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.
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’.
In 2012, the story was updated with the equally brilliant The Snowman and the Snowdog. In this beautiful 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.
The perfect Christmas includes group viewings of both movies. So let’s find out how to watch The Snowman, and The Snowman and the Snowdog online, on TV or on any mobile device.
Stream The Snowman & The Snowman and the Snowdog online
Thankfully, All 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 to ditch them as part of All 4+ – there’s a 14-day free trial on offer if you’re tempted). Sadly neither is available to stream as part of your Netflix, Now TV or Amazon Prime Video subscription.
You can also rent The Snowman on Prime Video in HD for £3.49 or in SD for £2.49.
The Snowman and the Snowdog is sadly not available to rent at the moment but you can buy it to stream from the Sky Store for £3.99 in HD (down from £5.99 last year). You can also 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 £8.99.
You’ll also be able to catch The Snowman at 11:20am, followed by The Snowman and the Snowdog at 11:50am on Saturday, 18 December on Channel 4, with both repeating at 5:00pm and 5:35pm, respectively on Friday, 24 December.
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 if you order it quickly, while it’s no longer on Prime, at the time of writing, it’s still set to arrive in time for Christmas. Here is where to buy The Snowman on Amazon.
If you’re feeling Christmassy, have a look at our Favourite Christmas movies ever and the best Christmas TV ads for this year.