A selection of the Christmas films that are streaming this year

When it comes to putting together your personal Christmas watchlist, you can’t go wrong with a quick stroll down memory lane as you delve into all of your favourite classics, preferably with a drink of something festive and tasty snacks to hand.

But with a million and one streaming services to grapple with these days, we’ll admit that navigating exactly where to find your old faithfuls is a bit of a task.

To help make things easier, we’ve rounded up 30 of the most popular and cherished festive films of all time – from It’s A Wonderful Life and The Muppet Christmas Carol to Love Actually and Elf – and highlighted exactly where they’re all available to watch on demand this festive season.

Happy streaming…

It’s A Wonderful Life (1946)

Starting with an oldie but goodie, Christmas films don’t come much more iconic than It’s A Wonderful Life.

James Stewart heads this bona fide classic, which charts a man’s life from childhood, and sees him learning an important lesson when he falls down on his luck and makes the dramatic wish that he’d never been born.

There’s a reason this one has stood the test of time – although we’d recommend preparing yourslef for not just a few sniffles but full on floods of tears at the beautiful final scene.

Stream it on: Now, Amazon Prime, Plex and ITVX

Miracle On 34th Street (1947/1994)

Another great festive offering from Hollywood’s golden age, centring around a department store Santa Clause who claims he’s the real deal.

The original is still much-loved at this time of year, with a remake released almost 50 years later managing that always-rare thing of managing to stand on its own two feet.

And if you can’t decide whether the Edmund Gwenn or Richard Attenborough version is best, it might come as a relief to hear that they’re both streaming this festive season.

Stream it on: Disney

White Christmas (1954)

Believe it or not, this was actually a film based on the staple Christmas song, rather than the other way around.

Set just after World War II, the musical stars Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, Rosemary Clooney and Vera-Ellen as two soldiers-turned-Broadway-stars and a pair of aspiring singers who hit it off while putting on a festive show.

Jam-packed with musical numbers, festive scenes and romance, White Christmas is another offering from a bygone era that the whole family can enjoy.

Stream it on: Now

Scrooge (1970)

As we all know, re-tellings of A Christmas Carol are pretty omnipresent at this time of year (with quite a few of them making it onto this list!).

One that definitely stands out above the hundreds of others is Ronald Neame’s from 1970, which came out shortly after the success of another of his musical Dickens adaptations, Oliver!.

Albert Finney won a Golden Globe for his portrayal as the mean-spirited miser who changes his ways after a visit from three spooky guests – but we’re warning you now that this film’s finale takes a much darker turn than other versions of this classic story. Two words: nightmare fuel.

Stream it on: Amazon Prime, Plex and ITVX

The Snowman (1982)

Get warming up those pipes now if you’re hoping to dazzle everyone in the annual family sing-a-long of Walking In The Air...

Nothing says “British Christmas” quite like this much-loved TV special – and if the pencil-drawn animation doesn’t hammer home the nostalgia enough, Channel 4 has also a one-off documentary about all things The Snowman if you’ve ever wondered what went into making the classic short.

The follow-up The Snowman And The Snowdog is also available to stream on Channel 4 – although let’s face it, there’s no beating the original is there?

Stream it on: Channel 4

Mickey’s Christmas Carol (1983)

Another of our favourite adaptations, this one might be called Mickey’s Christmas Carol but this Disney offering actually belongs to the criminally-underrated Scrooge McDuck.

In a similar vein to the Muppets’ much-loved take on the story, the heart-warming short recasts Disney favourites as the classic Dickens characters – and it’s always fun to see how many you can spot from films like Pinocchio, Robin Hood and the Aristocats.

Stream it on: Disney

Scrooged (1988)

Still got an appetite for new takes on A Christmas Carol? Good.

Scrooged moves the story to the modern day (well, modern at the time it was made, at least), with Bill Murray taking centre stage as New York executive Frank Cross, who has been put in charge of creating a new version of – you guessed it! – A Christmas Carol.

Unlike most of our favourite adaptation of the story, this one isn’t a musical, but it still wins points for its imaginative spin on the source material, and a fabulous cameo from Carol Kane.

Stream it on: Now

National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation (1989)

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