2. Bowie Now Introduces Because US Broadcasters Said It Needed A Star - The Snowman
I grew up watching The Snowman each year on a VHS full of childrens favourites my parents had recorded off the TV and even as a young child the emotional heft of the tale hit incredibly close. It was many years later when I got the film on DVD (accompanied with the equally brilliant, quintessentially British Father Christmas) that I suffered two shocking revelations. The first was that the film came in at a slight twenty seven minutes (time moves much slower as a child), but the second had a bigger toll; the opening had changed. Instead of author Raymond Briggs walking into the woods while musing on his childhood, there was a much more overt interlude, with a Christmas jumpered David Bowie giving away the ending. Too old to be fully traumatised and not obsessed enough to claim my childhood is ruined, its still a pretty damning change. Although now I know why Im becoming a little more accepting. When the short was exported to America, the new intro was added as it was felt an actual star was needed to sell the animation. That obviously doesnt justify its inclusion on UK releases, but at least original broadcaster Channel 4 did something about it; for the 20th Anniversary they shot a new, more fitting opening with the late Mel Smiths Father Christmas.