At first sigh, a version of Snowman animation . Simple, touching, naif but working in decent manner. So, no surprises but a very nice small ice fairy and a good snowman, its lovely dance with the grandmother, the policemen and, sure, the little girl. So, just reasonable frame for classic carol story.
2 Reviews
Lovely night
TheLittleSongbird19 December 2021
Decided a couple of weeks ago to try and find some Christmas themed animations that weren't the ones that were grown up on as a child and still loved. Have made no secret of loving Christmas and loving every bit as much animation, both for as long as can be remembered. Managed to track down three Christmas themed animations over the past few days, the others being 'White Christmas' and 'The Twelve Days of Christmas' also from the mid-late-90s.
While liking 'White Christmas', 'Silent Night' was even better and of the three it is my favourite. It is the best looking of the three, while also being the one with the most charm and heart, the most easy to like characters and the quaint storybook-like way the story is told worked beautifully. It is not an animated classic, not the best Christmas animations and not flawless by any stretch, but for lower budget Christmas animation one can do with far worse than this.
'Silent Night' wasn't perfect. The snowman coming to life for the first time was a bit too on the unintentionally creepy side, even to a young adult in her late 20s seeing it for the first time who has no problem with creepiness as long as it's intentional. Don't think the animators were intending what turned out at that moment.
Did think too that the voice acting was ropey on occasions, especially for the annoying cops.
It is on the other hand the best looking of the three Christmas animations mentioned in the first paragraph. The backgrounds are pretty stunning, particularly at the beginning which had a storybook illustration look, and the character animation is much better and less scrappier than it was in 'White Christmas'. The music is even better, not just the timeless "Silent Night" carol in one of the most beautiful versions of it to exist (sung by none other than rich-voiced Bing Crosby) but also the neat use of classical music. "Aquarium" from Saint Saens' 'Carnival of the Animals' and Tchaikovsky's 'Serenade for Strings' are especially well used.
To me, the snowman is an appealing lead character post-the transformation. He has truly charming chemistry with the girl and their friendship is the heart of 'Silent Night'. As a singer myself who has also been in a similar situation to the snowman, the stuff with the singing resonated with me. The dialogue is not too simplistic while still being easy to understand, with no misplaced attempts at juvenile humour, over cutesiness or moments deemed too wordy. The story is charming and touching, with a lovely bedtime story like approach to how it's told through sparse but soothingly delivered narration.
Also found the ending a tear-jerker, with the use of "White Christmas" being poignant (once you get past the unlikelihood of a snowman who had only just learned how to sing being able to sing like Bing Crosby that quickly, though at least a reason is given for it to be able to happen). Most of the voice acting is fine, particularly for the snowman.
Overall, very nicely done. 8/10.
While liking 'White Christmas', 'Silent Night' was even better and of the three it is my favourite. It is the best looking of the three, while also being the one with the most charm and heart, the most easy to like characters and the quaint storybook-like way the story is told worked beautifully. It is not an animated classic, not the best Christmas animations and not flawless by any stretch, but for lower budget Christmas animation one can do with far worse than this.
'Silent Night' wasn't perfect. The snowman coming to life for the first time was a bit too on the unintentionally creepy side, even to a young adult in her late 20s seeing it for the first time who has no problem with creepiness as long as it's intentional. Don't think the animators were intending what turned out at that moment.
Did think too that the voice acting was ropey on occasions, especially for the annoying cops.
It is on the other hand the best looking of the three Christmas animations mentioned in the first paragraph. The backgrounds are pretty stunning, particularly at the beginning which had a storybook illustration look, and the character animation is much better and less scrappier than it was in 'White Christmas'. The music is even better, not just the timeless "Silent Night" carol in one of the most beautiful versions of it to exist (sung by none other than rich-voiced Bing Crosby) but also the neat use of classical music. "Aquarium" from Saint Saens' 'Carnival of the Animals' and Tchaikovsky's 'Serenade for Strings' are especially well used.
To me, the snowman is an appealing lead character post-the transformation. He has truly charming chemistry with the girl and their friendship is the heart of 'Silent Night'. As a singer myself who has also been in a similar situation to the snowman, the stuff with the singing resonated with me. The dialogue is not too simplistic while still being easy to understand, with no misplaced attempts at juvenile humour, over cutesiness or moments deemed too wordy. The story is charming and touching, with a lovely bedtime story like approach to how it's told through sparse but soothingly delivered narration.
Also found the ending a tear-jerker, with the use of "White Christmas" being poignant (once you get past the unlikelihood of a snowman who had only just learned how to sing being able to sing like Bing Crosby that quickly, though at least a reason is given for it to be able to happen). Most of the voice acting is fine, particularly for the snowman.
Overall, very nicely done. 8/10.
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