Hello All. From what I can understand there are 3 Japanese releases; the last one a so called theatrical version featuring an introduction from David Bowie. There also appears to be a PAL European release but never a US offering. The European version seems very hard to come by but the JP discs appear fairly common, my question is does anyone own this movie and if so could you advise if the subtitles (Japanese) are frequent, as I don't think there is a great deal of dialogue throughout the content. Finally I assume this is presented in 4:3?

Best Regards.

This movie famously has no dialogue so there are no subtitles. Are actually looking for this and didn’t know that?

I have the version with Bowie. It’s the same as the one without except for that and the cover which advertises Bowie. They didn’t subtitle Bowie either. There is another version with someone else’s VO (is made to sound like the author but I’m not sure if actually is) which I have on a US DVD. If that’s on the other JP LD it’s possible that part may have subs but I suspect not. Every version will be dialogue-less except for the first few seconds.

Don’t forget Father Christmas. That one is dual language on LD had as the original soundtrack.

Incredibly and even though it's shown on one of the TV channels here every Christmas since the mid 80s I'd have to admit I wasn't certain on that tbh I don't think I ever sat and watched it in its whole of 30 minutes entirety in all those years!

Anyway many thanks for your input that's just the info I required and on the strength of that I've this moment made a purchase on eBay of the Bowie introduced version, this is mainly to show my daughter so I guess I'll now have to sit through and watch it with her for its entirety. Thanks again, much appreciated!

I saw this ebay listing and noticed it has a completely different cover art compared to the database entry with the same catalog number.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/e191-Japan-L ... SwBVdcCdhH
Snowman, The (1982) [50LS 4011]

Could it just be a case of wrong obi?

Thanks for this, just had a look myself and see exactly your point. Also just to add, there seems to be a third ref. number (50LS 4004) that is missing from the database so the plot seems to be thickening. Not sure if it is a case of the wrong obi as the one I've purchased (Snowman portraited in frame below text) doesn't have one, so noted ref from bottom left corner of sleeve. Guess I'll have to wait now until it arrives from Japan, don't think this is the theatrical release though and it also seems it could be one of the 1987 releases rather than the 1989 batch.

Interesting. I don’t have an obi with mine but it does say “David Bowie” right on the cover so they either came out with that version later or just decided to advertise it more later. It was also on a sticker on the shrink wrap.

Snowman, The (1982) [50LS 4011]

The “theatrical version” I assume has no intro or the previous one. The Bowie thing was done for British TV. It probably has a different title card.

It’s a great movie, one of the most significant animated works of all time, IMHO, and while a Blu-ray would be better this is exactly the kind of movie you’d want to use to expose the limitations of DVD. There are almost no suitable key frames once things get going so it’s macroblock city for MPEG2. It just gets totally murked. Even VHS would be better if your player is old. LD or BR are best.

Btw, the Bowie intro was not original. In fact it’s kind sucky since he’s saying the same lines the previous narrator said so...Bowie is the kid in the movie? But only when it’s like five years old? Kinda great and lame at once. You can’t go wrong though. It’s genius.

Father Christmas is mostly Santa’s monologue. It’s filled with semi-rough language and “old English white guy” jokes. As I understand it some versions replace Santa outright with another voice. I’ve only ever seen this one though:

Father Christmas (1991) [ASLA-1027]

I don’t think that cover is what I have...

Dual Language with karaoke for the closing theme. Says “Bloomin’” in kana even.

It is.

Cheers

Once again many thanks for all the useful info you've provided Zeta really appreciated!

The one I've purchased is also 50LS 4011 and it seems there are two different sleeve designs that carry this ref, from what you're saying this sounds like a decent transfer despite the fact it dates from 1987. The seller has a copy of the Father Christmas disc you mention available too; tempted to grab that one aswell now.

I’d get Father Christmas for sure. It’s a lot different but very good. It directly connects with The Snowman.

I checked and the cover LDDB has is not the one I have. It’s similar but not the same.

Btw, Father Christmas has some Japanese subs in the feature itself but it’s only one line. There is a song which they dubbed into Japanese like everything else for the Japanese language track except for one line “Let’s hop on on my sleigh and we’re all on our way to another bloomin’ Christmas.” which Santa sings and there is a subtitle for that one line when it’s sang.

I just bought the Father Christmas disc on ebay. 17 bucks with free shipping so I didn't see a reason not to.

Should probably pick up one of the Snowman discs within the next eight months, but which one?

Still looking for an answer to this one

I'm kind of gravitating towards something like Snowman, The (1982) [50LS 4004] since it has an intro with Raymond Briggs who actually did have something to do with the production, unlike David Bowie, but the database entry mentions nothing about stuff like inserts so I have no idea if the ones on ebay are supposed to have them or not.

For some reason I have a feeling there is no insert.

I don’t have a problem with the Bowie version...you could just get that one. It’s likely the video quality of the short itself is identical in all releases so it’s probably just a matter of picking which cover you like and which added on intros and outros you want.

I am pretty sure also it came with no insert.

Also as for an obi I am also pretty sure it was a so called sticker obi that it came with.

The copies that passed through my hands years ago were not sealed copies so cannot be 100% sure on the insert but fairly sure.

.

Strange that there'd be no insert. The other ones have at least one with the lyrics on them.

Thanks takeshi666.

As mentioned the LDs that passed through my hands years ago were not sealed so if there was an insert it may have gone astray sometime in the past.

Given the disc & it being a Japanese release I would have thought it would have an insert included.

Can someone here who has the disc please confirm if it includes an insert or if they have opened a new/sealed copy if it came with or without an insert - thanks.

.

I was wrong! I checked and mine does have an insert with lyrics to the song. There is another insert, boring, showing other then-current releases. This is Snowman, The (1982) [50LS-4011] I’m talking about. I don’t have an obi, I didn’t get it new.

You just beat me to it! I've got the same release as you and likewise for my copy also.

Thanks laserfanhld-gb & signofzeta .

Nice to get clarification.

Cheers

Your welcome