Dianne Jackson (1941–1992)

This charming British animated short film (it's just 23 minutes long) is a 1982 production of London's Channel 4, based on the classic children's book by Raymond Briggs and crafted with a colored-pencils-on-paper look, like fluffy, hand-drawn illustrations. Small children should be entranced by the story of a small boy in rural England whose lovingly constructed snowman comes to life and takes him flying over the white-blanketed landscapes, in a beautiful rotoscoped (traced) sequence based show more on live-action flying footage. Part of the charm of the film is the gentle, everyday quality of its fantasy adventures: the snowman is invited in to try on clothes and play with the Christmas decorations, then plays host to the boy at a party in the woods, at which his snowy relatives do English country dances. This is one of the very few Christmas tapes on the market that really deserves to be a holiday perennial, a gentle fable of friendship and the power of imagination. --David Chute show less

Based on Raymond Briggs' enchanting picture book, "The Snowman" tells the story of a young boy, his snowman, and the fantastic evening they spend together when the snowman comes to life. Academy Award Nominee.

A quiet, memorable tale of make-believe, based on the book by Raymond Briggs.
It's not necessarily a Christmas-themed video, but is often aired in that season.
Note that Aled Jones, the boy soprano (not credited on my copy), has released recordings of his mature self over-dubbed with the favorite song "I'm Flying in the Air" (as well as other tracks), that are quite good (available on YouTube).
(Most current reading dates are on the dvd copy).

Substance: Adaptations of 6 stories, in 3 paired sets. Animation is true to Potter's style, with live-action sequences before and after the stories. Music is quiet, mostly a single song in the live-action parts.