The Snowman
Christmas Screenings
Audiovisuals
Free
With The Snowman, we bring back a classic that transcends both borders and generations. A film for the little ones and also for all those adults who are still in touch with their inner child.
After a snowfall, a boy builds a snowman who comes to life that night. A friendship is born between them and we follow them as they travel through the skies and go on adventures where they meet Santa Claus and celebrate with more snowmen. This endearing story continues to captivate audiences the world over and has become a British Christmas tradition, broadcast every year on Channel 4 without fail. It was nominated in the Best Short Film category at the 1983 Oscars.
Based on the famous picture book by Raymond Briggs, British film animator and director Dianne Jackson, with the collaboration of animation director Jimmy T. Murakami, brings this story and its characters to life with an innocence that harks back to pure childhood, without the complexity of adults. Unlike the original book, the director sets the story at Christmas. The film was made using traditional animation techniques, hand-drawn frame by frame, using pastels and crayons.
Dianne Jackson (1941-1992) was a British animation director, especially known for her ability to animate whilst remaining faithful to the style of the source material. In addition to The Snowman, her first feature film, she also worked as an animator on the Beatles' film Yellow Submarine (1968), Granpa (1989) and The World of Peter Rabbit and Friends (1992). Her feature-length and short films are adaptations of books by authors such as Raymond Briggs, John Burningham, Beatrix Potter and Margery Williams.
The Snowman, 1982, Dianne Jackson, UK, 26', no dialogue.
