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The short film “The Snowman” is as much a part of winter time in Great Britain as “Dinner For One” is on New Year’s Eve in this country. The animated film by Raymond Briggs, based on his own book, from 1982 tells the story of a boy who builds a snowman on a winter day, which eventually comes to life and takes him on a plane ride. “The Snowman”, nominated for an Oscar in 1983, not only shines with magical drawings, but also with a melancholic soundtrack.
What few people know today, despite the film’s popularity, is that David Bowie filmed a short introduction of sorts for The Snowman. In it, the singer can be seen portraying the boy who has just created and ultimately lost his very special, beloved friend.
David Bowie and his children’s projects
The musician, who died of complications from cancer in 2016, always felt the need for children’s projects. In 1977 he provided the narrator for an orchestral version of Prokoviev’s “Peter and the Wolf” (according to himself only for his son, Duncan Jones) and nine years later he fascinated an entire generation in the fantasy hit “Journey into the Labyrinth”.
David Bowie’s introduction for “The Snowman” is not part of the film (director Raymond Briggs can be seen guiding the viewer). It only emerged much later, when the little animated gem had long since found its initially manageable audience. The video cassettes that were emerging at the time caused a surge in popularity – and in order to sell the short film in other markets, for example in the USA, a big name was needed, as director Hamish Hamilton once told the Guardian.
Passionate about even small projects
This is how the musician came into play, who had already met with the producers of “The Snowman” in 1982. Howard Blake, who scored the film, was also serving as musical director for the Tony Scott vampire film Desire, which starred Bowie. So one thing led to another. Even though Blake still laughs today about how fascinatingly different these two projects were for him. Blake met the singer for lunch and heard that he was a big fan of Raymond Briggs’ end-of-time cartoon “When the Wind Blows.”
While big stars like Julie Andrews and Laurence Olivier were initially considered for the new introduction of “Snowman”, the producers ultimately decided on David Bowie – also because of the great success of the film soundtrack. In an artistic work that also includes brilliant acting performances such as in “The Man Who Fell from the Sky”, participation in a 26-minute animated film may initially seem to be of little importance. But the passionate work on such smaller projects distinguished Bowie throughout his life.
He was, after all, one of the biggest pop stars in the world when The Snowman began its journey to conquer the hearts of audiences. His name could have easily overshadowed the project. But the fact that this didn’t happen can also be attributed to the sensitive singer, who never forgot for a moment what he was gently promoting.