Jan.06
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Twelve Days of Christmas... Games, Part II: Christmas Movie Trivia (the Answers)

For the second entry in the dozen winter-related games we put together in December, we gave information about the highest-grossing Christmas films (adjusted for inflation). Specifically, we gave the rank on that list, the adjusted gross, the year of release, and the first piece of trivia on the movie's IMDB trivia page. All readers had to do was guess the movie.

Here are the answers:

Rank: 15
Adjusted Gross: $180 Million
Year: 1989
Trivia: Final film of Mae Questel, whose film career began in 1930 as the voice of Betty Boop.

And the movie is... National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation


Rank: 14
Adjusted Gross: $190 Million
Year: 1993
Trivia: Tim Burton has said the original poem was inspired after seeing Halloween merchandise display in a store being taken down and replaced by a Christmas display. The juxtaposition of ghouls and goblins with Santa and his reindeer sparked his imagination.

And the movie is... Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas


Rank: 12
Adjusted Gross: $315 Million
Year: 2006
Trivia: This film was written specifically with Cameron Diaz, Kate Winslet, Jude Law, and Jack Black in mind.

And the movie is... The Holiday


Rank: 11
Adjusted Gross: $375 Million
Year: 2003
Trivia: The scene when Buddy eats different candies and pastries with the spaghetti noodles had to be shot twice, because Will Ferrell vomited the first time.

And the movie is... Elf


Rank: 10
Adjusted Gross: $380 Million
Year: 1994
Trivia: One of the children in Charlie's class during Parents Day is an elf with pointed ears, which can be clearly seen when Charlie pulls the snow globe out of his backpack. When Charlie tells the class that his dad is Santa Claus, the elf boy is the only one who doesn't laugh.

And the movie is... The Santa Clause


Rank: 9
Adjusted Gross: $400 Million
Year: 2003
Trivia: When casting the part of Sarah, writer and director Richard Curtis auditioned a great many British women, but kept saying, "I want someone like Laura Linney." The casting director eventually snapped and said, "Oh, for fu**'s sake, get Laura Linney then." Linney then auditioned and got the part.

And the movie is... Love, Actually


Rank: 8
Adjusted Gross: $440 Million
Year: 2009
Trivia: In the Cratchit home, there is a portrait of the story's author, Charles Dickens, hanging by the fireplace.

And the movie is... A Christmas Carol


Rank: 7
Adjusted Gross: $470 Million
Year: 2004
Trivia: The film is listed in the 2006 Guinness Book of World Records as the "first all-digital capture" film, where all acted parts were done in digital capture.

And the movie is... The Polar Express


Rank: 5
Adjusted Gross: $590 Million
Year: 1992
Trivia: Burgess Meredith was asked to play the Penguin's father in the opening of the film, but illness prevented him from it.

And the movie is... Batman Returns


Rank: 3
Adjusted Gross: $630 Million
Year: 2000
Trivia: According to Rick Baker, the prosthetic makeup Jim Carrey wore took about two hours to apply and one hour to remove. Carrey revealed on The Graham Norton Show that he felt so confined and uncomfortable in the latex skin that he sought counseling from a CIA agent who taught him torture-resistance techniques.

And the movie is... How the Grinch Stole Christmas


Rank: 2
Adjusted Gross: $790 Million
Year: 1992
Trivia: Donald Trump owned the Plaza Hotel at the time and insisted on being given a cameo in the film in return for letting the crew film in his hotel. Chris Columbus considered editing it out but decided to keep it in after it went over well with test audiences

And the movie is... Home Alone 2: Lost in New York


Rank: 1
Adjusted Gross: $1.1 billion
Year: 1990
Trivia: Joe Pesci deliberately avoided Macaulay Culkin on-set because he wanted Culkin to think he was mean.

And the movie is... Home Alone


Tiebreaker: How much did the #1 film gross in UNADJUSTED dollars, to the nearest million?

Answer: $477 million

We had 78 readers who got all 12 movies. Of those 78, about 20 got the tiebreaker on the nose. Clearly, at least some folks did not intuit that we did not intend that to be a Google question. So, we're throwing the tiebreaker out, and we'll just declare a 78-way tie for first place. Here are all the winners:

  1. A.B. in Columbus, OH
  2. A.D.S. in Cary, NC
  3. A.J. in Baltimore, MD
  4. A.R. in Houston, TX
  5. A.S. in Manitowoc, WI
  6. B.G.M. in Dedham, MA
  7. B.M. in Chico, CA
  8. B.S. in Southaven, MS
  9. B.T. in Houston TX
  10. C.H. in Fishers, IN
  11. C.S. in Catasauqua, PA
  12. C.S. in Flushing, MI
  13. D.C.W. in Fredericksburg, TX
  14. D.E. in Houten, The Netherlands
  15. D.J. in Toronto, ON, Canada
  16. D.P. in Mt. Rainier, MD
  17. D.R. in Pittsburgh, PA
  18. D.R. in Oakland, CA
  19. D.W. in Ballston Spa, NY
  20. E.B.L. in Owasco, NY
  21. E.L. in Ashburn, VA
  22. E.S. in Providence, RI
  23. F.B. in Escondido, CA
  24. G.E. in Iowa City, IA
  25. H.G. in Fishers, IN
  26. H.M. in San Dimas, CA
  1. J.B. in Los Angeles, CA
  2. J.B. in New York City, NY
  3. J.B. in Waukee, IA
  4. J.C. in Arlington Heights, IL
  5. J.D. in Olathe, KS
  6. J.G. in Truro, England, UK
  7. J.J. in Johnstown, PA
  8. J.K. in Baltimore, MD
  9. J.K. in St. Paul, MN
  10. J.K. in Turnersville, NJ
  11. J.M.R. in Muncie, IN
  12. J.N. in Zionsville, IN
  13. J.S. in Pittsburgh, PA
  14. J.W.N. in Oakland, CA
  15. J.Y. in Walnut Creek, CA
  16. K.C. in Los Angeles, CA
  17. K.R. in Cleveland, OH
  18. K.W. in Erie, PA
  19. L.B. in Salem, OR
  20. L.B. in Bozeman, MT
  21. L.D. in Bedford, MA
  22. L.P. in Santa Barbara, CA
  23. Lord and Lady D.S. in Layton, UT
  24. M.C. in Washington State
  25. M.C. in York, PA
  26. M.H. in Rockford, IL
  1. M.H. in Arvada, CO
  2. M.H. in Ottawa, ON, Canada
  3. M.M. in Wilmington, DE
  4. M.R. in Cranford, NJ
  5. M.S. in Highland Park, IL
  6. M.T. in Simpsonville, SC
  7. N.G. in Fargo, ND
  8. N.N. in Soto Cano AB, Honduras
  9. P.D. in Walpole, MA
  10. P.E.F. in Baltimore, MD
  11. P.J.C. in Berlin, Germany
  12. P.M. in Plochingen, Germany
  13. Q.T. in South Orange, NJ
  14. R.A. in Savannah, GA
  15. R.K. in Laurel, MD
  16. R.N. in Baltimore, MD
  17. R.P. in Marietta, GA
  18. R.R. in Lancaster, PA
  19. R.S.W. in Bangor, ME
  20. S.H. in St. Charles, IL
  21. S.O. in Brooklyn, NY
  22. S.Y. in Portland ME
  23. T.D. in New Bedford, MA
  24. T.M. in Salt Lake City, UT
  25. W.G. in Coatesville, PA
  26. W.S. in Winter Springs, FL

Tomorrow, we will reveal the answers to Part III: Pictograms, and on Thursday we will do the same for Part IV: Three Little Words. So, if you want to give either of those a try, well, it's now or never.

(Confidential to the several readers who guessed Titanic as one of their answers: That ship sank on April 15, 1912.) (Z)


This item appeared on www.electoral-vote.com. Read it Monday through Friday for political and election news, Saturday for answers to reader's questions, and Sunday for letters from readers.

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