Raymond Briggs’ Father Christmas + The Snowman (1982)
(Animated/Children/Holiday)
Picture:
C Sound: C+ Extras: D Main Programs: C+
In
advance of the holiday’s Sony has issued to British-produced animated shorts
that run about a half-hour each and are very child friendly, as well as
pleasant without any goofy political leanings.
The Snowman (1982) was an
Academy Award nominee for best short about the title character coming to life
and taking the young male lead to the North Pole. David Bowie even does the introduction.
Father Christmas (1991) has Santa going on a
vacation, but he brings the weight (no joke intended) of who he is with him and
warm, fuzzy Holiday things still happen.
Well, what could one expect? The animation
is the kind of soft style you might see in The
Soldier’s Tale (reviewed elsewhere on this site) and you could do much
worse for the holiday.
The 1.33
X 1 image has been reformatted from anywhere from their 1.66 to 1.85 X 1
framing and for as short as they both are, why both aspect ratios were not
offered is odd. Color is decent, while
detail is still not bad, though Father
Christmas has some digititis not detectable on the other title. The Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo is simple and
quiet, with no surrounds and there are no extras.
- Nicholas Sheffo
