Christmas through the ages

It's time to take a break from blogging for the festivities, but before I go here's a smattering of short films old and new celebrating Christmas.

First, here's an 1898 trickfilm titled simply Santa Claus.

Here's a GPO short made in 1951, titled Christmas is Coming. Its rather mundane subject - what date to post parcels by during Christmastime - is turned into something special by Lotte Reiniger's animation.

Time for something rather more offbeat: a Weebl and Bob celebration of Christmas 2008.

Christmas Round the World, from 1978, is one of Sheila Graber's earlier films.

Here's Graham Ralph's 2000 short So Many Santas, featuring unscripted interviews with a range of department store Father Christmases.

Next is a one-and-a-half minute Christmas greeting that was shown to cinema viewers in 1946, featuring a short bit of stop-motion.

And finally, parts one and two of a Creature Comforts Christmas special; unfortunately, the Aardman YouTube channel doesn't allow embedding.

And to all a good night...