The Snowman (1982)

From my favorite movies..

Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

The Snowman has become a perennial classic across the globe as one of the go-to films to watch on Christmas. And what is it about the short that makes it so goddamn loveable and perfect for those who need a warming up of the soul? Is it the gorgeous animation, the moving music and the inexplicably-Christmasy feel to it set against a snowy backdrop in the UK? I think everything adds up to make quite possibly the warmest cartoon ever made. It's also a very happy and celebratorial film. It hits all the right emotional notes and washes over you with renewed spirit, warmth and just overall happiness you got to watch this film.I can't fault a thing about The Snowman. It's easily one of the all-time perfect cartoons in my books! A Christmas classic for the ages and an animation great!

After growing up with the Snowman in the UK on TV at Christmas annually I was able to introduce it to my kids over here in the US. Happy to say that despite being born in an age where top quality CGI animation is the norm, my 3 year old daughter is mesmerised by the Snowman every time she watches it.Seeing it as an adult makes you appreciate the animation that was done by hand back then. The great flight sequence and the accompanying song not sung by Aled Jones hold up today very well indeed.Why however it is given the rather sad ending says everything about the British Isles you need to know. After having a great time at the north pole with Santa and his new friend, the Snowman, little Billy wakes the next morning rushing down to see his new best friend. Only to find him melted into a pile on the ground, dead if you will. To further rub salt into the wounds, he still has the scarf given to him personally by Santa the night before. This confirms to the boy that the event really did happen, he really did fly with the snowman and really did get to visit Santa. AND HE WILL NEVER GET TO DO IT AGAIN. Naturally he breaks down in tears as the end credits roll.That right there is the harsh reality that those from and living in the UK love to deal their young, as a means of character building. None of that magic nonsense, off to school and when you graduate off you go down the coal mine.Happy days indeed.

Of course, I am talking about "Walking in the Air" here. This is a 1982 short movie which runs for roughly 26 minutes and was nominated for an Academy Award, but lost to the Polish entry. At least they took home a BAFTA television award and this movie aged so well in people's minds that they finally made a sequel a couple years ago, roughly 30 years after the original and they got some of the people from the original to join the crew. I personally enjoyed watching this short film. It wasn't great or anything and had a couple weak moments (like the snowman trying on all these clothes), but as a whole it's worth the watch, especially for animation lovers. I liked the film's style (looks much older than 1982) more than the story. I read that the ending had an emotional impact on many, but not for me. In general, I believe they may have done a better job on the story about the snowman. The boy was fine. I watched the version that had David Bowie in the intro. For pretty much everybody involved with this (writer, directors, producer), this was the biggest success of their career in retrospective. They still succeeded with other projects and managed Emmy nominations or another Oscar nomination in the short film category, but none of their works has come close to "The Snowman" in terms of popularity. Decent short film all in all. Recommended.

An animated film, in any form, can only be judged on its ability to unlock the section of our psyche which is inhabited by a ten year old child. Can it make us feel as though we, the viewer, had created the film in our mind's eye? Does it provide us with an idealistic window into a world where complexities were few and far between? The Snowman is barely half an hour in length. It does not feature a single word of spoken dialogue, and only four human characters (two of which are peripheral, and one of which is Father Christmas) are featured. We therefore focus upon James, a young boy who, one snowy morning, lovingly builds a snowman in his garden, and embarks on a dazzling and uplifting adventure which begins in the living room of his house, before sweeping majestically, arm in arm with the snowman, into the night sky and towards the aurora-lit paradise of Lapland, where the film's emotional zenith is eventually reached in the presence of Saint Nicholas and his ever-present reindeer.The components that make up The Snowman, the combination of sounds and silence, sweeping vistas and warm Christmas lights, are equally as impressive as the overall result. It is not a sentimental, misty-eyed reflection upon winters passed; it represents yesterday, today, and indeed, tomorrow. The enjoyment and excitement expressed throughout the film is the kind that is not finite; it emerges every Christmas, in every child who dreams of stepping into James' shoes. His sense of wonder and happiness is evident, even without speaking, and the film's heartbreaking final shot; the melted remains of the snowman and James slumped aside him, captures the feeling of sadness at the loss of what had become, throughout the film, a friend, even if he was a being made of snow.The Snowman is a masterpiece of creativity, poignancy, and animation in its purest form. Visually satisfying and beautifully paced, it stands out within the canon of British animation and represents an important landmark, for it is the closest we have ever come to matching the warmth, humour, and emotional impact of any film produced by Walt Disney. And by that criteria, The Snowman can be paid no higher compliment.