BASED on Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tale, Sneeukoningin is the animated non-Disney version of The Snow Queen.
First published in 1844, the story centres on the struggle between good and evil as tackled by a girl called Elsa, and her little brother, Kai.
The Snow Queen has blanketed the land in eternal winter, dampening people’s emotions. Determined to destroy all art, the Snow Queen also destroys master glassmaker Vegart, whose mirrors show you not only your reflection, but also your soul.
She kidnaps Vegart’s young son in the belief that the boy could one day follow in his father’s footsteps, but Elsa sets out to rescue her little brother and makes some interesting friends along the way.
When Andersen wrote his now-classic stories he drew on Danish folk tales, creating new stories rather than necessarily preserving the old tales. The Snow Queen is a story of trial and reward, based on a popular Norse legend about the Ice Maiden and featuring the invincible power of love, a frequent theme in Andersen’s tales.
He influenced many English children’s authors like AA Milne and Beatrix Potter and today his birthday, April 2, marks International Children’s Book Day.
This animated version, Sneeukoningin, was originally created by a Russian crew, directed by Maxim Sveshnikov and Vlad Barbe. Wizart Animation is one of the fastest-growing computer animation studios in Russia and producers, the Bazelevs Group, was founded by Timur Bekmambatov, the Russian-Kazakh film director who directed Nightwatch and Daywatch and produced 9.
In South Africa, Rina Nienaber directed a local voice cast, including Heidi Mollentze as the Snow Queen, Karen Wessels (Gerda), Victor Voorendyk (Kai), Antowan Nothling (Vegard) and Pierre Breytenbach (Orm). – Theresa Smith