Product Details

• Actors: Pax Baldwin, Sydney White, Juliet Stevenson, Tiffany Amber Knight, Colleen Williams
• Directors: Julian Gibbs
• Writers: Hans Christian Andersen, James Andrew Hall
• Producers: Chantal Ling, Cherylyn Brooks, David Mercer, Katy Richardson, Paul K. Joyce
• Format: Animated, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, Widescreen, NTSC
• Language: English (Dolby Digital 5.1)
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: BBC Warner
• DVD Release Date: January 9, 2007
• Run Time: 56 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000JLTS7Q
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #57,547 in Movies & TV (See Bestsellers in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
This staggeringly gorgeous interpretation of Hans Christian Andersen's classic fairy tale The Snow Queen began as a concert of the pretty music by Paul K. Joyce. The story is told in broad strokes: A mother (Juliet Stevenson, Truly Madly Deeply) and her daughter Gerda (teen soprano Sydney White, who's been tearing up the musical stages in England) take in a homeless boy named Kay. When Kay disappears, kidnapped by the vampiric Snow Queen (ancestress to the White Witch of Narnia, no doubt), Gerda sets off in pursuit and comes across helpful ravens, talking flowers, moving statues, and benevolent reindeer in the course of her hero-journey. The wholly digital world created for this film is astonishing; much of it looks like hand-painted Victorian photographs, each image suitable for framing. Ironically, as the story grows more magical, the imagery turns more conventionally "fantastic" (the Snow Queen's arctic lair is a bit like Superman's Fortress of Solitude). But the overall texture of the movie is engagingly stylized, with movement that seems staggered yet graceful, like a silent film. The Snow Queen demonstrates that digital technology can make a more ethereal aesthetic as vivid and startling as a slimy alien or a bigger explosion. --Bret Fetzer

Product Description
Hans Christian Andersen's classic fairy tale comes to life in an enchanting mix of music and song, live drama and stunning animation. When Gerda and her mother take in the penniless beggar boy, Kay, powerful forces come into play that will take both children on a magical journey and test their friendship to the extreme. One cold winter night a splinter of ice pierces Kay's eye, turning his heart cold and making him angry and unhappy. He is enchanted by the Snow Queen and taken to her palace in the frozen North. Gerda decides that she must do whatever she can to find her friend. Faith, love and courage lead Gerda on a perilous quest through many strange lands. Will the little girl in the red velvet cloak be able to match the power of the Snow Queen?

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Absolutely beautiful!, November 22, 2006

By	La Coccinelle - See all my reviews

I caught this wonderful production when it was on television here in Canada last year. At the time, I believe it was only available on DVD in the UK, so to see that it will be released in North America is great!

This is a beautifully produced story for children and adults alike. Much use was made of computer imaging and, as a result, the live-action characters look like they are walking through a world of paintings. The beautiful, haunting soundtrack of songs that complement the scenes in the movie only adds to the artistic quality of the work.

I highly recommend it.

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Enchanting and Ethereal, November 28, 2006

By	Nancy Taylor (Toronto) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Finally a computer generated piece of illustrative fiction that is haunting and beautiful and very much like paintings come to life. The dreamlike imagery and gorgeous soundtrack make for a must have annual Christmas show for adults and children. Truly stunning!

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Good Version, Great Family Movie, November 29, 2007

By	J. Walsh - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This movie has lovely cinematography, mixing live action with animation. I love this version of the classic fairy tale. Both the nature imagery and the allegory are well done. The shooting stars, ice storms, and talking flowers are all wonderful. Good versus evil is nicely presented as balance. The poetry of the tale is beautiful, done in lyrical way in this venue. The music is lovely as well.

For those unfamiliar with this classic, the story contains fairy tales within fairy tales, a myriad of magical objects and beings, and the presence of eternity (and the everlasting) as a prominent character. Sacrifice and love are key ingredients in this tale, as is the power of the heart. The storms and season imagery (to represent both time passage and struggle) are used as obstacles in Gerda's quest, and are nicely done.

Talents such as Patrick Stewart and Juliet Stevenson really add another dimension to this. The film is also multicultural. It has what appears to be Bavarian architecture, but Gerda encounters a variety of peoples on her quest such as what looks like Native American and Inuit characters.

Certain parts of the film with louder music and Gerda fighting the both the storm and the Snow Queen were a little intense for my four-yr-old son, so it was good we were watching this together. I think he was mainly scared that a mean queen would capture a little boy. However, since he loves fairy tales, this didn't bother him for long, especially since it has a happy ending. This is very well done, and we plan to watch it again.

Beautiful book version of The Snow Queen:
The Snow Queen
A new fairy tale series that we really like:
Thistle and the Shell of Laughter (The Fairy Chronicles)
Nice collectible:
Fairy Miniature Tea Set