By Jasmine Dodd
Who was Raymond Briggs?
Inspired by his death at 88 years old in August this year, there has been a wave of melancholy when looking at Raymond Briggs’ iconic writings and illustrations. Celebrated for creating the classic, The Snowman (1978), Raymond Briggs was nationally cherished for his classic stories and illustrations which include: The Snowman (1978), When the Wind Blows (1982), Father Christmas (1973), Father Christmas Goes on Holiday (1975) and Old Iron Woman (1984). The nationwide impact of his works was widely recognised, leading to him winning many highly regarded awards, including the Lifetime Achievement Award in 2017 in which Briggs’ noted how he was “so glad that I’ve been able to make such an impression on people”. He was rewarded with this in recognition of his “ÔÇÿoutstanding contribution’ to children’s literature.” Having created such highly regarded contributions towards children’s literature, the work of Raymond Briggs is succinct to the festive period as we remember his classic works in the year of his passing.
Meaningful Tributes
I remember the first snowy winter evening in the lead-up to Christmas in which I first discovered the heart-warming works of Raymond Briggs. Watching the film adaptation of The Snowman (1982), which first aired on Channel 4 on boxing Day 1982, with so much anticipation, I can still recall the presenter announcing the classic and my mum telling me how she watched the same as a child. This shows the true timelessness of Briggs’ brainchild throughout generations. In the wake of his passing, the internet was filled with tributes to Briggs’ work. For instance, his work has been marked as ÔÇÿirreplaceable’ and he has been described as a ÔÇÿvisionary’ to accredit the significance of his works long after his passing. Outpours on Twitter show heartwarming tributes to the much-loved author-illustrator, including The Snowman competitions, paintings and many written tributes.
The Iconic ÔÇÿThe Snowman’ and the Festive Period
Raymond Brigg’s iconic picture book, The Snowman, has inspired a generation of children. The Managing Director of Penguin, Francesca Dow, describes Briggs’ creation as a “radical and beautiful innovation” which became “an instant classic in its own right”. In an introduction to the animated film adaptation of ÔÇÿThe Snowman’, Raymond Briggs describes how the ÔÇÿworld seemed to be held in a dreamlike stillness’ on the mystical day on which he created ÔÇÿThe Snowman’. This gives us an insight into Briggs’ magical world, blanketed in snow creating a blank canvas for the adventures of the magical snowman and the boy. On the 40th anniversary of the creation of the animated adaption of The Snowman, there remains to be a fondness and demand for ÔÇÿThe Snowman’ to be aired over the festive period. The Radio Times highlights how the film adaptation reliably broadcasted every Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. This allows us, on the year of his death, to reunite and reflect on the same childhood joy that charmed the nation 40 years ago this Christmas. The Guardian claims how Briggs’ The Snowman changed Christmas through the immediate adoption of the 1982 animated adaption into British culture in a way that we can’t imagine the festive period without immersing ourselves in the magical world of The Snowman.
Lasting effects of the works of Raymond Briggs
The works of Raymond Briggs take a generation of people’s minds to a magical place in which Snowmen come to life and children can go on a long journey (around the world) without (constantly) asking how long is left. The impact of Briggs’ unique contributions to children’s literature will shape and inspire the genre and the magical minds of children reading it for years to come. In hand with that, the longevity of the generational impact of Briggs’ works will live on in British history through the shared joy and escapism of The Snowman as, each Christmas, families sit together to watch the 1982 adaption and reminisce on Raymond Briggs’ iconic magical world. Let us all dwell in the world of The Snowman a little longer.
