The Snowman
The Snowman
First read the text below. Then see which words in the boxes could replace the words in bold in the text.
The animated film ‘the Snowman‘ is often voted onto the list of people’s ”Best Ever Christmas Films‘. It is regularly 1 shown on television around Christmas, as its popularity has continued since its immediate 2 success in 1982, when it was first broadcast on Christmas Eve on Channel 4. The 26-minute cartoon version, made by Dianne Jackson, was based on the children’s book of the same name written by the English author Raymond Briggs and published in 1978. Neither the book nor the film have any words.
Instead, pictures, actions and music tell a story 3 about a boy who builds 4 a snowman one winter’s day. The day appears to 5 be either Christmas Eve or New Year’s Eve, but this is not explicitly 6 stated. That night, at the stroke of twelve 7, the snowman comes to life 8. The first part of the story deals with the snowman’s attempts 9 to understand the appliances 10, toys and other bric-a-brac 11 in the boy’s house, while keeping quiet enough not to wake 12 the boy’s parents. The two then venture 13 back outside and go for a ride on a motorcycle, disturbing many animals: pheasants, rabbits, a barn owl, a fox and a brown horse.
In the second part of the story, the boy and the snowman take flight – the film’s only song "Walking in the Air" appears 14 at this point 15 . They fly over the boy’s town, over houses and large public buildings before flying past a pier and out into the ocean. Their excursion continues to the North Pole in an exhilarating flight full of wonder and mystery over frozen countryside. Flying into the aurora borealis they reach their destination 16. The two wander 17 hand-in-hand into a snow-covered forest 18 and attend 19 a snowmen’s party, at which the boy is the only human. They meet Father Christmas and his reindeer, and the boy is given a scarf with a snowman pattern on it.
The tale ends after the return journey, and the boy falls asleep. However, the sun has come out the next 20 morning and the boy wakes up to find the snowman has melted. The viewer begins to wonder if the night’s events 21 were all a dream 22, but the boy discovers that he still has the scarf given to him by Father Christmas.
The story depicts two beings from entirely different worlds creating a friendship for a short time. When a friendship bridges such different lives, is the loss of it ultimately inevitable 23?
Howard Blake composed and conducted the orchestral score for the film, and wrote both the music and lyrics 24 of the only song in it ‘Walking in the Air*‘. The song was performed 25 by a choirboy from St Paul’s Cathedral, Peter Auty.
* To listen to the song and do an exercise on it, click here!