Nicky Yardley as Snow with dog Kanga

Bush Christmas (1947) directed by Ralph Smart

A big success in Australia and the UK, British director Ralph Smart's Bush Christmas follows the adventures of five children (the three Thompson children, an English visitor, and their Aboriginal friend, the son of a stockman) as they pursue horse thieves through the mountains in the lead up to Christmas. The film's location – the Burragorang Valley in the Blue Mountains – itself was an adventure for the young cast. The NSW Department of Education provided a fulltime teacher and a school was set up under a tree when the young stars were not on call on set.