Customer Reviews:
Arnold speaks!.......2004-06-01
Another fun packed DVD, starring Kipper, Tiger, Pig and Arnold.
Lots of snow fun, and entertaining even when it's not Christmas.
The quality of the DVD is a lot better, with a menu that allows you to play all episodes, or choose your favorite. You can also choose to skip the previews, which is a big plus for repeat viewing.
The high point is hearing Arnold "speak", when he gets his very own igloo.
We love Kipper, and will continue to recommend the series, once the DVD's continue to be such great value for the price.
Amazon.co.uk Review
Two Raymond Briggs' animated classics, The Snowman and Father Christmas are here sensibly paired for maximum yuletide delight.
Based on Briggs's classic children's book and crafted in a coloured-pencils-on-paper look, like fluffy, hand-drawn illustrations, The Snowman is a gentle fable of friendship and the power of imagination. It's the story of a small boy whose lovingly constructed snowman comes to life and takes him flying over the white-blanketed landscapes, in a beautiful rotoscoped (traced) sequence based on live-action flying footage.
Part of the charm of the film is the gentle, everyday quality of its fantasy adventures: the snowman is invited in to try on clothes and play with the Christmas decorations, then plays host to the boy at a party in the woods, at which his snowy relatives do country dances. --David Chute
In Father Christmas, an irreverent Santa breaks from tradition in many ways. He has no Mrs, owns only four reindeer and decides to convert his sleigh into an airborne motor home for a pre-Christmas holiday. He finds France too snooty, Scotland too cold and Las Vegas just right. Tanned and rested, he returns to the North Pole in time to sort through the mail, pack up the toys and hit the skies. He also narrates his own story (splendidly voiced by Los Angeles stage actor William Dennis Hunt), but fans of the 1973 book will find the animated version far less cranky than the original. Although the book was aimed at children between the ages of 4-8, this may have a wider appeal, depending on how you feel about the children seeing Santa gambling at the casino tables, dreaming of bikini-clad babes and suffering a bout of diarrhoea. --Kimberly Heinrichs
Customer Reviews:
One to Treasure.......2008-02-09
The Snowman is a truly beautiful film, no matter how old (or young) you are. It is the magical tale of a little boy named James who builds a snowman which comes to life and takes him on an amazing adventure to meet Father Christmas, meeting other Snowmen on the way. It contains the beautiful 'Walking in the Air' sung by Aled Jones, which is hauntingly glorious, and is just superb. It is what Christmas and childhood is all about, or should be. I have watched it so many times over the years, with my son and daughter who are now 25 and 22, and yet we still enjoy it so much. My daughter used to always cry at the end (she still does) and my son used to always want a snowman of his own. It evokes such beautiful childhood memories for us, and I am sure that it does for everyone. It is a timeless masterpiece, and a true classic, and I think that every family should own it.
Not What It Says On The Tin.......2007-12-03
This is billed as the version which is introduced by David Bowie. It isn't. It's the version with Mel Smith as Santa Claus at the start. I know this because I bought it a few weeks ago, and am currently in the process of returning it. Amazon is guilty of misleading advertising by billing this as the Bowie version. The Bowie intro is included in the extras, but stops after 1 minute and 43 seconds. Very disappointing.
Will never lose its power to enchant.......2007-11-18
This ageless delight remains one of the best celebrations of Xmas ever made, and one of the best celebrations of childhood, come to that. The animation, the score, and the story are perfect in their creation and their union with each other is somehow beyond perfection. The Americans must be supremely jealous of this evergreen Yuletide classic. It is British through and through, and aren't we very rightly proud of it!
One of the most beautiful Christmas films there will ever be.......2007-08-07
The Snowman has to be one of my favourite ever pieces of Christmas television. I can remember as a child when this was first aired in the early 1980's, over twenty years later and thankfully it is one of the few if not only Christmas programmes that is still on every year and it never loses any of it's Christmas magic and I am utterly convinced that it never will.
The Snowman is a fine example of proof that a story doesn't have to be really complex to be something very special because the story itself is quite simplistic. It snows, little boy builds a snowman, it come to life, he gives it a tour of his home, the snowman flys him to see Father Christmas and flys him back home. It really couldn't be that much simpler but it is the way that it is done, the haunting animation with one of the most beautiful soundtracks that any film has ever had and on top of that nobody even says a single word. One reason in particular why The Snowman never ages even after more than twenty years is because it looks like it could be from any year onwards form the year it was made, this could be watched in the year of Christmas 2057 and still look like the year 2057.
Finally and the thing that makes The Snowman so special to me is the final and very emotional scene, it never fails to have the same effect on me as it did as a child, as if it is saying to the viewer that everything dies and this part of Christmas is over for another year, hopefully it will continue to be because Christmas just wouldn't be the same without it. A TIMELESS AND MAGICAL PIECE OF CHRISTMAS TV.
So beautiful It Will Move You to Tears.......2006-12-17
I wish I could adequately express how astonishingly marvellous this film is & what it means to me.It is so very beautiful in more ways than one.Faithful to the beguiling coloured pencil illustrations of the original Raymond Biggs'book,it is a visual feast.The music is exquisite & the animation full of comic charm & delight.It's an aesethic wonder that sends the ol' endorphins from the top of your head to the tips of your fingers!
Having no narration or spoken dialogue,language is no barrier to enjoying the genuine,simple humanity of the piece, which makes it so much more than a pretty yuletide trinket.The plot is a deceptively simple one:young boy builds a snowman.He awakes one night to realise it has come to life.They have an adventure.And oh,what an adventure it is.
The scene of the Snowman & his little human friend flying skyward to the tune of the haunting"Walking in the Air"sung by then- boy- Soprano Aled Jones, is the absolute standout & makes me weep buckets everytime.What child hasn't dreamt of flying? Perhaps it resonates so deeply because it recalls a less cynical period of one's life when it was not deemed foolish to ponder such things.
I'm not alone.A'cool' art school chick, a laidback truckie & an action-film loving security guard are but a few to admit to me they all tear up during this film.Clearly some deep connection is being made here.
Somehow the film manages to embody all the best sentiments of childhood without ever becoming mawkish or indulgently sentimental.It celebrates all the things that matter to a child: a spirit of imagination, the space to play,the bonds of friendship.It's gentle ending even trusts kids to deal with more complex ideas,like the sad beauty of transcience.
Even if your childhood was not a happy one,for 30 magic minutes,you'll believe it was.
Buy it.You won't be disappointed.This won't be a film you'll watch once & never bother with again.You'll get renewed pleasure from watching it for many Christmases to come.Or whenever you simply want to go flying with a Snowman.
And if all this is too much hyperbole for you,let me just say this:
Best.Christmas.Film.Ever.
"I'm walking in the air........" Indeed.
DVD:
- City for Conquest [1940] (REGION 1) (NTSC)
- Close Your Eyes [2002] (REGION 1) (NTSC)
- Crime of Passion [1957] (REGION 1) (NTSC)
- Dastardly And Muttley - Vol.1
- David Copperfield [1999] (REGION 1) (NTSC)
- Devil Got My Woman: Blues At Newport 1966
- Disney Princess Party - Vol. 1
- Dogtanian And The Three Muskehounds - Episodes 1 To 9 [1991]
- Dream Street [2002]
- Eyewitness [1970] (REGION 1) (NTSC)
DVD List
DVD
Children's
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Christmas Music
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Styles
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Music
![The Christmas Blessing [2005] (REGION 1) (NTSC)](http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P/B000TGKJQA.01.THUMBZZZ.jpg)
The Christmas Blessing [2005] (REGION 1) (NTSC)
![The House Without A Christmas Tree [1972] (REGION 1) (NTSC)](http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P/B000SQFC3Q.01.THUMBZZZ.jpg)
The House Without A Christmas Tree [1972] (REGION 1) (NTSC)
![Mr. Christmas [2005] (REGION 1) (NTSC)](http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P/B000BJS4OO.01.THUMBZZZ.jpg)
Mr. Christmas [2005] (REGION 1) (NTSC)
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Christmas Miracle at Sage Creek [2005] (REGION 1) (NTSC)
![A Christmas Memory [1997] (REGION 1) (NTSC)](http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P/B000UAE7H2.01.THUMBZZZ.jpg)
A Christmas Memory [1997] (REGION 1) (NTSC)
![The Snow Queen [1959] (REGION 1) (NTSC)](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/314NY90JQ3L.jpg)
![The Raymond Briggs' The Snowman [1982] (REGION 1) (NTSC)](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/21BTcE3%2BUdL.jpg)
![The Bear [1999]](http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P/B000GJ26WU.01.THUMBZZZ.jpg)
![A Christmas Without Snow [1980] (REGION 1) (NTSC)](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/31OjROZe-iL.jpg)
![Teletubbies: Christmas in the Snow [2000] (REGION 1) (NTSC)](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/21YzuBHGjWL.jpg)
![Teletubbies: Go! Exercise With the Teletubbies [2001] (REGION 1) (NTSC)](http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P/B0007KIFM8.01.THUMBZZZ.jpg)
![Teletubbies: Look! [2003] (REGION 1) (NTSC)](http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P/B000BITU8O.01.THUMBZZZ.jpg)
![Teletubbies: Time to Play [1997] (REGION 1) (NTSC)](http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P/B000MGBSJ4.01.THUMBZZZ.jpg)
![Teletubbies: Naughty Noo-noo! - Messy Messes and Terrific Tidying [1997] (REGION 1) (NTSC)](http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P/B0007KIFPK.01.THUMBZZZ.jpg)
![Teletubbies: All Fall Down - Funny Friends and Terrific Tumbles [1997] (REGION 1) (NTSC)](http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P/B000FEBWUS.01.THUMBZZZ.jpg)
![A Holiday to Remember [2005] (REGION 1) (NTSC)](http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P/B00065QKPS.01.THUMBZZZ.jpg)
![Snow Queen [1959] (REGION 1) (NTSC)](http://www.germanelectronics88.com/noimage.gif)
![A Snow White Christmas [1980] (REGION 1) (NTSC)](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/313jvDpsdDL.jpg)