The Most Iconic Movie Santas, Ranked By How Much We'd Like To Have A Cookie With Them

Here's the thing about Santa Claus, and all mythic archetypes, for that matter: We already know exactly what to expect from that arbiter of "naughty" and "nice." Santa has a long, white beard, and lives in the North Pole with his elves and his very patient wife. His sole mission is to carry out an annual delivery of presents and coal. There isn't much room for surprise.

But ever since Santa has been depicted on screen in Christmas movies, these preconceptions have been toyed with, challenged, and made complicated. We've seen Santa as a mall drunk. Santa as a skeleton. Santa as a serial killer. These Santas range from jolly to gruesome.

Just because a depiction of Santa is entertaining, doesn't mean we'd want Billy Bob Thornton, say, slithering down our chimney. Here's our official ranking of movie Santas, not based on the quality of their performance, but based on how much of a delight they'd be in real life (from least to most).