Written by Jambareeqi

I remember the first reaction from people when a Snowman sequel was announced, people were outraged and felt like their childhood was going to be violated. Personally, I was very excited to see how a sequel could work but I also felt like it was a risky project to produce. The Snowman is considered to be a benchmark of British animation and many people have nostalgic affection towards it. So the idea of carrying on a beloved story would be an almost reckless creative process.

So, I tuned into channel 4 at 8pm, Christmas Eve and watched “The Snowman and the snowdog” to be pleasantly relieved. This ambitious sequel manages to match the strength of it’s predecessor while also maintaining it’s own new ideas. It also remains faithful to the tone and visual style of the original film thanks to the return of many of the artists behind “The Snowman”. Director Hilary Audus was an animator & storyboard artist on the original film and she certainly does a fantastic job resurrecting our beloved frozen hero. It’s charm lies in how affectionate it is towards the film that inspired it’s existence.

The animation is gorgeous, fluid and doesn’t attempt to be pretentiously fancy for the sake of it. Much like the first film, the focus is on the exploration of landscapes and the scenery explored is beautiful. It’s not just the visuals that are impressive, the addition of the snow dog character makes sense because of a very touching reason and he has a valuable role in the power of the film’s ending. It’s a film that tugged on my heart strings with the emotional depth within it’s narrative and the imagination of it’s fantasy elements is very creative.

However, what about the soundtrack? The original film was famed for it’s wonderful theme “Walking in the air” and this sequel… well… I actually found the music for “The Snowman and the Snowdog” so good that it almost outshines my fondness for the original’s music. No kidding, this new soundtrack is full of dramatic range and versatility. The film’s theme “Light in night” by Andy Burrows is fantastically magical because of it’s angelic vocals and superbly rich harmony, it gave me goosebumps soon as it kicked in.

If you missed the premiere airing of “The Snowman and the Snowdog” then check it out soon as you can. Don’t let your doubts cloud your interests because it’s a grand and majestic effort full of passionate creativity. I have to admit that it made me cry more than once.