The Holiday Movies That Made Us is an extension of Netflix’s popular The Movies That Made Us docuseries, which takes a look at the enduring appeal of modern classics, while talking to some of the people who were involved in bringing them to the screen. This time around, two modern holiday classics, Elf and The Nightmare before Christmas, are profiled. In the Elf episode, we find out that screenwriter Robert Berenbaum had this vision to make a movie that pays homage to the Rankin-Bass holiday specials. The original studio that optioned the then-unknown Berenbaum’s screenplay wanted Chris Farley as the lead, which wasn’t Berenbaum’s choice. He then met producer Jon Berg, and the script eventually got to Ferrell, then just beginning his film career. They chose Jon Favreau to direct because, despite his relative inexperience as a director, his vision for the film matched theirs. None of them had much experience making movies, but they ended up with a $30 million budget, and went from there. The series has perfected their particular storytelling style, which includes talks with many of the producers and other behind-the-scenes creative folks that made a particular film. They tell it in a funny, not-taking-this-seriously style but always go for the heartwarming moments.