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The
Snow Queen (1995)
producers:
Martin Gates / Carrington Prods
animation: 2D
animation
run time: 76 mins
"It
will get cold... Very,
very cold...
It will freeze over, and then it will be
mine!"
From her ice palace, high in the mountains,
the Snow Queen has perfected a
dastardly plan. With the aid of a magical mirror,
she will deflect the sun's rays
away from the Earth, plunging the world into
a perpetual Winter, and allowing
her to take control. It's a foolproof
notion, but alas, it's put into place by three
foolhardy minions. The trolls, Eric, Baggy
and Wardrobe bungle their task,
shattering the mirror and scattering fragments
across the kingdom.
This being glass from an evil mirror, it's
best avoided. But two of the fragments
strike young Tom. He gets glass in his eye
and his heart before he's snared by
the Queen, who's desperate to retrieve
every last sliver and thus revive
her chilling plan. Now Tom has been employed on
the queen's giant jigsaw
puzzle and his life is ebbing away. He's poisoned
with malice and discontent,
and won't last long unless his sister, Ellie, can
rescue him...
Martin Gates' film is inspired by Hans Christian
Andersen's classic fairytale,
and the icy heart of the story is still here. Everything
else has been resculpted.
Characters have had name changes and scenarios have
been tweaked. Kay
and Gelda are now Tom and Ellie. Where Andersen
has friendly sparrows,
Gates brings us a specific sparrow sidekick
called Peeps. The Old Woman
who tries to snare Ellie is now seeking her heart
for an elixir of life.
The forest crows are now man-sized servant
crows Les and Ivy and the
band of robbers have been transformed into
anthropomorphic rats, led by a
scrawny Robber King. Freda is present and correct
with her flying reindeer,
only now, Ellie takes a shine to a clumsy
young buck called Dimly...
This is a kitchen sink of a film, which
throws everything it can in to the
animation pot. It sports a topnotch voice
cast. The trolls work well together,
and Helen Mirren adds some regal chilliness
to the Queen. Julia McKenzie
is also on good cackling form as the Old Woman.
Ellie is lead through a
succession of cartoon encounters en route
to the palace, and the film
tumbles along for just over an hour,
giving us some songs, a bit of buffoonery,
and a little too much coincidence on the way to
ensure that Tom is rescued
in time, and the door left open for an icy sequel. And
indeed, "The Snow
Queen's Revenge" was unleashed soon afterwards...
See
also
The
Snow Queen's Revenge
The
Snow Queen on DVD
The
Snow Queen
Region
2 / 4 Front / November 2004
The
Snow Queen
Region
1 / Warner Video / March 2004
a Martin Gates production
in association with Carrington Productions
Intl
producer:
exec prods:
songs & music:
writers:
character design
& th'nail story:
pre-production
team:
assistant dirs:
key animators:
background des:
backgrounds:
layout:
assistant anim:
animation check:
xerox & trace:
colour style:
spfx:
ink & paint:
paint check:
camera:
prod control:
prod facilities:
managing dir:
head of prod:
orchestra
manager:
dialogue & song
vocals recording
engineer:
foley artists:
dubbing editors:
dubbing mix:
neg cutting:
video facilities
co-ordinator:
telecine grader:
video editor:
film editors:
prod assistants:
prod secretary:
prod co-ord:
prod manager:
storyboard:
art dir & timing:
edit & story
supervisor:
line producer:
voices:
Martin Gates
Craig Hemmings, Tom Parkhouse
written and composed by Chris Caswell
music arranged & conducted by Doug Walter
music recorded & mixed by Toby Alington
Sue Radley, Martin Gates
inspired by the Hans Christian Andersen story
Bruce McNally
Richard Fawdry, Dennis Hunt
Mick de Falco, Jane Barnett
Salve Abo, Dino Cordero, Ray Dagson,
Jun Fernandez, Andy Flores, Boyet Gopez,
Vladi Naval, Benny Quilatan, Ches Reyes,
Ronnie Somala, Lito Soltura
Paul Shardlow
Ruben Rumanban
Kinjo Estioko
Alan Countsman
Narelle Nixon
Henry Pinchet
Elisa Keys
Toby Barett
Flora Markson
Barbara Bago
Frank Eagles
Ellen Moran
Moving Images International
Jimmy Costello
Louie Jhocson
Ian Green
Ben Leeves
John Fewell, Julie Ankerson
Kevin Brazier, Alan Sallabank
David Humphries
sound re-recorded at DB Post Production
Mike Fraser
Simon Hill
Alan Bishop
Neville Donoghue
David Hillier, Jerry Tinsay
Emma MacGregor, Samantha Warden,
Charlotte Simpson-Orlebar
Sarah Absalom
Robert Dunbar
Stuart Lock
Gordon Harrison
Barry Macey
Sue Radley
Marion Edwards
Ellie Beaven (Ellie)
Damian Hunt (Tom)
Helen Mirren (Snow Queen)
Sylphide Strallen (Polly)
Hugh Laurie (Peeps)
David Jason (Eric)
Russell Floyd (Wardrobe)
Baggy (Colin Marsh)
Julia McKenzie (The Old Lady / Freda)
Imelda Staunton (Ivy / Angorra)
Richard Tate (Les)
Scarlett Strallen (Princess)
Rowan D'Albert (Prince)
Rik Mayall (Robber King)
Gary Martin (Dimly)
On
the web
Entertainment
Rights
ER
hold the rights to the film...
The
Snow Queen
And
here's the original Andersen story...
