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''Der Schneemann'', also known as ''The Snowman'', ''Snowman in July'' or ''The Magic Snowman'', is a 1944 animated
short film A short film is any motion picture that is short enough in running time not to be considered a feature film. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes ...
, created in
Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
. It was written by cartoonist
Horst von Möllendorff Horst von Möllendorff (26 April 1906 – 17 December 1992) was a German cartoonist who was "drafted" to work for the Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ...
and animated by
Hans Fischerkoesen Hans Fischerkoesen, also known as Hans Fischerkösen or Hans Fischer (18 May 1896 – 23 April 1973) was a German commercial animator. Fischerkoesen is considered an animation pioneer, due to the inventions and innovations he applied to animation ...
. It was animated in
Potsdam Potsdam () is the capital and, with around 183,000 inhabitants, largest city of the German state of Brandenburg. It is part of the Berlin/Brandenburg Metropolitan Region. Potsdam sits on the River Havel, a tributary of the Elbe, downstream of B ...
, Germany, near UFA's Neubabelsberg Studios.


Plot

Snow falls on the snowman to form a heart shape on him. The snowman wakes and begins juggling with the snow. A dog begins chasing him and takes a bite out of him. The dog then throws snow at the snowman but this only fills the missing part of the snowman. Eventually the dog leaves. The snowman starts skating on ice but falls through and staggers away largely melted. However, by falling down a hill and rolling in the snow the snowman reforms himself. The snowman now falls to sleep at night. A rabbit tries to steal his carrot nose but the snowman prevents this. The snowman gets up and enters a house and finds a calendar. He finds the month July on it and then puts himself in a refrigerator so that he may see this month. During this time, the sun makes the snow melt and gives colour to the botanical species. Meanwhile, the snowman sleeps in the refrigerator. The snowman wakes in July. His back is stuck in the fridge. He adjusts the thermostat and waits. He leaves the refrigerator and looks for the signs of summer through the window. He embraces the summer and breathes in the perfume of the flowers. He puts a pink rose in his lapel and rolls in the fields. The snowman melts under the heat of the sun. He begin to sing "Da ist der Sommer meines Lebens..." ("that's the summer of my life") and turns into water. These are the only spoken words in the film. The rabbit from earlier mourns his loss whilst the children of the rabbit jump into the snowman's hat. He picks up the snowman's carrot and takes a bite from it.


See also

* List of films made in the Third Reich


External links

* 1944 films 1944 animated films 1944 short films 1940s animated short films German animated short films Films of Nazi Germany 1940s German-language films Fictional humanoids Fictional snowmen Films with screenplays by Horst von Möllendorff Films directed by Hans Fischerkoesen Films about snowmen {{1940s-short-animation-film-stub