The First Snow of Winter
Encyclopedia
The First Snow of Winter is an animated
television film produced by Hibbert Ralph Entertainment and Link Entertainment and first aired on the BBC
on December 25, 1998 It features the voices of Miriam Margoyles, Dermot Morgan
, Kate Sachs, Sorcha Cusack
, and Neil McCaul.
day in Ireland
, a young white duck
named Sean (Miriam Margoyles), and his puffin
friend named Puffin (Kate Sachs), are chasing seagulls, only to run into a vicious fox
. After escaping from the fox, they find Sean's mother (Sorcha Cusack) telling them it is time to get ready for flying. Sean bids farewell to Puffin for spring
. Sean's father (Neil McCaul) is late in arriving because he forgot his whistle. Sean and his family then take off flying at the same time a plane
is about to depart. Meanwhile, Sean spots some doves
while flying behind his family and wants to play. He ends up getting lost in a cloud cover only to find a plane leaving his wing clipped by the wing of the plane. After that, he falls from the sky landing in the water while his mother realizes he got lost and goes to look for him, leaving the father with his two smaller siblings.
After falling from the plane and into the river, Sean makes it out of the water and rain begins. While wandering around, he meets up with a wise brown rodent
named Voley (Dermot Morgan, and later Tim Curry
after his death), who has some techniques he tries to assist in getting Sean into the sky to catch up with his family. None of them work, but Voley tells some tales about being an astronaut
and having a story in the newspapers about him once. Sean tells Voley he did not get all the newspapers.
Meanwhile, Sean’s mother is looking around the water hole Sean was just at. She spots the fox and sees two white feathers and assumes the fox got ahold of Sean. She feels at fault and goes off to find her family in the sky.
Voley tells Sean that music is grass, showing him how to hold the grass, fill his cheeks and blow. Next the two are dancing to the flute
music with a herd of lambs behind them. All of a sudden, the music stops and the lambs leave due to the first snow
flake falling down from the sky. This tickles Sean who has never seen snow before and thinks he and Voley will wait for spring together. Voley then walks over to a tree and starts poking fun at the squirrels up above which results in nuts and berries being thrown down from the tree. Voley snatches them up telling Sean this will be his food for the winter. Then he rides on the lambs gathering wool to keep Sean warm for the winter. Sean asks Voley if he is a good duck since his parents did not come back for him, but before they get to discuss further, the fox appeared chasing them around.
They happen upon an old ship
where they spend the night. Voley wants to sleep for the winter in his burrow
in the ground, but Sean states he cannot survive without Voley: "I could sleep for ages if you told me a very boring bedtime story". Voley comes back with a funny line, "You’d only be up every hour on the hour asking for a glass of water". Before Voley leaves he tells Sean to look for the lambs since they are the first sign of spring arriving. A windy snowstorm arrives with Sean settling in a boot
left behind in the snow.
The next morning, Sean has a difficult time getting around in the snow with his webbed feet and spots something in the snow. Puffin got lost in the cloud cover also and is frozen stiff. Sean then drags Puffin back to the boat sharing his nuts and berries and teaching Puffin how to play music with the grass.
One morning, Sean takes a peek out of the boot to come face to face with a lamb. The signal for spring and the two ducks go off to a spot to look and wait for their families to come back. Before the ducks get a chance to search they run into the fox again only this time Sean bites his nose. Sean and Puffin run onto the ship but are cornered by the fox. Out of nowhere comes Voley in on a rope saying he awoke and needed some exercise after his long rest. The fox then grabs Voley with his mouth and tosses him to another side of the ship.
The fox comes after Sean chasing him off the ship where the only place to go is the water. While Sean is sliding down the hill to land in the water, he realizes he can fly thus escaping the fox, who tumbles into the water.
So happy in outsmarting the fox, Sean flies over to the ship to tell Voley who is still laying in the spot the fox tossed him. Voley assures Sean that he knew all he had to do was flap his feet and he would make it. Puffin then spots his family in the sky arriving home and calls out to them. Sean’s parents are again last to arrive due to the father forgetting his whistle. The flute music plays while Sean is reunited with his family. Then Voley asks Sean in his British accent: "Don’t you just love a happy ending?" Sean and Voley dance to the music and Sean mentions to Voley that next year he will have to find another dance partner.
Animation
Animation is the rapid display of a sequence of images of 2-D or 3-D artwork or model positions in order to create an illusion of movement. The effect is an optical illusion of motion due to the phenomenon of persistence of vision, and can be created and demonstrated in several ways...
television film produced by Hibbert Ralph Entertainment and Link Entertainment and first aired on the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
on December 25, 1998 It features the voices of Miriam Margoyles, Dermot Morgan
Dermot Morgan
Dermot John Morgan was an Irish comedian, actor and former schoolteacher, who achieved international renown for his roles as Father Ted Crilly in the Channel 4 sitcom Father Ted and a strip club MC in Taffin....
, Kate Sachs, Sorcha Cusack
Sorcha Cusack
Sorcha Cusack Born in Dublin on 9 April 1949, She has made many film and television appearances including The Bill, Casualty , the 1973 BBC adaptation of Jane Eyre and the worldwide hit movie Snatch as the traveller mother of Mickey played by Brad Pitt...
, and Neil McCaul.
Synopsis
On a winterWinter
Winter is the coldest season of the year in temperate climates, between autumn and spring. At the winter solstice, the days are shortest and the nights are longest, with days lengthening as the season progresses after the solstice.-Meteorology:...
day in Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
, a young white duck
Duck
Duck is the common name for a large number of species in the Anatidae family of birds, which also includes swans and geese. The ducks are divided among several subfamilies in the Anatidae family; they do not represent a monophyletic group but a form taxon, since swans and geese are not considered...
named Sean (Miriam Margoyles), and his puffin
Puffin
Puffins are any of three small species of auk in the bird genus Fratercula with a brightly coloured beak during the breeding season. These are pelagic seabirds that feed primarily by diving in the water. They breed in large colonies on coastal cliffs or offshore islands, nesting in crevices among...
friend named Puffin (Kate Sachs), are chasing seagulls, only to run into a vicious fox
Fox
Fox is a common name for many species of omnivorous mammals belonging to the Canidae family. Foxes are small to medium-sized canids , characterized by possessing a long narrow snout, and a bushy tail .Members of about 37 species are referred to as foxes, of which only 12 species actually belong to...
. After escaping from the fox, they find Sean's mother (Sorcha Cusack) telling them it is time to get ready for flying. Sean bids farewell to Puffin for spring
Spring (season)
Spring is one of the four temperate seasons, the transition period between winter and summer. Spring and "springtime" refer to the season, and broadly to ideas of rebirth, renewal and regrowth. The specific definition of the exact timing of "spring" varies according to local climate, cultures and...
. Sean's father (Neil McCaul) is late in arriving because he forgot his whistle. Sean and his family then take off flying at the same time a plane
Plane
-Physical objects:* Aeroplane or airplane, a fixed-wing aircraft* Plane , a woodworking tool to smooth surfaces* Platanus, a genus of trees with the common name "plane"* Acer pseudoplatanus, a tree species sometimes called "plane"...
is about to depart. Meanwhile, Sean spots some doves
Doves
Doves are an English alternative indie rock band, originating from Wilmslow, Cheshire. The band comprises brothers Jez Williams and Andy Williams , and Jimi Goodwin . The members started working seriously together after meeting at The Haçienda in Manchester. Doves' unofficial fourth member is...
while flying behind his family and wants to play. He ends up getting lost in a cloud cover only to find a plane leaving his wing clipped by the wing of the plane. After that, he falls from the sky landing in the water while his mother realizes he got lost and goes to look for him, leaving the father with his two smaller siblings.
After falling from the plane and into the river, Sean makes it out of the water and rain begins. While wandering around, he meets up with a wise brown rodent
Rodent
Rodentia is an order of mammals also known as rodents, characterised by two continuously growing incisors in the upper and lower jaws which must be kept short by gnawing....
named Voley (Dermot Morgan, and later Tim Curry
Tim Curry
Timothy James "Tim" Curry is a British actor, singer, composer and voice actor, known for his work in a diverse range of theatre, film and television productions. He currently resides in Los Angeles, California....
after his death), who has some techniques he tries to assist in getting Sean into the sky to catch up with his family. None of them work, but Voley tells some tales about being an astronaut
Astronaut
An astronaut or cosmonaut is a person trained by a human spaceflight program to command, pilot, or serve as a crew member of a spacecraft....
and having a story in the newspapers about him once. Sean tells Voley he did not get all the newspapers.
Meanwhile, Sean’s mother is looking around the water hole Sean was just at. She spots the fox and sees two white feathers and assumes the fox got ahold of Sean. She feels at fault and goes off to find her family in the sky.
Voley tells Sean that music is grass, showing him how to hold the grass, fill his cheeks and blow. Next the two are dancing to the flute
Flute
The flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening...
music with a herd of lambs behind them. All of a sudden, the music stops and the lambs leave due to the first snow
Snow
Snow is a form of precipitation within the Earth's atmosphere in the form of crystalline water ice, consisting of a multitude of snowflakes that fall from clouds. Since snow is composed of small ice particles, it is a granular material. It has an open and therefore soft structure, unless packed by...
flake falling down from the sky. This tickles Sean who has never seen snow before and thinks he and Voley will wait for spring together. Voley then walks over to a tree and starts poking fun at the squirrels up above which results in nuts and berries being thrown down from the tree. Voley snatches them up telling Sean this will be his food for the winter. Then he rides on the lambs gathering wool to keep Sean warm for the winter. Sean asks Voley if he is a good duck since his parents did not come back for him, but before they get to discuss further, the fox appeared chasing them around.
They happen upon an old ship
Ship
Since the end of the age of sail a ship has been any large buoyant marine vessel. Ships are generally distinguished from boats based on size and cargo or passenger capacity. Ships are used on lakes, seas, and rivers for a variety of activities, such as the transport of people or goods, fishing,...
where they spend the night. Voley wants to sleep for the winter in his burrow
Burrow
A burrow is a hole or tunnel dug into the ground by an animal to create a space suitable for habitation, temporary refuge, or as a byproduct of locomotion. Burrows provide a form of shelter against predation and exposure to the elements, so the burrowing way of life is quite popular among the...
in the ground, but Sean states he cannot survive without Voley: "I could sleep for ages if you told me a very boring bedtime story". Voley comes back with a funny line, "You’d only be up every hour on the hour asking for a glass of water". Before Voley leaves he tells Sean to look for the lambs since they are the first sign of spring arriving. A windy snowstorm arrives with Sean settling in a boot
Boot
A boot is a type of footwear but they are not shoes. Most boots mainly cover the foot and the ankle and extend up the leg, sometimes as far as the knee or even the hip. Most boots have a heel that is clearly distinguishable from the rest of the sole, even if the two are made of one piece....
left behind in the snow.
The next morning, Sean has a difficult time getting around in the snow with his webbed feet and spots something in the snow. Puffin got lost in the cloud cover also and is frozen stiff. Sean then drags Puffin back to the boat sharing his nuts and berries and teaching Puffin how to play music with the grass.
One morning, Sean takes a peek out of the boot to come face to face with a lamb. The signal for spring and the two ducks go off to a spot to look and wait for their families to come back. Before the ducks get a chance to search they run into the fox again only this time Sean bites his nose. Sean and Puffin run onto the ship but are cornered by the fox. Out of nowhere comes Voley in on a rope saying he awoke and needed some exercise after his long rest. The fox then grabs Voley with his mouth and tosses him to another side of the ship.
The fox comes after Sean chasing him off the ship where the only place to go is the water. While Sean is sliding down the hill to land in the water, he realizes he can fly thus escaping the fox, who tumbles into the water.
So happy in outsmarting the fox, Sean flies over to the ship to tell Voley who is still laying in the spot the fox tossed him. Voley assures Sean that he knew all he had to do was flap his feet and he would make it. Puffin then spots his family in the sky arriving home and calls out to them. Sean’s parents are again last to arrive due to the father forgetting his whistle. The flute music plays while Sean is reunited with his family. Then Voley asks Sean in his British accent: "Don’t you just love a happy ending?" Sean and Voley dance to the music and Sean mentions to Voley that next year he will have to find another dance partner.