7 Dolly Parton Christmas Movies to Watch This Holiday That Will Have You Saying ‘Holly Jolly Dolly’
Parton also shared some exclusive facts with Woman’s World about one of her beloved films—find out which
We often think of Dolly Parton as one of the queens of country music, but it turns out there is another thing the singer is good at, and that’s starring in various different Christmas movies. Below, we have rounded up and reverse-ranked every single Dolly Parton Christmas movie, including ones where she plays herself, ones where she plays someone else and ones based on her real life. Keep scrolling for more.
7. ‘Unlikely Angel’ (1996)
Parton’s first-ever Christmas movie was the 1996 film Unlikely Angel. In it, she plays Ruby Diamond, a country music singer who dies but cannot enter heaven until she reunites a widowed man with his children. Stars like Roddy McDowall and Brian Kerwin also appear.
Unlikely Angel is available to stream on Tubi.
6. ‘A Country Christmas Story’ (2013)
In this touching Christmas tale, Parton plays herself and serves as a sort of mentor for a young singer named Grace Gibson (Desiree Ross), who dreams of making it big in the country music scene and enters into a competition at Dollywood to do just that.
“It’s a sweet original movie, and I like just being able to play my music, be part of whatever I’m doing,” Parton said. “I did write some of the music for this little show. And I enjoy getting to act a little bit. It’s just fun. I do different stuff.”
A Country Christmas Story is available to stream on Tubi.
5. ‘Christmas on the Square’ (2020)
This holiday musical is sure to be one festive ride. In it, a bitter, holiday-hating real estate agent (Christine Baranski) tries to convince every person in a small, happy town to move out of their home on Christmas Eve. Soon, though, she meets an angel (Dolly Parton) and begins to question everything.
“I was just so proud to write the music that would support all of that and go along with such wonderful stories,” Parton said in 2020.
“People are hoping for a better new year. If they can find joy in this movie and it gives them hope, then we’ve done our job.”
Christmas on the Square is available to stream on Netflix.
4. ‘Dolly Parton’s Mountain Magic Christmas’ (2022)
Parton’s most recent Christmas movie—Dolly Parton’s Mountain Magic Christmas—will surely have you singing along thanks to its special guest stars Miley Cyrus, Willie Nelson, Jimmy Fallon and more. In the film, all the stars take Parton along a life-altering journey to try to remind her what joy is all about ahead of her live Christmas special at Dollywood.
“The whole theme of the show is, I’m wanting to go back home and do like a simple Smokey Mountain Christmas like I remember as a child,” Parton said. “ Well, of course, when Hollywood gets a hold of anything, it’s gonna get bigger and bigger. They put me in that big ol’ dress, and that was all for the fun of it — I won’t say what I said ’cause it’ll kill it for the show, but it’s a thing.”
“There’s some good comedy in the show. I think it’s entertaining. I think we got the fun. I think we got the inspiration. I think we got the meaning.”
Dolly Parton’s Mountain Magic Christmas is available to stream on Amazon Prime Video.
3. ‘Christmas at Dollywood’ (2019)
Every single Parton fan dreams of going to Dollywood. But what’s better than going to Dollywood? Falling in love in Dollywood! After leaving New York City behind and jetting off to Tennessee to play a huge Christmas party at Dollywood, Rachel (Danica McKellar) finally begins to think her life is falling into place. That is until a man named Luke (Niall Matter) arrives and complicates everything. In the film, Parton plays herself.
Christmas at Dollywood is available to stream on Peacock.
2. ‘Dolly Parton’s Christmas of Many Colors: Circle of Love’ (2016)
Based on Parton’s real life, this touching family saga follows the Parton family as they try to get their mother her dream wedding ring in the midst of a raging blizzard. In the film, Alyvia Alyn Lind plays the younger version of Parton, and the singer plays The Painted Lady.
“One of the Christmases I remember the most that we did a movie about was when we all got together to buy Mama a wedding band,” Parton told Woman’s World earlier this year. “My mom and dad had been married for all those years and had a house full of kids, and she’d never had a ring.”
“So the year that we all kind of went in and helped buy Mama’s wedding band, that was a special one, ” she continued. “We did that Christmas show Circle of Love, which the ring kind of represented the circle.”
“Daddy said, ‘We’re going to forego any presents and try to help Mama buy a ring.’ We were so excited about that. We sold stuff and all the different things that we did to try to get Mama a ring.”
“She cried, of course, and she was so excited. But she didn’t open it. Daddy said, ‘Whoever finds the ring, well, they’re going to get the prize.’ Well, we didn’t know what the prize was at the time but that was the first year that we’d had electricity and that we’d had real Christmas lights. And so I remember there were those little screw-in lights that bubbled. So Daddy had put the ring around one of those, and we were all looking. We were knocking stuff over and knocking each other over, trying to find the ring for whatever the prize was going to be.”
“I think my brother Denver and I both swore that we found it, and Daddy had got that big box of candy that was going to be the prize,” Parton finished. “But, of course, we had to share it with everybody because there was a house full of us.”
Dolly Parton’s Christmas of Many Colors: Circle of Love is available to stream on PlutoTv.
1. ‘Dolly Parton’s Coat of Many Colors’ (2015)
Coming in at number one is none other than Parton’s beloved film Dolly Parton’s Coat of Many Colors. The plot largely centers around Parton’s real life and follows an 8-year-old version of the singer (played by Alyn Lind) as she deals with growing up poor and in a very crowded house in a rural town in Tennessee. It is also heavily inspired by Parton’s hit song, which has the same name as the film.
“For years, I’ve thought it would make a good movie and I knew there would be a time that was right. I’ve been offered many deals to do it through the year, but it just didn’t seem like the exact right time,” Parton said in 2016. “There’s nothing about family and faith on TV anymore, and I decided it would be a real good time to do a show like that.”
Dolly Parton’s Coat of Many Colors is available to stream on Amazon Prime Video.
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