John Lewis Christmas adverts through the years from 2007 to 2019

FROM excitable Edgar the dragon, to Monty the penguin, we round-up all the John Lewis Christmas adverts from over the years.

John Lewis has yet to release details for its 2020 Christmas advert – but if it follows previous years, then it’s likely to air this month.

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Its 2019 advert, which starred Edgar the dragon, was released on November 14.

It followed the 2018 Elton John inspired advert, which aired on November 15 of that year.

2007 – Shadows

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In John Lewis’ first Christmas advert, people piled gifts together to create shadows that looked like a woman walking her dog through the snow and having a drink at a party.

It featured the tagline “Whoever you’re looking for this Christmas”.

The memorable ad was before the era that John Lewis adverts created a huge buzz as social media was barely even a thing at this point.

The music used was Prokofiev’s morning serenade from Romeo and Juliet.

2008 – From Me To You

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This was probably the most basic John Lewis advert – and the most boring.

Set to a cover of The Beatles’ From Me To You, it showed how you can find the perfect present for different characters in your life.

It ended with the message: “If you know the person, you’ll find the present.”

2009 – Sweet Child O’ Mine

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This was the first year John Lewis that an acoustic cover of a popular song hit the charts.

Taken By Trees covered Guns N Roses’s Sweet Child Of Mine as the song for the commercial – and it peaked at No23.

It’s a sweet advert which shows children opening adult presents such as an e-reader and large slippers, and says at the end: “Remember how Christmas used to feel? Give someone that feeling.”

But do you remember it? Neither do we.

2010 – A Tribute To Givers

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Ellie Goulding recorded a cover version of Elton John’s Your Song for this advert – the same tune that appeared in the 2018 film.

But it’s probably the only thing you remember about this advert, which was about the lengths that people go to to surprise their friends and relatives on Christmas Day.

It ends with the words “For those who care about showing they care”.

2011 – The Long Wait

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This was the first year John Lewis used its advert to tell a whole story, and it made the nation weep.

It told the story of a little boy impatiently waiting for Christmas and all because he wants to give a heartfelt gift to his two sleepy parents on Christmas morning.

It was set to Slow Moving Millie’s cover of Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want by The Smiths.

The tagline was “For gifts you can’t wait to give”.

This was the film that cemented the department store’s reputation as the best Christmas advertiser so we think that has to put it at the top of the list.

2012 – The Journey

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It’s often forgotten but John Lewis’s tale of a snowman who travels over mountains and through horrible weather to bring his snow-girlfriend a scarf to keep her warm was very touching.

It was set to a Gabrielle Aplin cover of The Power of Love by Frankie Goes To Hollywood and had many people shedding tears at the time.

It was the first John Lewis ad track that reached No1 in the singles chart after Ellie Gouldings’ Your Song peaked at No2 in 2010.

It finished with the line “Get a little more love this Christmas.”

2013 – The Bear And The Hare

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This was the charming animated tale which tells the story of a bear who has never seen Christmas so his animal friends buy him an alarm clock so he can wake up from hibernation just for the day.

Lily Allen sung a cover of Keane’s Somewhere Only We Know – and it became her third No1 UK single.

It’s closing line is “Give someone a Christmas they’ll never forget”.

People went wild for the story at the time and a lot of people on Twitter call it the best John Lewis ad the department store has ever made.

2014 – Monty The Penguin

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This was the heartwrenching advert about a little boy and his friend Monty The Penguin who wants to find love at Christmas.

He’s revealed to be the boy’s stuffed toy – and under the Christmas tree is a girl penguin toy for Monty to fall in love with.

It featured the tagline “Give someone the Christmas they’ve been dreaming of”n and was accompanied by Tom Odell singing John Lennon‘s Real Love.

If people don’t say The Bear And The Hare is their favourite, they often choose 2014’s advert as the John Lewis ad they like the best.

2015 – Man on the Moon

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This advert with the line “Show someone they’re loved this Christmas” really tugged on people’s heartstrings.

It told the story of a little girl who spots a lonely old man living on the moon through her telescope.

She finds a way to float presents over to him on balloons so he can enjoy Christmas Day too as Aurora’s cover of Oasis’ Half The World Away plays in the background.

It’s one of John Lewis’s most sentimental and emotional Christmas adverts and definitely had people crying across the nation.

2016 – Buster the Boxer

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John Lewis decided to mix it up with Buster The Boxer in 2016 by having a funny advert rather than a gut-wrenching sentimental one.

It told the tale of a dog who was desperate to bounce on his family’s trampoline.

He had to watch foxes, a badger and a hedgehog have fun while his family were asleep.

Then as the little girl runs towards her gift on Christmas Day, Buster gets their first and starts bouncing.

The funny ad ended with “Gifts that everyone will love” and Vaults provided the backing track with a cover of Randy Crawford’s One Day I’ll Fly Away..

Fans loved it, but some people were left a bit disappointed as they didn’t feel like it packed as much of an emotional punch as in previous years.

2017 -Moz the Monster

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The 2017 advert was about a cuddly blue monster called Moz who befriended a little boy called Joe.

They stayed up together all night every night until Moz realises Joe needs to sleep at night so leaves him a present of a night light under the Christmas tree.

People weren’t as fond of Moz as they were of Buster or Monty, but they still found the advert cute.

But John Lewis was accused of stealing the character from an existing children’s book.

And it was said to be the least successful campaign John Lewis ran in five years.

It featured the tagline “For gifts that brighten their world” and The Beatles’ song Golden Slumbers performed by Elbow, which reached No29 in the charts.

2018 – The Boy And The Piano

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In the 2018 John Lewis ad Elton John starred in its most showbiz-inspired advert yet.

Viewers were taken through key moments in his life, including stadium tours, travelling on a private jet, playing at his local pub and performing at a school.

But it had a mixed reaction on social media, with not everyone loving the festive ad.

It spanned the veteran singer’s life and showed how a gift of a piano from his grandmother helped make him the international superstar he is today.

And for once it didn’t feature a cover-version of a song, but Elton John himself singing his hit Your Song.

The tagline was “Some gifts are more than just a gift”.

2019 – Excitable Edgar

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The 2019 advert is a heart-warming tale of a dragon called Excitable Edgar set in a far-away mythical land.

The ad – the first joint-effort with John Lewis’ sister retailer Waitrose – follows young girl Ava and her friendship with a cute young dragon as his accidental fire-breathing nearly ruins Christmas.

Edgar loves Christmas but every time he gets excited he uncontrollably breathes fire into the medieval-style village causing comical catastrophes.

The two and a half minute John Lewis Christmas advert follows the pair as they join in with seasonal activities.

It’s backing track is a cover by Bastille’s Dan Smith of 80s classic Can’t Fight This Feeling by REO Speedwagon.

The ad, known as Excitable Edgar, ends with the strapline “Show them how much you care”.

For more Christmas ads, see how Kevin the Carrot finally gets home in the Aldi advert for 2020.

Coca-Cola’s Christmas advert features a dad’s epic journey to deliver his daughter’s letter to Santa.

And Amazon’s Christmas advert tells the story of a wannabe ballet dancer whose performance is cancelled by coronavirus.

This post first appeared on thesun.co.uk