My housemates & I have really been getting into the spirit of things coming up to the Christmas. We have a really smelly tree that smacks your nostrils every morning when your coming down the stairs for breakfast, a list of Christmas films to watch & we've drunk our body weight in mulled wine already.So this evening Brian came to the room to tell me he was about to watch The Snowman. I really can't remember if I had seen the film in it's entirety before so I was really looking forward to this one. It's a short film but it's spellbinding from the start. The pencil drawn animation is beautiful & nostalgic but the highlight for me was the music. It works perfectly with the animation & of course the "Walking In The Air" moment is wonderful. You anticipate it from the start & you know it's coming, but your heart still soars & the hairs on the back of your neck still stand when it arrives.
The ending is so sad & inevitable but you wouldn't have it any other way. An overhead scene pans back from a young boy crouched over the melted remains of the only friend he had among his remote surroundings. Sad but also touching. And anyways, you know everything turns out alright because he grows up to be David Bowie.
