The Snowman (DVD)

.../> Christmas just wouldn't be the same without movies and television programmes; sure, there are a lot of repeats and some shows and films either excel or completely bomb when trying to spread the festive cheer but, for whatever reason, Christmas specials are compulsive viewing. Perhaps we are all too tipsy to care; perhaps we have eaten way too much food to be bothered to uncover the remote to find something decent to watch. Or perhaps, maybe we ...
...- you will have seen the immortal Snowman at least once in your lifetime.

Well, to be fair, it's not as if you've had to really, really search for 'The Snowman' movie in some far away, distant corner of the internet; just about ever y Christmas Eve or even Christmas Day you will get a chance to watch the cartoon snowman come to life and amuse a little boy, making all of his wildest fantasies come true. Ok, now he is an adult, he may ... more

(Please note: this is a 'film' only review - thanks!)

Christmas just wouldn't be the same without movies and television programmes; sure, there are a lot of repeats and some shows and films either excel or completely bomb when trying to spread the festive cheer but, for whatever reason, Christmas specials are compulsive viewing. Perhaps we are all too tipsy to care; perhaps we have eaten way too much food to be bothered to uncover the remote to find something decent to watch. Or perhaps, maybe we even like the spreading of clichés and general happiness but what better time of year to do just that than over Christmas?

I don't care who you are; whether you love or hate Christmas, one thing is for sure - you will have seen the immortal Snowman at least once in your lifetime.

Well, to be fair, it's not as if you've had to really, really search for 'The Snowman' movie in some far away, distant corner of the internet; just about ever y Christmas Eve or even Christmas Day you will get a chance to watch the cartoon snowman come to life and amuse a little boy, making all of his wildest fantasies come true. Ok, now he is an adult, he may have fetishes for things other then snowmen, but for at least one review this festive season, it'll be nice to be a little naive, relive some childhood memories and uncover once again just why 'The Snowman' is such a celebrated piece of cinema and how it is an integral part to the festive season.

HOW DID THE SNOWMAN COME TO LIFE?
'The Snowman' didn't come to life in the form of a movie immediately. In fact, it was a children's book before hand, written by Raymond Briggs and released in 1978. Four years later Channel 4 with the help of Dianne Jackson, who incidentally had worked on the animation for The Beatles cult classic 'Yellow Submarine', turned the story into a short movie, although she unfortunately passed away ten years after 'The Snowman's' first airing.

David Bowie also introduced the snowman on a few occasions, taking on the role of the young boy in the film. It's odd to think of Bowie doing that, yes, especially when you remember his days of an orange mullet type thing. But his introduction does make the story seem as if the film could have been real, which is a lovely, heart-warming touch and makes 'The Snowman' really come to life before the first scene has aired.

BASIC PLOT
T'was the night before Christmas and all through the house, not a creature was stirring - except for a young lad who was eagerly anticipating the arrival of Santa Claus! So, that is what most kids do. I never did until one year I stayed up late in secret, hiding underneath my duvet only to find Mum and Dad drag mine and my Brothers presents downstairs at about midnight. Heartbreaking.

However, before the times of global warming or any other geographical fad, this young boy wasn't just excited about the arrival of Santa, although I'm sure that was a crucial part of the anticipation. However, he could be guaranteed one thing so precious that his life would be complete and totally, awesomely happy: snow.

That's right kids, you read it here first: he got a WHITE Christmas! Well, the snow is an essential part of the film for more than one reason; not only does it denote what Christmas was meant to look like many, many years ago - before we started killing the atmosphere and all - but it also helps to have more than a handfuls worth of snow to help build a snowman, right?

The Snowman however turns out to be something far beyond the boys wildest dreams, making his Christmas complete in a way that the new X Box or the Wii could never hope to do. The unlikely but lovable (as in that little kid looks so precocious) duo become the best of friends but how does their journey begin and - more importantly - how does it end?

Throughout 'The Snowman', in spite of the fact that it is only about half an hour in length, does cover a lot of ground; there are moments of complete euphoria and covers fantasies that a lot of children may want to be a part of. Although it ends on a little bit of a downer, the film within itself contains enough magic to make this seem almost insignificant. After journeys such as the ones the boy and the Snowman venture on, it is difficult to accept the film as nothing less then a jolly, imaginative piece of fun although the closing scenes will make you go 'awww' and perhaps feel a little bit sorrowful for a few seconds.

However, the state of sadness doesn't last too long for the pure reason that you remember how captivating the glorious story had been up until that point with the moments of enchantment staying with you for a lot longer than the closing moments ever could.

MUSIC BUT...NO WORDS?!
This to me is one of the reasons why 'The Snowman' is such an endearing film; the fact that it uses music as a way to convey the characters emotions is wonderful and certainly easy to follow. As the only diction throughout the entire film is a one off lyrical interlude in the middle, it makes the movie one that can be enjoyed and appreciated by both the young and old; both the Grannies and kids can watch it with nobody feeling the need to cringe or show a fair amount of fake shock when the 'f' word pops up.

There's no bad language for the simple reason that nobody talks. If 'The Snowman' was made nowadays, you can just about guarantee that the scene in which the boys Mother yells at the boy to put his thermals on, it would not be the case of a simple, polite request; instead, it would be a fully fledge onslaught of 'put your f*****g hat and gloves on, you little s**t!' which is neither gracious or in keeping with the notion of festive cheer.

Although that could well be the state of modern Britain, here 'The Snowman' relishes in its wholesomeness; it's the picture of the wonderful family unit with the hardworking but essentially chore-shy Dad with the stay at home Mum and mischievous but basically good natured little boy, all settling down for a pleasant Christmas. The music in itself makes the family seem as normal as you could possibly get, but this is well contrasted with the magical that crops up later on in the film.

'We're Walking in the Air' is one of the true Christmas song classics, mainly because it links back to this film so well and rekindles many happy memories to those who have watched and loved the film beforehand. In spite of the fact that Aled Jones did re-release this track a couple of years after the film debut, a young choirboy called Peter Auty did the initial vocal effort, although this was only credited on the re-mastered version of the film in the 21st Century. Howard Blake composed all of the music for this film, including 'Walking in the Air' and has worked on other film soundtracks including 'The Bear' and 'Flash Gordon'.

Many may mock Auty's vocal effort on this song because of the stigma attached to Jones; I don't because of the simple fact that it makes the movie seem to be that much more whimsical and magical. 'The Snowman' could be seen as an ordinary animation with a limited amount of plot but the music in between is captivating , fitting each mood fantastically well, and making the film seem a little bit special.

THE ANIMATION
It would be unfair however to class 'The Snowman' as an ordinary animation as it is one of the most cherished features of the film. Like the storyline itself, it is simple but still maintains a degree of charm about it that other films involving snowmen could never hope to do. Take 'Jack Frost' for example, the one that bombed at the box office because it tries too hard to replicate the idea of a snowman coming to life and having a positive influence on a child's life. It just didn't work, not just because it was corny but because it wasn't animated.

The animation here makes the film seem more dream-like and a lot more mystical than if it had been made with real life actors. Otherwise, 'The Snowman' would have been made to look like a poorly acted silent film which wouldn't entertain and enchant the young mind. Instead, it would scare them into cowering under the Christmas tree, waiting for that rather large man to sneak into their house at the dead of night with his very own kind of swag bag to save them from such a travesty.

The animation isn't perfect but it's old-school; taken straight from the pages of the child's picture book, as Jackson had hoped to achieve, it's unique and has a glorious appeal that although should look extremely dated, never seems to. Forget the Disney Pixar perfect computer generated imagery of today; 'The Snowman' looks as if every scene had been sketched with such intricate detail that every shot could be seen as a work of art in itself. It's rough in places but again, that adds to the overall appeal of the film in my view as it looks completely different to contemporary films that children could be seeing nowadays.

LOOK OUT FOR 'THE SNOWMAN'...
As it is a Channel 4 film, you won't find 'The Snowman' cropping up on the BBC this Christmas! This year, you can catch it on Christmas Eve at 4pm. I've already noted it as the time following the usually traumatic experience of wrapping Mother's Christmas presents with the, uh, 'help' of my Brother and Father. To be fair, something as mellow as 'The Snowman' is needed after such events!

OVERALL: WHY SHOULD YOU WATCH 'THE SNOWMAN' THIS CHRISTMAS?
'The Snowman' is perhaps the classic Christmas film; it's uplifting, jolly and enjoyable to watch, even if it isn't directly linked to Christmas. There are aesthetics of Christmas with the multi-coloured decorations adorning the tree in the background and of course snow always holds connotations of Christmas. Yet, it does snow at other points during the year so I don't necessarily think it's a Christmas film in that respect; it's merely an associated thing because of some scenes having that feel good, get together quality about them but I wouldn't say it's one of those things you have to watch at Christmas. However, the festive feel could be a product not only because of the snow (I will stop mentioning snow in a sec!) but because of it only being scheduled on TV at Christmas time.

One of the drawbacks could actually be for some people that there is no dialogue throughout the film, only when good ol'Auty starts to sing. I personally like that aspect of the film as it seems more magical and enchanting but for some people, it could get a bit boring because of that fact. Also, if you tried watching this film over and over again, with your viewing times being one after the other, then I can imagine you'd get very bored indeed with it.

It is one of those films however that you could relish in every Christmas. The 'happy-go-lucky' attitude that this film conveys is wonderful and such an uplifting thing to watch. You feel happy just thinking about the film which cannot be said for many films but that, again, may be for the simple fact that it is a Christmassy film and if you haven't guessed, I am slightly obsessed with the festivities...

You do get the feeling that all of this could have occurred; ok so maybe the animation side of things may take away from the idea of realism but, especially with Bowie's introduction, the idea of a snowman coming to life is a lovely idea and you do find that the film never tires in a sense because of this yearning for it to be true

'The Snowman' doesn't have a sophisticated plot; in fact, it is so simple to watch that a child of two could quite easily follow without being confused in any way. However, in spite of the fact I am now 19, it is still an integral part of Christmas for me; my Mother, who is a lot older than 19, always watches it with me and we both enjoy it each and every year. Could it be a case of 'small things pleasing small minds?'. Quite possible, yes, more on my part than Mums!

Yet, it is important to remember that 'The Snowman' is a beautiful film in an understated, charismatic way which doesn't necessarily have a serious meaning to it.

Only to enjoy the snow while it lasts.

QUICK STATS
Year: 1982
Time: 26 minutes
Company: Channel 4 / Universal Pictures
Age Certificate: U
Website: http://www.thesnowman.co.uk 

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