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Director: Natalia Chernysheva
Release Date: September 2012
Rating: ★★★★
Review:
In ‘Snowflake’ a little boy in Africa gets a paper-cut snowflake by mail. That night he dreams his surroundings are covered with snow, making all animals shiver.
This is a charming little film done in a quasi-naive style, and making good use of black and whites, with occasional flashes of color. Especially the scenes in which the boy explores the snow-covered world are beautiful, with his red coat, shawl, hood and mittens standing out against the blacks, whites and greys of the animals and their surroundings. Also noteworthy is Chernysheva’s excellent timing, and the sound design, which is spot on.
Watch ‘Snowflake’ yourself and tell me what you think:
‘Snowflake’ is available on the Belgian DVD ‘Haas & Hert en andere verhaaltjes’
Director: Raimond Krumme
Release Date: October, 1994
Rating: ★★★½
Review:
In ‘Passage’ a man and his servant, who carries a heavy suitcase, are crossing an empty space of snow and ice. The snow and ice provide a conflict between the two, even disrupting the integrity of the two men’s bodies.
Typically for Krumme even the background space isn’t what it seems to be, with the servant hiding behind the horizon line, and several pieces of paper wrinkling during the fight. This is inventive use of the medium of animation, indeed.
Unfortunately, one can hardly tell the two men apart, who are drawn and animated the same (one has a tall hat, but the two even exchange hats at one moment). Moreover there’s hardly any story, and the film appears to stop only because Krumme seemingly runs out of ideas.
Watch an excerpt from ‘Passage’ yourself and tell me what you think:
‘Passage ’ is available on the DVD ‘Spatial Pandemonium – Short Films by Raimund Krumme’ and on The Animation Show of Shows Box Set 9
Director: Jack King
Release Date: April 10, 1942
Stars: Donald Duck, Huey, Dewey and Louie
Rating: ★★★½
Review:
The world is covered in snow, and Donald goes for a sled ride, wearing a ridiculously broad fur overcoat.
He purposely ruins Huey, Dewey and Louie’s snowman by sledding right through it. They seek revenge and build a snowman resembling Donald around a rock. This feud leads to a snow-fight between admiral Donald on a battle ship made out of ice and his three nephews on an ice fort.
‘Donald’s Snow Fight’ is a classic Donald vs. his nephews cartoon, but the complete film is quite slow, due to Jack King’s tame directing. Despite some excellent gags, it doesn’t live up to ‘The Hockey Champ‘ (1939), the other classic winter cartoon featuring Donald and his nephews, or ‘Truant Officer Donald‘ (1941), which also features a battle between Donald and his nephews.
The short’s excellent story is by Carl Barks, who reused its theme two years later in his Donald Duck comic WDC 44-442.
Watch ‘Donald’s Snow Fight’ yourself and tell me what you think:
This is Donald Duck cartoon No. 31
To the previous Donald Duck cartoon: The Village Smithy
To the next Donald Duck cartoon: Donald Gets Drafted
Director: Abe Levitow
Release Date: August 4, 1966
Stars: Tom & Jerry
Rating: ★
Review:
‘The A-Tom-inable Snowman’ is as abominable as the snowman’s supposed to be: it’s painfully bad and unfunny.
The cartoon has nothing to do with yetis, however. It is set in the alps and involves a helpful St. Bernard. The only surprise is that the titles roll in after 1’22.
Watch ‘The A-Tom-inable Snowman’ yourself and tell me what you think:
This is Tom & Jerry cartoon No. 151
To the previous Tom & Jerry cartoon: Matinee Mouse
To the next Tom & Jerry cartoon: Catty Cornered
Director: Chuck Jones
Release Date: May 12, 1964
Stars: Tom & Jerry
Rating: ★★★½
Review:
In ‘Snowbody Loves Me’ we see Jerry freezing in the Swiss Alps, but then he finds a cheese shop.
Jerry manages to enter it, but locks Tom outside by doing so. Tom manages to throw Jerry out again, but like in the early Tom & Jerry cartoon ‘The Night before Christmas‘ (1941) his conscience plagues him, and he subsequently rescues Jerry from death.
Like ‘Much Ado About Mousing‘ ‘Snowbody Loves Me’ borrows a theme from an earlier Hanna-Barbera cartoon, and again, the result cannot stand the comparison to its source of inspiration. ‘Snowbody Loves Me’ is cute alright, typical for Jones’s late style, and its colors and designs are beautiful. However, the action is slow, and the gags are mediocre.
Watch an excerpt from ‘Snowbody Loves Me’ yourself and tell me what you think:
This is Tom & Jerry cartoon No. 132
To the previous Tom & Jerry cartoon: Much Ado About Mousing
To the next Tom & Jerry cartoon: The Unshrinkable Jerry Mouse
Dr. Grob's Animation Review 