2006 December 15 Friday.
My teaching day started off at 9:00 at the Hokkaido Nursing Academy of Asahikawa 北海道立旭川高等看護学院. Today Ikeda Sensei and I each had two classes instead of just one, for a total of 3 hours in a row. As I do every year at this time of the season, I showed each of the classes, two 30 minute video animations. One is called Father Christmas and the other is called The Snowman. Both of these stories were written by the Englishman, Raymond Briggs. I first saw these two animations way back in 1993 on one of the NHK Broadcast Satellite channels. I was quick witted enough at the time to put a new video cassette tape into my VCR and record them. One of the unique things about The Snowman animation is that there is absolutely no spoken dialogue in it, except at the very beginning of the movie when the narrator says; I remember that winter, because it brought the heaviest snows I had ever seen. The snow had fallen steadily all night long. And in the morning I awoke in a room filled with light and silence. The whole world seemed to be held in a dreamlike stillness. It was a magical day. And it was on that day, I made The Snowman. The rest of the 30 minute movie is composed of colors, images and background music only. Despite the lack of spoken words, the meaning of the story comes through loud and clear. This is an animation that can be enjoyed by both young and old alike. Regardless of native language or ethnic origin. It is a universal story theme and will most likely endure for a long, long time to come. The soft pastel style of the artwork in the animation is very calm and soothing as is the musical score that serves as the BGM. At the very end of the movie there is an extremely thought provoking moment. The young boy, who built the snowman, is given a blue and white muffler by Santa Claus as a Christmas present, while the little boy and The Snowman are attending a Snowmen Only Xmas Party in a distant snow covered forest, far from the little boy's home. After the party, he and The Snowman, fly back to the little boy's home. The young boy hugs The Snowman, and then goes back inside his house to go to bed. The next morning when the little boy wakes up, he goes back outside to see The Snowman again, but The Snowman has already completely melted. He is very sad and teary eyed. Then, he reaches into the left pocket of his night robe, and pulls out the blue and white muffler that Santa Claus had given him the night before at the snowmen only, winter party. The obvious question is; Was it all just a dream, or was it reality? And by the way, how do you know that you are not dreaming right here and now? Think about it for a moment. Welcome 2 Dreamland, 24/7.
Copyright © Snowman Bei Kaiwa 1996-2007