With Christmas preparations in full swing and the big day just around the corner, you’ve probably put on your favourite Christmas movie already and cozied up with a cup of cocoa.
But have you ever noticed that the most iconic Christmas characters have managed to bypass the law on several occasions with no repercussions?
The team at BPP University Law School has revealed five times the law has been broken by characters in our favourite festive films, and what the consequences of their actions would be.
- Elf – Buddy the Elf spends the night in a shop
Who can forget when our favourite Christmas Elf, Buddy (Will Ferrell), re-decorates Gimbels Department store overnight for “Santa’s” arrival in Elf?
While everyone is delighted by Buddy’s overnight efforts in the film, it is actually against the law to enter a property and remain there without the owner’s permission.
Though Buddy’s intentions were simply to impress Santa, he could actually serve jail time for squatting.
- Home Alone – Kevin, an 8-year-old child, gets left on his own
Another Christmas movie where we see characters managing to bypass the law is in Home Alone, when Kevin McCallister (Macaulay Culkin) is accidentally left behind when his family leave for their Christmas vacation to Paris.
While the film is full of laughter as Kevin tries to navigate living on his own, including protecting his home from burglars, at the end of the film his parents return and reconcile with him. However, if this happened in real life, Kate and Peter McCallister could be found guilty of child abandonment.
- Grinch – Breaks into people’s homes and steals their presents
It’s in the name that the Grinch is here to ruin Christmas. In the movie we see him commit several offences, including, most notably, going around Whoville breaking into people’s homes and stealing presents, along with all the decorations.
While towards the end of the film we see The Grinch redeem himself and the town forgives him for his wrongdoings, it’s fairly obvious that he is guilty of breaking into people’s homes and stealing.
- The Holiday – Amanda drives home after drinking a bottle of wine
Who doesn’t love a Christmas Rom-Com? The Holiday is a firm favorite among Christmas movie lovers, where we see Iris Simpkins and Amanda Woods fall in love after switching houses for a Christmas vacation.
When Amanda arrives in England, we see her driving Iris’ car into town so she can go shopping. While buying food she walks around drinking red wine, but later we see her back at Iris’ cottage, so how did she get home? Did she drive under the influence? Almost certainly.
If this were to happen in real life, Amanda would more than likely end up being banned from driving and could even serve jail time.
- The Nightmare Before Christmas – Jack Skellington Kidnapping Santa
A Nightmare Before Christmas is a classic story that sees Jack Skellington stumble upon a Christmas town after growing bored of Halloween.
During his trip he becomes fascinated by the concept and decides that he will attempt to take over, capturing Santa in the process.
If this were the real world and not fictional, this would count as attempting to kidnap someone, which can land you some serious jail time.