From Digital Spy:
'The Snowman' to be remade for winter 2012 by Channel 4
The Snowman is to be remade for Channel 4, it has been announced.
The classic 1982 Christmas classic has been a yearly staple of the channel since its first broadcast. It is to receive a "fresh, not identical" remake in time for winter 2012.
The original 26-minute animation film was based on the 1978 story by Raymond Briggs, and was directed by Dianne Jackson.
The new version will be made using traditional animation techniques by most of the original creative team, and will cost £2 million. It will be screened as part of Channel 4's 30th anniversary programming in November 2012.
It will feature new elements of the story including a new boy, a snow dog as an extra character, and will see updated landmarks as they fly around Britain, such as the London Eye.
The original film's theme song 'Walking in the Air' - sung by Peter Auty in the film but made famous later by Aled Jones - will be replaced by a new song.
It will be produced by animation Camilla Deakin's company Lupus Films, who said: "The music is still undecided. There is a lot of discussion. It will be up to date. Without being too aggressively so. We want to make sure this film is new and fresh, not identical. New characters, new settings and the music is another way to differentiate it."Raymond Briggs told The Guardian that he will have little input for the new version, but he has given it his blessing.
He said: "I am keeping a polite distance. I haven't written the new story. I was against making a new version for years and refused to agree. But there has been such a huge elapse of time, 30 years, a lot of people have died in that time. An awful lot of the old team are being reassembled to make it, that is good. I am not grumpy at all about it."
Deakin's Lupus Films partner Ruth Fielding said: "When we made the first one, Channel 4 wanted another immediately. Raymond and I said, 'You can't have another one'... but he melted.
Original producer John Coates added: "After 30 years it's silly, why not have another one? We are hoping to repeat the success. We could fall flat on our faces. But it's a lovely story."
The new version will only have small inclusions of computer-generated animations, and there may also be a 3D cinema version.
Deakin added: "One of the lovely things about this is that it so well supported by Channel 4 - all the animators can work here, in one studio, with pencils and paper. I run an animation company and it is so rare to get to make things in the UK, because we have no government support, unlike our French, Canadian and Irish competitors."
Watch the 'Walking in the Air' section from The Snowman below:
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