You probably think you know the cast of The Snowman. Honestly, most people believe they do until they actually sit down to look at the credits or try to figure out who that one guy was in the live-action intro. It’s a bit of a mess.
We’re talking about the 1982 animated classic based on Raymond Briggs' book. It’s only twenty-six minutes long. There isn't a single word of spoken dialogue in the actual animation. Yet, the question of the actors in The Snowman remains one of the most searched trivia points every single December. Why? Because the film has multiple "introductions," a famous song that people misattribute to the wrong child, and a sequel that added a whole new layer of confusion thirty years later.
Let's get the big one out of the way. David Bowie.
He is the most famous face associated with the project, but he wasn’t even in the original version that aired on Channel 4 in the UK. If you grew up in the eighties, you likely saw a version where the author, Raymond Briggs, walked through a field in Sussex. It was gritty, real, and a bit cold. But when the film needed to break into the American market and ensure "evergreen" status, the producers brought in the Thin White Duke himself.
The David Bowie Connection and the Battle of the Intros
The search for the actors in The Snowman usually starts because someone remembers David Bowie wearing a blue scarf. In 1983, for the film's US release and subsequent home video runs, Bowie filmed a short introduction in a dusty attic. He plays the "Adult James," looking back on his childhood.
It’s iconic. It’s also kinda weird when you think about it. Bowie is acting as a middle-aged version of the little boy, discovering the scarf in an old chest. This version became so popular that many people think Bowie narrated the whole thing. He didn't. He barely speaks for sixty seconds.
There is actually a third intro, too. To celebrate the 20th anniversary, the producers went back to the well and had Mel Smith—the legendary British comedian—voice an introduction as Father Christmas. So, depending on your age and where you live, "the actor" in the movie is either a grumpy author, a rock god, or a cartoon Santa.
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The Boy: Who was James?
The little boy isn't just a drawing; he was based on the character from Briggs’ book, but his name, James, wasn't actually in the original text. It was added for the film because the animator, Joanna Harrison, named him after her boyfriend (who she later married).
When people look for the actors in the snowman, they are often looking for a voice. But James doesn't speak. The "acting" here is all in the pencils of the animators at TVC London. They used colored pencils on cells to keep that soft, "crayony" look. It was a painstaking process that modern CGI just can't replicate. The emotion on the boy's face when he realizes the Snowman has melted isn't a voice actor's performance; it's the timing of the hand-drawn frames.
The Walking in the Air Mystery: Peter Auty vs. Aled Jones
This is the hill many fans die on.
If you ask a random person on the street who sang "Walking in the Air," they will almost certainly say Aled Jones. They are wrong. Well, they’re sort of wrong.
The actor—or rather the singer—in the original 1982 film was a choirboy named Peter Auty. He was a St. Paul’s Cathedral chorister. At the time the film was finished, there was a rush to get it to broadcast, and Auty wasn't actually credited on the first run. He was just a kid who did a job.
- Peter Auty: Sang the actual film version.
- Aled Jones: Covered the song three years later for a Toys "R" Us commercial and a chart-topping single.
- The Result: Aled Jones became a superstar; Peter Auty became a trivia answer.
It’s one of those harsh entertainment industry stories. Auty’s voice broke a few years later, and by the time the film became a global phenomenon, his "actor" credit was being overshadowed by Jones's massive commercial success with the cover version. In later remastered versions of the film, Auty finally got his name in the credits, but the confusion persists to this day.
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The 2012 Sequel: The Snowman and The Snowdog
Fast forward thirty years. The world gets a sequel. Now, the actors in The Snowman universe expand.
The Snowman and The Snowdog was released to mark the 30th anniversary. It follows a similar beat but features a new boy, Billy, who is grieving the loss of his real dog. This film also lacks dialogue, but the "cast" is much more focused on the musical side. Instead of a lone choirboy, the music was composed by Ilan Eshkeri and Andy Burrows (from the band Razorlight).
The singer this time? Andy Burrows himself.
It has a much more "indie-pop" feel compared to the haunting orchestral vibes of the 1982 original. If you’re looking for the actors in the snowman because you saw a version with a dog and a slightly different art style, you’re looking for the 2012 production team.
Behind the Scenes: The Animators as Actors
Since there is no dialogue, the animators effectively are the actors. They had to act out the scenes in the studio to see how the weight of a heavy snowman would move.
The Snowman doesn't walk like a human. He waddles. He’s top-heavy. The animators at TVC London, led by director Dianne Jackson, spent months obsessing over the "acting" of the charcoal lines. Jackson was a genius of subtle movement. She understood that the relationship between the boy and the Snowman didn't need words; it needed shared glances and the way the Snowman curiously interacted with household objects like a denture glass or a motorbike.
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Why the Credits Still Matter
It’s easy to dismiss a silent film as having "no actors," but that’s a mistake. The performance of the music, the voice of the singer, and the physical presence of the live-action narrators provide the emotional framework that makes people cry every single time that kid walks out to a pile of slush.
The "actors" are a small, tight-knit group of creatives who stayed true to Raymond Briggs’ somewhat cynical worldview. Briggs famously didn't like Christmas. He wasn't a fan of the "sentimental drivel" usually associated with the holiday. He wanted the story to be about death and the impermanence of things.
"The Snowman melts," Briggs would say in interviews. "My parents died, my wife died. You have to face it."
That raw honesty is why the performances—whether it's Peter Auty’s piercing treble or David Bowie’s nostalgic attic monologue—resonate forty years later. It’s not a "happy" movie. It’s a beautiful one.
How to Correctly Identify the Cast
If you’re trying to settle a bet or find the right credits for a school project, use this breakdown:
- The Boy (James): No voice actor. Hand-drawn.
- The Original Narrator (1982): Raymond Briggs.
- The Famous Narrator (1983+): David Bowie.
- The Anniversary Narrator (2002): Mel Smith.
- The Singer (Film Version): Peter Auty.
- The Singer (Radio Hit): Aled Jones.
Knowing the difference between Peter Auty and Aled Jones is basically the litmus test for being a true fan of the film. Most people fail it. Now you won't.
Actionable Next Steps
If you want to experience the "acting" of the film properly, you need to seek out the specific versions.
- Hunt for the Bowie Intro: Many modern streaming versions skip the intro entirely and go straight to the animation. Look for the "30th Anniversary Edition" Blu-ray or DVD, which usually contains all three introductions (Briggs, Bowie, and Smith).
- Listen to the Original Soundtrack: Go to Spotify or YouTube and search specifically for "Peter Auty Walking in the Air." Compare it to the Aled Jones version. You’ll notice Auty’s version is slightly more haunting and less "polished," which fits the film's atmosphere perfectly.
- Check out the "Father Christmas" film: If you enjoy the animation style, watch Father Christmas (1991), also based on Briggs' work. This one does have voice actors, featuring Mel Smith as a grumpy, vacation-longing Santa. It’s the spiritual sibling to The Snowman and uses many of the same "actors" in the production crew.
Stop calling it a "cartoon." It's a silent masterpiece of performance art, disguised as a children's holiday special. The actors in The Snowman—whether they were holding a pencil, a microphone, or wearing a blue scarf in a fake attic—created something that will likely outlive us all.