The Snowman
(aka SNOWMAN IN JULY, DER SCHNEEMANN)
THE SNOWMAN is a fascinating animated short, with an even more interesting history. Created in Nazi Germany by beleagured artist Fischerkoesen (see story below), THE SNOWMAN was first seen in the U.S. in after 1944, under the title SNOWMAN IN JULY, confiscated by the Allies as pop-culture war booty!
Afterwards in the United States public domain, THE SNOWMAN resurfaced every several years as part of various Kiddie Matinee packages, and soon made its way to synidicated TV. Louisiana-based Orrin Pictures re-released the short as part of a double bill with the Australian epic LONG JOHN SILVER, with Robert Newton, circa 1955.
Much later, Kiddie Matinee king K. Gordon Murray ressurected the short yet again, as part of a 1974 double-bill with Fritz Genschow's HANSEL AND GRETEL. And THE SNOWMAN has been released so many times on home video, we have lost track!
This sublime, allegorical animation masterwork is not to be confused with THE SNOW MAN (1940, U.S.), a creepy-funny "Terrytoon" about a monster snowman at the South Pole, or THE SNOWMAN, a 1982 cartoon of the classic Raymond Briggs children's book.
About the director (from IMDb): Hans Fischerkoesen was born Hans Fischer in Bad Koesen, Germany. A sickly child, he was encouraged by his parents to indulge in such indoor activities as drawing and puppetry. His asthma kept him from active service during WWI, but he did work in a hospital near the front. His experiences there haunted him for the rest of his life. In the 1920s Fischerkoesen turned to advertising, developing earlier animated cartoons for German merchants. He later established his Fischerkoesen Studio in Leipzig to produce advertising animation. After the Nazis passed an edict in 1941 declaring most non-German art "degenerate", Fischerkoesen was forced by the German government to relocate to Potsdam, near UFA studios, and began producing theatrical cartoons. Despite governmental control, Fischerkoesen managed to keep his productions free of Nazi propaganda. When the war ended, Fischerkoesen was imprisoned by the Soviets as a possible Nazi sympathizer, despite the fact that he had been a member of the Underground. He was released after three years imprisonment, and later escaped to West Germany, where he re-established his advertising animation studio. Fischerkoesen spent the remainder of his life working in advertising, receiving many awards for his work.
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(01-17-05) Steven Burstein informs us that a clip from THE SNOWMAN is used in the recent documentary "Hitler's Hit Parade".
(07-04-06) Steven Burstein informs us that THE SNOWMAN is on the new DVD, "Cartoons For Victory," released by Mackinac Media.
(01-13-08) Florian Schmidlechner submits this fascinating additional information about this most unusual cartoon.
"I'm pretty sure THE SNOWMAN was made after Stalingrad in 1943. The song which the Snowman sings while he is melting is very ironic - I cannot imaging that this gag would have been made before the Stalingrad battle. THE SNOWMAN was used in a German/French documentary named "Hitlers Traum von Micky Maus" ("Hitler's Dream of Mickey Mouse"). This documentary also says that the cartoon was made in 1943.
"By the way, there was a very interesting article about subversion in Fischerkoesen's cartoons in the
"Animation Journal" (in the 1992 issue):
"I'm pretty sure the end sequence of this cartoon was a reference to the war situation. After the battle of Stalingrad the Germans knew that the war was lost. Goebbels proclaimed the "total war" at the 18th February 1943 but everyone knew that at this point victory was an illusion.
"So that's why it's so ironic when the snowman sings "This is the summer of my life" while he is melting. This cartoon was also shown after the war in the television program of the DDR (this one can be found on YouTube).
"So, the cartoon was made in 1943 but released in 1944."
Video/DVD availability: VHS, DVD (various)
(1944, Germany) color animated 13 minutes
directed by Hans Fischerkoesen
