Advertisement Christmas Movie Madness: "Christmas Vacation" is KC's ultimate holiday movie More than 17,000 votes were cast on the Road to The North Pole Share Shares Copy Link Copy

With the holiday season fast approaching, a lingering question always emerges: What is the greatest Christmas movie of all time? To get the answer to this burning question, KMBC turned to its resident film aficionado, Chief Meteorologist Bryan Busby. We asked Bryan to select his top 16 holiday-themed movies, seed them from one to 16 and his analysis is below. Over the next two weeks, readers will to vote for a new round of Christmas movie match-ups, until an ultimate winner is reveled. Before we begin, a few caveats as to how we chose the field, and why your favorite film didn’t make it:-We did not include Christmas television specials, so “A Charlie Brown Christmas,” “Frosty the Snowman” and “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” didn’t qualify.-Bryan determined the rest of the field through intense office discussions. During this process many arguments arose, like whether “Batman Returns” and “Die Hard” are technically Christmas movies (verdicts: yes) and whether “Jingle All the Way” was a modern classic (verdict: no).The Griswolds win it allNo. 1 “Christmas Vacation” 55% vs. No. 2 “A Christmas Story” 45%The Griswold family didn’t just win Pig in a Poke. They won Kansas City’s vote for the ultimate Christmas movie. At first it didn’t seem like Clark, Ellen, Rusty and Audrey would win it all, as Ralphie and Co. took an early lead in the voting. At one point Friday, “A Christmas Story” jumped to a 20-percent lead, but the Griswolds rallied and cruised to the championship. My favorite holiday movie of all time is “Christmas Vacation,” and Kansas City agreed. It’s a wacky comedy, but the underlying message is straightforward. Although things may not go as planned, family is everything. Final 4 ResultsIt's clear Kansas City has its favorites and they happen to be Bryan's favorites, too.No. 1 “Christmas Vacation” 70% vs. No. 5 “Home Alone” 30%No. 2 “A Christmas Story” 62% vs. No. 7 “White Christmas” 38%Elite 8 ResultsThe Elite Eight round saw more than 5,000 votes and some trends are starting to develop. It’s clear Kansas City loves top-seeded “Christmas Vacation” and No. 5 “Home Alone,” but something has to give in the Final Four when they battle in the semifinals.No. 1 “Christmas Vacation” 73% vs. No. 8 “The Santa Clause” 27%No. 13 “Planes, Trains and Automobiles” 27% vs. No. 5 “Home Alone” 73%No. 2 “A Christmas Story” 53% vs. No. 7 “It’s a Wonderful Life” 47% No. 14 “The Muppet Christmas Carol” 38% vs. No. 11 “White Christmas” 62%First Round ResultsMore than 7,000 votes were cast in the first round with the top two seeds “Christmas Vacation” and “A Christmas Story” coasting to easy victories by wide margins. However, the first round did provide some upsets, as No. 3 “Gremlins” lost to No. 14 “The Muppet Christmas Carol” by 24 percent and No. 13 “Planes, Trains and Automobiles” blew past No. 4 “The Nightmare Before Christmas” by 20 percent. Kansas City also disagreed that No. 6 “Die Hard” was a Christmas movie classic, as it was ousted by No. 11 “White Christmas.”No. 1 “Christmas Vacation” 76% vs. No. 16 “Holiday Inn” 23%No. 8 “The Santa Clause” 51% vs. No. 9 “Elf” 49%No. 4 “The Nightmare Before Christmas” 40% vs. No. 13 “Planes, Trains and Automobiles” 60%No. 5 “Home Alone” 62% vs. No. 12 “The Polar Express” 38%No. 2 “A Christmas Story” 62% vs. No. 15 “Miracle on 34th Street” 37%No. 7 “It’s a Wonderful Life” 65% vs. No. 10 “A Christmas Carol” 35%No. 3 “Gremlins” 38% vs. No. 14 “The Muppet Christmas Carol” 62%No. 6 “Die Hard” 43% vs. No. 11 “White Christmas” 57%The final voting opens Thursday, Dec. 21 and the winner will be announced on Christmas Eve.