Line #20 WesternAnimation/DerSchneemann


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/hqdefault_758.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:Not a good idea.]]
3
4	''Der Schneemann'' ("The Snowman") is a 1943 animated short film made by Hans Fischerkoesen in UsefulNotes/NaziGermany.
5
6	A snowman sitting out in the public square of a small German town is brought to life when snowflakes fall on his chest in a heart-shaped pattern. The snowman goes on a series of merry adventures, like skating on a frozen lake or chasing around with a dog, before seeing a calendar and taking note of the picture of July and summer. The snowman elects to hide in an icebox until July so he can enjoy the summer. Tragic consequences ensue.
7
8	Hans Fischerkoesen was a commercial animator who was ordered by Joseph Goebbels to create animated cartoons after UsefulNotes/WorldWarII had cut off German access to Creator/{{Disney}} products. ''Der Schneemann'' is free of Nazi propaganda, and the snowman's yearning for summer has been interpreted as a subtle bit of anti-Nazi messaging by Fischerkoesen, who was a member of an underground resistance group.
9
10	----
11	!!Tropes:
12
13	* AnimateInanimateObject: The snowman, of course, as well as the smiling, dancing trees seen towards the end of the cartoon.
14	* BodyHorror: The snowman falls through the ice of a lake. The water under the ice is still above freezing, obviously, so when he emerges he is a melting, slushy, much thinner version of himself. He rolls down a snow-covered hill to regain his former mass. At the end, there is no such escape, and the snowman simply melts.
15	* BornOfMagic: Somehow, snowflakes falling in the shape of a heart cause the snowman to come to life.
16	* BrickJoke: At one point the snowman has to snatch his carrot nose away from a rabbit who tries to eat it. At the end, after the snowman has melted, the rabbit pauses for a moment to mourn, then picks up the carrot and takes a bite.
17	* ButtBiter: Right after he comes to live, the snowman is chased around town by a dog. The dog bites a hunk out the snowman's butt, which doesn't affect the snowman at all because he's a snowman. Then the dog unwisely flings a snowball at the snowman, which hits him in the butt and neatly fills in the hole.
18	* DangerThinIce: The snowman nearly dies when he falls through thin ice on a lake. He's dangerously thin and mushy when he climbs out, but he reconstitutes himself by rolling down a snowbank.
19	* MimeAndMusicOnlyCartoon: Mostly, although towards the end the snowman sings a song, "Da ist der Sommer meines Lebens..." ("that's the summer of my life"), right before he melts.
20	* PanUpToTheSkyEnding: The ending shot, after the snowman melts, pans up to the sunny July sky.
21	* {{Snowlems}}: Possibly the UrExample. Snowflakes falling in a heart-shaped pattern bring a snowman to life.
22	* SuddenDownerEnding: One might imagine, given the lighthearted, whimsical nature of the cartoon, that the snowman would somehow escape the heat of summer. Nope. He melts.
23	* TimePassesMontage: A single panning shot shows the snow melting and all the trees and grass and flowers growing as the season goes from winter to summer.

Context WesternAnimation / DerSchneemann