be her fantasy crush — and then he falls into a coma… but she still allows his family to believe she’s his fiancé, and she spends the holidays with them.
…Which makes it rather odd when it’s the family that encourages coma-boy’s brother, Jack, to kiss Lucy under the mistletoe because it’s “tradition.” Yes, Jack and Lucy are falling in love, but the family is still under the impression that she’s engaged to the comatose one who IRL she’s never actually spoken to. It’s complicated, okay?! This mistletoe kiss is just the first of many for that couple, as they end up happily ever after, married and in love.
The Mistletoe Promise‘s Smooch on Hallmark
Based on a book of the same name by Richard Paul Evans, The Mistletoe Promise is brought to us by the folks at the Hallmark Channel and includes everything you would expect from the perfectly cheesy network. In this particular sappy holiday movie, two strangers meet by chance and discover a mutual dislike of spending Christmas single. Thus, they make a pact to go through the holiday season as a fake couple, lying to friends, family, and in the case of the female lead, an ex-spouse (that she still works in the same office with). The same thing happens as it does in every other “fake couple” movie: they fall in love and become a real couple. Tada!
The Nine Lives of Christmas movie kiss
Not sure if your crush likes you back? According to the Hallmark Channel, where The Nine Lives of Christmas hails from, all you need to do is issue the “mistletoe test.” Somehow orchestrate a situation in which you and your crush find yourself underneath mistletoe, and wait for them to make a move. If they kiss you on the cheek, they like you as a friend. If they kiss you on the mouth, they like you like you. Naturally, because this is a Hallmark movie about two perpetually single characters falling in love over the holidays (with a bunch of cats involved, hence the movie name), the crush crushes back and the main characters make out under the mistletoe. May it work out just as well for you!
Mistletoe Over Manhattan‘s obvious mistletoe moment
The Hallmark Channel really did it this time, with not one but two couples saved by the magic of Christmas! One couple is Mr. and Mrs. Claus themselves — when the Mrs. sees Santa losing his usual holiday spirit, she heads to New York to find inspiration. There, she finds the parents of a cute little family going through a divorce, despite the fact that the husband and wife obviously still love one another and their children. Using the Christmas spirit (and some mistletoe), Mrs. Claus manages to reunite the couple and call off the divorce, while encouraging Santa just in time for December 25.
Revealing Mistletoe in Batman Returns
Crime fighters of Gotham Batman and Catwoman find themselves face to face — or rather, mask to mask — under a hanging sprig of mistletoe. Batman, ever the clever fellow, remarks, “Mistletoe can be deadly if you eat it.” Catwoman flirts back, “A kiss can be even deadlier if you mean it,” but because she’s Catwoman, she proceeds to lick his face instead of kissing him. Scene change: Bruce Wayne and Selina Kyle are dancing at a party, and Selina is the one to notice the mistletoe and remark on its poisonous nature, to which Bruce retorts with the kissing line. Which of course leads to the discovery of one another’s identities. (P.S. I looked it up: eating mistletoe will result in mild gastrointestinal issues, but nothing deadly.)
“Merry Christmas, Sheriff,” in Toy Story
Clearly, the most romantic way to get a man’s attention is by hooking him around the neck with a shepherd’s staff. Just kidding. Woody is a toy and even he tells Bo Peep it’s painful. Bo Peep has an agenda though: her ever loyal flock of sheep is holding a sprig of holly above the couple’s heads, and she sweetly coos “Merry Christmas, sheriff,” before kissing him. And then they all have to rush back to their original positions and pretend to be inanimate objects because they’re toys. Romance!
Shawn and Angela’s Kiss in Boy Meets World
Unlike Cory Matthews and Topanga Lawrence, who were destined to end up together no matter what problems they faced, Shawn Hunter and Angela Moore of Boy Meets World had no such destiny laid out for them. They had their breakups and makeups, their episodes of nothing but fighting, their episodes of nothing but making out. It seemed like it was difficult for them to get on the same page. When one was in love, the other wanted space, and vice versa. As was the case when Cory and Topanga set up a little mistletoe time; it was hot, but Shawn was not truly into it at the time.
A Mistletoe Jingle in The Nightmare Before Christmas movie
Jack Skellington the skeleton wanders from Halloween Town to Christmas Town, where he sings a catchy song to describe all the wonders he sees upon his arrival. One such thing is the flirty little bunch of holly: “Oh, look / What’s this? / They’re hanging mistletoe, they kiss / Why that looks so unique, inspired.” Too cute, Jack’s getting in touch with his romantic side.
Rachel Green Denies a Mistletoe Moment on Friends
Friends has plenty of Christmas episodes (holiday armadillo, anyone?), but not a lot of mistletoe action. In “The One With Phoebe’s Dad” in season two, Monica is hosting a holiday party in the apartment, only to bust the heating unit and turn the place into a sauna. The building superintendent Mr. Treeger attempts to hit on Rachel by pointing out the mistletoe above them, but she insists it’s basil. Poor guy!
An iconic couple shares a moment in Mickey’s Once Upon a Christmas
Gang’s all here! Mickey’s Once Upon a Christmas includes short segments featuring the classic Disney cartoon characters, including Goofy, Donald Duck, and of course Mickey and Minnie themselves. Though Donald Duck’s segment centers on his children and the meaning of Christmas, there’s still time for him and Daisy Duck to experience a little romance and a passionate kiss under some mistletoe. Whoever said Christmas is only for kids?
Love the Coopers‘ cringe-worthy kiss
As with most movies made up of star-studded assembly casts intended to be good because of the A-list actors (think New Year’s Day, Valentine’s Day, etc.), Love the Coopers falls short of great. The teenage son, who apparently has a body odor issue, does get to french kiss for the first time in a highly public area of the mall, by approaching his girl with some mistletoe. The kiss is disgusting; the cute part is the mall cop who considers breaking them up but instead flashes back to every mistletoe kiss he’s had over the years.