Product Description

WINNER- CHILDREN'S CHOICE- British Animation Awards
1st PRIZE- Cinemagic Festival
BEST TELEVISION SPECIAL- Annecy International Animated Film Festival, France
WINNER - BEST ANIMATION- Tokyo Kinder Film Festival

From the co-creator of the Oscar-nominated films THE SNOWMAN and FATHER CHRISTMAS, and the celebrated British children's book author Michael Foreman, comes this powerful and moving story for the whole family. WAR GAME is based on a true event from World War I-- a cease-fire soccer game that took place in the trenches between German and British troops on Christmas Day, 1914.

Michael Foreman tackles the complex theme of war with beautiful animation and a touching narrative from the perspective of three English boys who leave their idyllic country lives to fight in the Great War.

WAR GAME has won almost every major animation award, including Best Television Special at the Annecy Animation Festival, the most important and prestigious event in the industry. It has also been shown at World Cup events and broadcast on Channel Four in Britain. The film features music by one of the world's leading film composers, Julian Nott, as well as the voice of Kate Winslet (TITANIC), among others.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #87401 in DVD
• Released on: 2004-09-21
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
• Formats: Animated, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 30 minutes

Review
Brilliantly illustrated, hauntingly told... the work of a major children's author at his peak. --Daily Telegraph, London

Review
On several levels, a masterpiece. --Times Educational Supplement, London

Review
Heartbreaking... history springs to life. --Publishers Weekly

Customer Reviews

Nice little story
This film was made in 2001 but never released to the general public until now. Kate Winslet fans will enjoy this, as she is simply brilliant in animated movies - she has such a lovely voice. Get this on DVD if you see it at a good price!

Desperately disappointing
War Game is a desperately disappointing animated adaptation of Michael Foreman's excellent children's picture book about the Christmas Truce of 1914. Unfortunately, in the hands of the Snowman team it's all just too nice and safe for the respite to have any power, and the loss of the haunting ending from the book (where the hero's body slowly vanishes under falling snow) in favour of something less upsetting to the kiddies renders it all even more so what: only the beautiful yet quietly devastating closing lines of narration truly work. Terrible performances from many of the voice cast, too. At least at 29 minutes it's brief.