I watched this special twice last Christmas and twice this Christmas and it has been a delight every time, especially on my last two viewings.
The animation style is true to that in the original with its flickery yet smooth pencil/pastel drawing look but one feature that surpasses one in the original is the use of colour being more vibrant throughout. The story has more heartbreaking moments than the original what with the first dog having died earlier in the special and the boy and his new dog (originally the cute Snowdog that becomes a real dog when the boy puts on its collar) mourning the loss of the snowman at the end, which is one key similarity to the original. I enjoyed spotting parts that were nods to the original such as the boy recreating the original snowman; the snowman noticing a motorbike in the shed; the flying sequence complete with sights of the Gherkin, Tower Bridge, The Shard and even the OXO Tower; the snow-people party and the boy rushing past his mother down the stairs in a similar manner to James in the original rushing past his father at the bottom of the stairs. Like the original, the music here drives the narrative impeccably. Two standout pieces are the powerful, majestic one accompanying the boy building the titular characters and the sudden notes playing while the Snowdog is in danger of melting in front of the fireplace. While 'Light the Night' by Andy Burrows (probably the special's lowest point) is no 'Walking in the Air,' it is still pleasant and its second instrumental break sounds like 'Viva La Vida' by Coldplay (I can see why my good IMDb friend TheLittleSongbird mentioned them in her review). Another part I found particularly enjoyable was the skiing and sledge race between several snow-people (including the titular snowman), a penguin, the boy and the Snowdog.
All in all this is a more than worthy follow-up to 'The Snowman' and it was lovely for this to be made to mark the 30th anniversary of the original, the best assets being the animation, the more vibrant colours and the music. 9/10.
The animation style is true to that in the original with its flickery yet smooth pencil/pastel drawing look but one feature that surpasses one in the original is the use of colour being more vibrant throughout. The story has more heartbreaking moments than the original what with the first dog having died earlier in the special and the boy and his new dog (originally the cute Snowdog that becomes a real dog when the boy puts on its collar) mourning the loss of the snowman at the end, which is one key similarity to the original. I enjoyed spotting parts that were nods to the original such as the boy recreating the original snowman; the snowman noticing a motorbike in the shed; the flying sequence complete with sights of the Gherkin, Tower Bridge, The Shard and even the OXO Tower; the snow-people party and the boy rushing past his mother down the stairs in a similar manner to James in the original rushing past his father at the bottom of the stairs. Like the original, the music here drives the narrative impeccably. Two standout pieces are the powerful, majestic one accompanying the boy building the titular characters and the sudden notes playing while the Snowdog is in danger of melting in front of the fireplace. While 'Light the Night' by Andy Burrows (probably the special's lowest point) is no 'Walking in the Air,' it is still pleasant and its second instrumental break sounds like 'Viva La Vida' by Coldplay (I can see why my good IMDb friend TheLittleSongbird mentioned them in her review). Another part I found particularly enjoyable was the skiing and sledge race between several snow-people (including the titular snowman), a penguin, the boy and the Snowdog.
All in all this is a more than worthy follow-up to 'The Snowman' and it was lovely for this to be made to mark the 30th anniversary of the original, the best assets being the animation, the more vibrant colours and the music. 9/10.