The countdown is on to this year's Late Late Toy Show aka the official start of Christmas, and we now have a trailer to get you and yours a little bit more excited about what's in store.

This year's trailer goes for a traditional Christmas feel taking inspiration from the classic children's story The Nutcracker. It sees a young girl settling down to sleep as a festive snow globe twinkles by her bed, only for it to come to life in her dreams. All to the tune of The Shins' version of the festive classic Wonderful Christmastime.

And sure it's only magical, so it is.

Have a look:

The trailer was created by the RTÉ Marketing and Promotions team and features a 5-metre snow globe, miniature snow globes handmade by the production and a group of young actors – and real life friends – from the Empire Dance and Performing Arts Academy in Tallaght.

The promo will premiere on television tonight [Thursday, November 23rd] in between EastEnders and Fair City and will play in place of the ad break between the two shows.

Fans will also get an insight into how the programme is put together in a three-part documentary series, The Late Late Toy Show Unwrapped, starting on Wednesday, November 29th on RTÉ One at 7pm.

Catch this year's Late Late Toy Show on Friday, December 1st on RTÉ One at 9.35pm.