The Academy Museum will show the holiday favorite “Elf ” on Dec. 18. (photo courtesy of the Academy Museum)

To get into the holiday spirit, the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures is hosting screenings of two perennial holiday favorites on its big screens.

At 11 a.m. on Dec. 18, the Academy Museum will show “Elf” in the Ted Mann Theater, and at 7:30 p.m. on Dec. 19 it will show “It’s a Wonderful Life” in the David Geffen Theater.

“Elf,” directed by Jon Favreau and starring Will Ferrell, follows the story of Buddy, a human who was raised as an over-sized elf. Desperate to meet his biological father, Buddy travels from the North Pole to New York City. There, Buddy meets his father who doesn’t know he exists and is in desperate need of the Christmas Spirit. Can Buddy build a connection with his father and help save Christmas?

“It’s a Wonderful Life,” starring Jimmy Stewart, follows George Bailey, a man who has so many problems he is thinking about ending it all. As George is about to jump from a bridge, his guardian angel Clarence rescues him and shows George what his town would have looked like without all his good deeds over the years.

The showing of “It’s a Wonderful Life” will include a pre-screening conversation with three cast members: Karolyn Grimes, who played Zuzu Bailey; Jimmy Hawkins, who played Tommy Bailey; and Carol Coombs Mueller, who played Jane Bailey.

For information and tickets, visit academymuseum.org.