Entertaining from beginning to end, it maintains the spirit of the franchise while establishing it's own seal with a fun cast

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

It's like they took something special and turned it into a misery fest. The snowman was special because you can just watch it on christmas and feel nothing. You can relax. It was simple. Boy enjoys snow, snow melts, the end. But this sequel is basically like watching Bambi. First they dangle a dead dog in our face then they threaten to kill off another one, the snow dog. They don't in the end but by then you're already in tears because of the implication. It's meant to be a happy ending the way the snowdog turns into a real dog and stays with him always, but you don't feel happy. You feel awful. This is just manipulative rubbish designed to cause an impact for ratings. If you were hoping this will be like the original snowman you will be disappointed.

The Snowman was a Christmas classic for Channel 4 - a station that by and large doesn't really seem to get into the holiday spirit. The Snowman and The Snowdog is basically that same classic with a handful of "bonuses".The writer seemed to have gotten drunk on Christmas with a boxset of Marley & Me, I am Legend and Old Yeller, clocking that people will fall over themselves to get overemotional about their pet dogs. It's the Call of Duty method of improving for a sequel. "Let's just stick with the original and add in some cool new features. How about dogs? People love dogs. We'll throw in a plane too."The Snowman's brilliance means this sequel is watchable, but it's completely unnecessary and its emptiness reeks of the shallow commercialism that encapsulates the worst of Christmas.

Thirty years have passed since the classic animation 'The Snowman' first aired on Channel Four; now it is time to return. This sequel opens with a new family moving into the house one summer; as well as another young boy there is a dog but it soon dies and is buried in the garden. When winter comes the boy discovers a package hidden under the floorboards in his bedroom; it contains the scarf, hat and coal-buttons of the Snowman along with a picture of him and the original boy. That night it begins to snow and the next day the boy remakes the snowman and from the left over snow he fashions a little snowdog. As he gets into bed he looks out of the window and is shocked to see that they have come to life. As happened in the original, this boy is taken on a magical journey, flying over London they head north and meet Father Christmas. Anybody who has seen the original will be anticipating a tear inducing ending but this time the sadness is reduced as one last magical thing happens when they get home!'The Snowman' was a hard act to follow but this certainly comes close. Like the original it shares a distinctive animation style that gives a real warmth to the characters… even those made of snow. The setting is quintessentially English but the lack of spoken dialogue means that this could be enjoyed by people everywhere. The song used here sadly doesn't have the ethereal charm of 'Walking in the Air' but it isn't bad. People who enjoyed the original are sure to enjoy this and once again they should be prepared to shed a tear or two but expect to be smiling at the same time… I wouldn't be surprised if this one is still being shown in thirty years as well; perhaps we'll get part three in 2042!

First off, I absolutely adore The Snowman. Charming, stunningly animated, beautifully scored complete with a heart-wrenching ending, it is really something that Christmas is not the same without. I was intrepid in all honesty about The Snowman and the Snowdog. I was intrigued also of course, but thirty years after the original, which is close to so many people's hearts, I did question whether there was much point to it, and my family initially felt the same. Watching it last night, I actually did find it quite pleasing. Is it as good as The Snowman(like it or not, it is inevitable that these two are going to be compared in some way)? No it isn't, but The Snowman's quality and its reception and influence was a very tough act to follow and it was to be expected.If there was anything that I wasn't particularly fond of this time around, it was the music. It certainly isn't terrible, it does have some beautiful moments, but at the same time it did feel a little too modern and could've been more subtly orchestrated. The song was pleasant enough, though I imagine that many people, including myself, will much prefer the ethereal beauty of Walking in the Air rather than the occasionally overpowering Coldplay-like feel of the song in The Snowman and the Snowdog.However, I cannot deny at all that the animation is great. It is remarkably faithful to the style of The Snowman, to the other Raymond Briggs animated adaptations(Father Christmas and The Bear) and to the illustrations of the stories, and the handcrafting in detail and in colour looks really splendid. The story is also a strong asset, the middle has a little more going on, including a very amusing skiing race between the snowmen and a penguin, while the friendship between the boy, dog and snowman is charming in its whimsy and innocence yet remains upbeat on the most part and I did find the beginning and the end part with the snowdog very touching.What was also good was that while it was very faithful in spirit to The Snowman, it even has a wonderfully silent atmosphere, because of the nice touch with finding the things under the floorboards, it didn't feel too much like a rehash. The ending is not as heart-wrenching as in The Snowman, but it still has that losing your best friend vibe- which would choke anybody up, whether they've been in that situation or not- that does still make it a moving moment. All the characters have a lot of appeal to them. Overall, pleasing and charming but I do think it is understandable if anybody is disappointed in some sort of way with The Snowman and the Snowdog. 8/10 Bethany Cox