"Santa vs. The Snowman" is a 22-minute animated short film special from 1997, actually from 13th December 1997, which means it has its 20th anniversary exactly today. What a great occasion to review this one! The writer and director is John A. Davis and he was not yet an Oscar nominee at that point. Anyway, his work here was remade in 3D a few years afterwards, but I guess I recommend this original, even if the showier version is fine too, because it feels more essential, on the negative side maybe even a bit rushed here and there. It is not flawless visually, but overall I liked the animation. The first look into the elves' headquarter though was pretty abysmal. They look like rhinos pretty much. Santa's looks I liked. The snowman's I am not sure. I guess they're alright. The voice acting was solid though and so was the story. This is a little tale of a snowman who no longer wants to be lonely, but wants be loved like Santa, so he comes up with a wicked plan to follow in Santa's footsteps. Of course, this one is all about the kind spirit, so he finds friends indeed eventually, but not the way he thought he would. At slightly over 20 minutes, this is an essential story with good focus for the most part. The music is nice fun too. The song that includes a girl singer hoping Father Cringle would be single was pretty hilarious. More decent comedy also got in on several occasions in terms of Christmas/winter references like the gigantic nutcracker in this fairly epic battle scene. Or of course also the Abominable Snowman reference. Or the funny mistletoe ambush. That was pretty smart and there is a lot more I could mention here. The talent is there and Davis as well as Oedekerk show us with this award-winning short that they surely had some talent in them that led them even to the Academy Awards half a decade later with their Jimmy Neutron release. Pretty big for something that is not Disney, Pixar, Dreamworks etc. Or even Studio Ghibli.
But back to this one here. Sure you can find flaws and you don't even have to dig deep for those, but the better aspects make it easy to ignore those weaker elements. If you wanna know though, then I'd say that the snowman is so lonely, still easily comes up with a gigantic army supporting him is a bit absurd. But I guess they are not considered real friends. Or at least not the way Santa is a real friend in the end. Or also how at the end, after this massive battle and everything, the two bond so quickly. That did feel extremely rushed. As for the flute being the reason for this entire mess (and the snowman looked downright evil when he comes up with his plan, even if he is obviously not an antagonist), I am fine with that. The smallest things and injustices can drive people crazy. Another pretty brief scene I liked was when these two elves talked about women while being in charge of surveillance. That felt so authentic. Like something really out of our world. Also the elf who is in charge of this guided tour was kinda bizarre in a funny way. Like he talks about the most magical place on Earth in the most sterile, most unimpressed manner. There is a bit of everything here, funny moments, good music, a heartfelt message that will especially be appreciated by those in the shadows. It is a good watch with or without children in my opinion and did not necessarily need the modernization it was given later on. Retro is king here, even if I am not sure "retro" is the right word to describe the style and looks here. My suggestion is to check this one out if you can and if you really liked it, go for the 2002 version the year after. That one may be easier to get a hand on. It's certainly a good watch for the holiday season, but also not completely disappointing during the warmer months.
But back to this one here. Sure you can find flaws and you don't even have to dig deep for those, but the better aspects make it easy to ignore those weaker elements. If you wanna know though, then I'd say that the snowman is so lonely, still easily comes up with a gigantic army supporting him is a bit absurd. But I guess they are not considered real friends. Or at least not the way Santa is a real friend in the end. Or also how at the end, after this massive battle and everything, the two bond so quickly. That did feel extremely rushed. As for the flute being the reason for this entire mess (and the snowman looked downright evil when he comes up with his plan, even if he is obviously not an antagonist), I am fine with that. The smallest things and injustices can drive people crazy. Another pretty brief scene I liked was when these two elves talked about women while being in charge of surveillance. That felt so authentic. Like something really out of our world. Also the elf who is in charge of this guided tour was kinda bizarre in a funny way. Like he talks about the most magical place on Earth in the most sterile, most unimpressed manner. There is a bit of everything here, funny moments, good music, a heartfelt message that will especially be appreciated by those in the shadows. It is a good watch with or without children in my opinion and did not necessarily need the modernization it was given later on. Retro is king here, even if I am not sure "retro" is the right word to describe the style and looks here. My suggestion is to check this one out if you can and if you really liked it, go for the 2002 version the year after. That one may be easier to get a hand on. It's certainly a good watch for the holiday season, but also not completely disappointing during the warmer months.
