On Christmas Eve, a young boy builds a snowman that comes to life and takes him to the North Pole to meet Father Christmas.On Christmas Eve, a young boy builds a snowman that comes to life and takes him to the North Pole to meet Father Christmas.On Christmas Eve, a young boy builds a snowman that comes to life and takes him to the North Pole to meet Father Christmas.
IMDb RATING
8.2/10
16K
YOUR RATING
- Jimmy T. Murakami(supervising director)
- Dianne Jackson
- Raymond Briggs(from the book by)
- David Bowie(uncredited)
- Raymond Briggs(uncredited)
- Mel Smith(uncredited)
- Jimmy T. Murakami(supervising director)
- Dianne Jackson
- Raymond Briggs(from the book by)
- David Bowie(uncredited)
- Raymond Briggs(uncredited)
- Mel Smith(uncredited)
David Bowie
- Older James (re-released version)
- (uncredited)
Raymond Briggs
- Older James
- (uncredited)
- …
- Jimmy T. Murakami(supervising director)
- Dianne Jackson
- Raymond Briggs(from the book by)
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaAled Jones, the singer of single "Walking in the Air" that was released in 1985, three years after the film, is much more widely known than Peter Auty who sang the same song in the film. Many people mistakenly believe that Aled Jones also sang the song in the film. Jones sang the chart release because the song had been re-recorded for an advertisement for an English toy store's Christmas campaign (which also featured new animation).
- GoofsWhen James and the Snowman are flying to the North Pole, they fly over some penguins which are not found in that region.
- Quotes
James: [singing] We're walking in the air/We're floating in the moonlit sky/The people far below are sleeping as we fly/I'm holding very tight/I'm riding in the midnight blue/I'm finding I can fly so high above with you/All across the world/The villages go by like dreams/The rivers and the hills/The forests and the streams/Children gaze open-mouthed taken by surprise/Nobody down below believes their eyes/We're surfing in the air/We're swimming in the frozen sky/We're drifting over icy mountains floating by/Suddenly swooping low on an ocean deep/Rousing up a mighty monster from his sleep/We're walking in the air/We're dancing in the midnight sky/And everyone who sees us greets us as we fly.
- Alternate versionsThe 1982 British VHS release added an introduction by David Bowie . This was included as an additional extra on the UK Special Edition DVD though the film itself featured the Father Christmas introduction, voiced by Mel Smith .
- ConnectionsFeatured in The Wind and the Bomb (1986)
Review
Featured review
"A wonder without words"
Raymond Briggs' illustrated book, upon which this holiday special is based, has been accurately described as a "wonder without words." This short movie can be described just as accurately with that phrase. _The Snowman_ may be my favorite animated film of all time, ranking alongside _Watership Down_. These films share the common bonds of not underestimating the intelligence of their audiences, and of providing spectacular and moving animated sequences. The flight sequence of _The Snowman,_ set to the haunting song "Walking in the Air," is a sequence that could have been lifted from _Fantasia_: the landscape unfolds, revealing wonder after wonder--city lights, cruising ships, penguins, aurora borealis--as the music rolls like turbulent winter waves. The story is short and simple, and more than a little heartbreaking, but captures the tragedy of transience without padding the action with sophomoric song and dance routines. This cartoon also features perhaps the best rendition of Santa Claus (or "Father Christmas," to be more true to the show's British roots) ever caught on film: a wholly charming, smiling, warm person, fun and grandfatherly and kind.
Three brief suggestions: if you can find it, buy the soundtrack to this film, as it makes great background holiday music; see if you can locate versions that feature opening narration by David Bowie (the video version usually features an opening sequence with the author, the PBS version a short scene with Bowie); stay far away from the waaaay inferior sequel, "Father Christmas," an oddly sardonic follow-up replete with bad jokes and--believe it or not!--nudity!
Three brief suggestions: if you can find it, buy the soundtrack to this film, as it makes great background holiday music; see if you can locate versions that feature opening narration by David Bowie (the video version usually features an opening sequence with the author, the PBS version a short scene with Bowie); stay far away from the waaaay inferior sequel, "Father Christmas," an oddly sardonic follow-up replete with bad jokes and--believe it or not!--nudity!
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- Tug-3
- Sep 29, 1999
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