Raymond Briggs’ story of a young boy who builds a snowman that comes to life and takes him to the North Pole to meet Santa Claus is a classic. It’s as essential now as when it was first released, back in 1982.
In 2012, the story was updated with the equally brilliant The Snowman and the Snowdog. In this beautiful short film, another boy moves into the house in whose garden the original snowman was built. Finding a photograph of the snowman, the boy builds him again, and also makes a snow dog. When they come to life overnight, the three of them journey together to meet Santa.
If you’d like to have a family viewing of both movies, here’s how to watch The Snowman, as well as The Snowman and the Snowdog online, on TV or on any mobile device.
And, if you’re likely to face any Christmas trivia questions this year, you might win a round by remembering that Aled Jones doesn’t actually sing in the film. His career took off afterwards, in 1985, when he had a hit with his cover of ‘Walking in the Air’.
We think that Channel 4 will show these films over Christmas, but the broadcaster has not yet released its Christmas TV schedule at the time of writing, so we can’t confirm when this will be.
Channel 4
Stream The Snowman & The Snowman and the Snowdog online
Neither film is available to stream as part of your Netflix, Now TV or Amazon Prime Video subscription. Nor are they available to rent from Prime.
Thankfully, Channel 4 is here to offer up both The Snowman & The Snowman and the Snowdog, for free (with adverts, unless you pay £3.99 a month/ £39.99 per year to ditch them as part of Channel 4+ – there’s a 14-day free trial on offer if you’re tempted).
If you’d like to buy the films, The Snowman and the Snowdog is available to buy in HD from the Sky Store for £5.99. For even better value, you can buy Sky Store’s Christmas Classics collection, which includes The Snowman, The Snowman and the Snowdog, and Raymond Briggs’ Father Christmas, all in HD for £4.99 (down from £8.99).
If you have the Apple TV app, you can buy The Snowman and the Snowdog for £4.99.
Buy The Snowman & The Snowman and the Snowdog on DVD
For even better value, you can pick up a DVD of both films for just £6.99 all in – and give them as a Christmas gift, or watch them whenever you’d like. Here’s where to buy The Snowman on Amazon.
If you’re feeling Christmassy, have a look at our round-up of the best smart Christmas lights we’ve tested.