The Snowman is a 1982 British animated television film and Symphonic Poem based on Raymond Briggs’ 1978 picture book The Snowman. It was directed by Dianne Jackson for the British public service Channel 4. The story is told through pictures, action and music, scored by Howard Blake, and is wordless. The orchestral score was performed in the film by the Sinfonia of London and the song was performed by Peter Auty, a St Paul’s Cathedral choirboy.
About The Snowman in brief
The Snowman is a 1982 British animated television film and Symphonic Poem based on Raymond Briggs’ 1978 picture book The Snowman. It was directed by Dianne Jackson for the British public service Channel 4. The story is told through pictures, action and music, scored by Howard Blake, and is wordless. The orchestral score was performed in the film by the Sinfonia of London and the song was performed by Peter Auty, a St Paul’s Cathedral choirboy. The special ranks #71 on the 100 Greatest British Television Programmes, a list drawn up by the British Film Institute in 2000, based on a vote by industry professionals. It came third in Channel 4’s poll of 100 Greatest Christmas Moments in 2004, and has become an annual festive event. The film was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film and won a BAFTA TV Award. It has been shown on Channel 4 every Christmas Eve since the film was first shown on 26 December 1982, and was an immediate success. It is now considered one of the best animated films of all time, with the exception of The Muppets’ The Muppet Christmas Carol, which is still broadcast on Channel 5 on Christmas Eve every year. The movie was released in the UK in November 1982 and in the U.S. in November the same year.
In the UK, it was the runner-up for the Kate Greenaway Medal from the Library Association, recognising the year’s best children’s book illustration by a British writer. The book was first published in 1978 by Hamish Hamilton in the United Kingdom, and published by Random House in the US in November of the sameyear. It sold well, but a second print had been less successful with 50,000 unsold copies sitting in a warehouse, which he attributes to the lack of dialogue which prevented it being read as a bedtime story. In 1980 he was contacted by producer John Coates from TVC with an idea of adapting the book for an animated film, for which he gave his consent. In March 1982, Coates presented an \”animatic\” storyboard version with a basic piano track by HowardBlake, including an early version of \”Walking in the Air\” to commissioning executives at the fledgeling Channel 4, which was due to begin broadcasting in November. The song was not credited in the original version of the film, but is sung in the movie by chorister Peter Auties, who was notredited in the soundtrack. The boy’s home appears to be located in the South Downs of England, near to Brighton; he and the Snowman fly over the Royal Pavilion and Palace Pier.
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This page is based on the article The Snowman published in Wikipedia (as of Dec. 30, 2020) and was automatically summarized using artificial intelligence.
