The Snowman (1982)

To me, this movie is perfection.

I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

Ok... Let's be honest. It cannot be the best movie but is quite enjoyable. The movie has the potential to develop a great plot for future movies

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

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.

Unlike lots of people I didn't grow up watching The Snowman as a kid every Christmas and have merely discovered it amid all the hype about the very belated sequel 'The Snowman and the snow dog'.It was very interesting to see what all the hype is it. Make no bones about it, The Snowman is one of the few things that deserves its place as a classic piece of Christmas TV. It has heart, it has a great story and it even has a song in it that you may just have heard once or twice before.The sequel has a lot of the same elements but this original as is so often the case is far superior and will probably be continued to be shown on television every Christmas for a long time to come.