Grab a peppermint hot chocolate and gather ‘round the hearth with me a moment while we consider a question that’s been bothering me lately: Have we ever decided exactly why Frozen isn’t considered a Christmas movie?

You see the raging debates online about whether fringe candidates such as Die Hard and Home Alone are Christmas flicks, but never a word about the most glaringly obvious choice. The one with a talking snowman, winter-related magic, A GUY THAT OWNS AN ACTUAL REINDEER, an iconic song that mentions snow, a fireplace scene, and dysfunctional siblings who show their love in the end.

Despite all of that, Frozen’s just lumped in with the other Disney animated movies while we try to decide whether Hugh Grant fumbling his way through easy English-language sentences in Love Actually is the most yuletide move since your mom’s make-out session with Santa.

One thing that might be holding Frozen back from joining the ranks of Christmas classics is that it doesn’t take place on Earth. Even though Rudolph spends time on the Island of Misfit Toys, the real climax happens when he’s successfully dragging Santa somewhere over Des Moines, Iowa. Maybe Frozen seems a bit too far removed from the familiar earthly Christmas season to be considered a part of it. If there was a two-minute scene where Kristoff frantically searches for Lindt chocolates at Target, we’d be in business.

Another knock against watching Frozen during the holiday season is that it serves as a giant toy commercial. You know why parents love watching Christmas Vacation with their family around the holidays? It’s because a seven-year-old can see the entire thing without immediately wanting to add a “Corporate Restructuring Brian Doyle-Murray” action figure to their list for Santa.

Still, if we can talk ourselves into Gremlins as a Christmas movie, it seems crazy to leave Anna, Elsa and the gang out of the conversation. Please consider Frozen the next time Twitter asks for your most controversial holiday opinion.

(Or you could go with “Stop being a baby, fruitcake is actually decent,” but that’s a column for another day.)

Ben McLean is a husband, a father, and just wasn’t a big fan of Frozen 2. He can be heard weekday mornings on 98.3 FLY FM and reached at benmcleancolumn@gmail.com.