The Snowman and the Snowdog [Review]

Thirty years, to the year, we get a belated sequel to the children’s classic animation ‘The Snowman’ which was adapted from the book of the same name, which tells the story of a child who builds a snowman in his back garden who comes to life and takes him on an adventure to the North Pole before returning him home and then sadly melting over night. Everybody has probably seen this film and it’s a beautifully animated classic with a great song in ‘Walking In The Air’ and the saddest ending you’ll get in a programme at this time of year.

‘The Snowman and the Snowdog’ isn’t based on a book but is a follow-up to the classic and it certainly ticks a lot of the boxes. It’s animated in the same hand-drawn style of the original and looks beautiful, and nicely balances a modern, clean HD look with the rustic crayon-style flickering animation of the original, even if it doesn’t quite feel as warm, cosy and nostalgic as the first short film, though its match is incredible. The style sets it in what I call the ‘Wallace and Gromit’ timeline, obviously contemporarily set – as seen by an appearance by the London Eye during the flight sequence – but with an eye on the past in the look of the house’s kitchen, the plane and bike shown and other imagery like that.

Plot wise it feels very much like the Snowman version of ‘Blues Brothers 2000’, if you’ve seen that, in that it’s difficult to decide whether it’s a sequel or a re-make. The plot sees the young boy in the tale – Billy – discover a box hidden under a floorboard in his bedroom containing the elements that make up the snowman and a photo of the boy from the original standing next to the Snowman (did he ever get a photo taken in the original?) and using them to re-build the snowman.

But he also goes further. The story opens with Billy and his mum moving into a new house with a dog who, within the space of the opening sixty seconds, dies and is buried in the back garden in possibly the quickest introduction and death of a character but one that immediately feels upsetting. That’s either smooth plotting and use of music too evoke sadness, I’d still not got over my earlier watching of the touching ‘Mickey’s Christmas Carol’, or had had too much to drink, but it was a sad start to a show that was touching. In memory of this dog, Billy creates a snowdog using two socks for ears and his gloves for spots on the side. The scene of him creating the characters is nicely done.

With both the snowman and snowdog created Billy goes to bed but is woken up in the early hours to find them magically alive. From here the new Snowman repeats many of the plot points of the original in either a nostalgic memory trip or a lack of inspiration. We get a scene in the fridge; the threat of melting from the fire; a brief appearance by the motorbike from the first; and a flying sequence set to music that ends in the North Pole at a Snowman convention, with lots of racial stereotypes that perhaps are the wrong side of nostalgia. Though a lot of it seems overly familiar, there are a few new elements including a plane flight, a fun skiing competition with a penguin – who upon losing trudges off brilliantly – and the actions of the dog that freshen it up a little, but it feels too much like a re-make at times.

One thing the animation does excel in is the character of the dog. It’s well animated, moves realistically and acts very much like a real dog, and the character animation team deserve credit for some excellent work there.

Naturally the sun starts coming up at the North Pole and Billy, snowman and snowdog have to go home, leaving the bi-plane to another snowman with an asparagus moustache (!!) and flying back instead. There, in the garden, magic happens and the snowdog comes alive to become a real dog, making the boy’s Christmas (though the mum seems to not question where the dog has come from). So, a happy ending there, before the final shot is of the snowman once more melted in an ending that doesn’t have the impact of the first.

The one area I’ve not touched on yet is the music. As a silent film, it can live and die on the music and here it’s pretty good. It doesn’t have the distinct, warm feel of the original soundtrack but the feelings it creates works well in scenes such as the dog’s death at the start, and it does still pull at the heartstrings. ‘Light The Night’, the song that plays during the fantastical flight, doesn’t have the vocal power or catchiness of ‘Walking In The Air’, and also doesn’t have nostalgia to fall back on, but it’s a nicely sung and performed song that, though a little more withdrawn than the original, will be a grower. It was never going to be able to become as iconic as that first song but it succeeds from the listen, and I’m glad they didn’t bring ‘Walking In The Air’ back into this film as that would have been a back-step.

Overall, ‘The Snowman and the Snowdog’ was an enjoyable festive watch. The animation style was beautiful and it’s great to see hand-drawn animation back to the forefront – though it is supported by CGI in the snow, lighting effects and the plane but these were nicely integrated and you wouldn’t realise it. The music is not as distinctive as the original but the soundtrack and new song compliment the animation well. The plot is rather derivative of the original with too many plot points re-hashed from the original into this so it feels more like a re-make than a follow-up and the death of the snowman a second time round doesn’t have the same impact, but the snowdog is beautifully animated and full of character and really makes the film. Thankfully it doesn’t damage the reputation of the original as it keeps the quality but is too close to the original to be its own film. A great watch for Christmas though.

7/10