Merry Christmas! It's that time of year where sitting back on a Sunday afternoon and watching Christmas movies with your family is the most fun thing about the holidays. It's a tradition in a lot of families to watch the 1946 classic 'It's a Wonderful Life', and we do that at my house every year.

Some of the most interesting things about the movie are things that you would normally not think of AT ALL - like, that there was a massive heat wave in Los Angeles while filming was going on, and all the snow was completely fake!

I also thought it was very puzzling that actor Jimmy Stewart, who played George Bailey, had to be convinced to take the role of George Bailey. He thought it was too soon after the war, but Lionel Barrymore, who played Mr Potter, convinced him to reconsider, and, of course, magic ensued on the silver screen.

It's also unbelievable to a generation who watches this holiday classic every year that this movie was a complete flop when it was released in theaters in 1946. Not just a flop, a COMPLETE flop. Only when it hit television screens in the early 1980's did it's popularity rise considerably.

It was nominated for five Academy Awards including Best Picture, and has been recognized by the American Film Institute as one of the 100 best American films ever made. It is beloved across the globe.

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