Christmas Movie Club #3 - The Snowman

Loughc · 10-06-2015 12:01pm #1

Short one this week!

Summary;

Wordless (save for the song "Walking in the Air") animated adventure about a young English boy who makes a snowman one Christmas Eve, only for it to come to life that night and take him on a magical adventure to the North Pole to meet Santa Claus.

Fun Fact:

The Snowman was nominated for an oscar for the Best Short Film, Animated in 1983

leahyl · 10-06-2015 12:39pm

Any ideas how I would view this? I presume it's on the web somewhere....

Loughc · 10-06-2015 1:28pm

leahyl wrote: »

Any ideas how I would view this? I presume it's on the web somewhere....

It's available to watch for free on All4 (4OD)

washiskin · 10-06-2015 10:36pm

I must confess I have avoided this film because i looks like it may end sadly.

Loughc · 10-06-2015 10:43pm

washiskin wrote: »

I must confess I have avoided this film because i looks like it may end sadly.

Its still worth a watch. Heart warming all the same.

Toto Wolfcastle · 10-06-2015 10:50pm

I've never been a fan of The Snowman. I always hated getting up early on Christmas morning, flicking the TV on and finding that The Snowman was on.

I haven't watched it in a long time though so I'll give it a go again this week.

Toto Wolfcastle · 12-06-2015 8:24pm

Just watched this. The child's excitement at the start is so cute. I loved when he was running around making footprints in the snow. That's exactly what we all did (and still do probably) when we were kids.

His snowman was nothing like anything I've ever done though.

I loved the snowman's amazement at the TV and the light in the kitchen and when he had the fridge open to cool himself down. He was amazed at the TV but he knew exactly what to do with the blusher.

The party with all the snowmen and Santa was great too. I preferred that and the bit before the flying to the actual flying bit.

The ending was sad and made no sense. Why had the rest of the snow not melted? :pac:

Overall I enjoyed it. 4 out of 5, which surprising because I used to hate it! I think it just seemed so old fashioned or something when I was growing up but I'm all about the nostalgia these days so I liked it. The flying bit was boring and the ending was sad but overall it was lovely.

And it's definitely super Christmassy so it gets 5 out of 5 there.

Glad I watched it. I'm not feeling great tonight and it put a smile on my face.

It's on You Tube if anyone wants an easy way to watch it.

leahyl · 14-06-2015 9:45am

Just watched it now, thanks for the tip of YouTube Bobblehead Panda! I enjoyed it - I had never watched it in full before, only the "walking in the air" scene but i thought it was lovely! Obviously it ends sadly but I still enjoyed it

I'd give it 4/5 and Christmassy feeling 4/5 overall but that flying scene alone is 5/5!

VanZan · 15-06-2015 10:21pm

Amazingly beautiful for its time. A staple of Christmas when I was a kid and rightly so (although it wasn't until I was in my teens that I really learned to appreciate it). The ending is so sad....like how I feel on January 6th when Christmas officially ends.

Oh to be a kid again!

Posy · 16-06-2015 7:00pm

This is the first time I've watched The Snowman the whole way through since I was a child. It was actually much better than I thought it would be.

The little boy's parents seem a little out of touch- the dad looks really bemused to see his child excited about snow. Erm, isn't that how every child acts if they wake up and it's snowy outside??!
I liked the whole scene with him building the snowman, but I didn't get the scene with bringing the snowman into his parent's bedroom to play dress ups- why would he risk them waking up?
"Walking in the air" reminds me of stamps.

The snowmen dancing scene went on a little long!
I see what you mean about the end, Bobblehead Panda. I just tried to assume that most of the snow was melting- like there was still surface slush but something solid like a snowman would be the first to melt.

I never knew the little boy was called James, so I learned a new fact!

5/5 for Christmassiness!

DrJ · 18-06-2015 10:02am

Ah, my favourite. Well, like so many Irish kids in the '90s I knew this as the An Post ad!
I also had the picture book of this when I was a tot but don't think I ever saw the full film until I bought the DVD in 2012. It combines so many of my favourite things - David Bowie as the grown up James at the start (not featured in all versions), music (so integral to this otherwise silent piece - isn't it heartbreaking that one note the musician plays when James comes out in the morning to see the Snowman gone? That's the power of music), snow, and Christmas.
They showed the Snowman and Snowdog last year on C4 on Christmas Day so it was basically the same except a Snowdog was in it too.
It is heartbreakingly sad but at the same time I think it's actually important that we have more of this in children's stories because death is a part of a life. I cringe nowadays at the way so many films just have to have that happy ending. Like 'let's let the snowman live and they have a special freezer room for him'. Nope, this is better. I remember seeing the writer (Raymond Briggs) or perhaps Howard Blake (the composer) saying something like 'children do understand and have a sense that death is a natural part of life'. And I tend to agree. Such a powerful piece - the story, animation and music.
This is a classic.

Christmas Movie Club #3 - The Snowman

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