The snow queen (La reina de las nieves)

Every generation of directors and children's TV programmers seems destined to try their hand at Hans Christian Anderson's Snow Queen, this version is one of the best.

Filmed with a mixture of animation and live acting, it manages to capture the spirit of early eastern-European animations and graphic novels, the unreal backdrops suggest a stage performance, and the jerky motion, marionettes. Combined with a wonderful score written by Paul K. Joyce (and performed by the Royal Philharmonic), this is certainly an adaptation children will love, and continue to be entertained by for years to come.

Although some parts of the story which are skimmed over could have had more time spent on them (and it's possible some adults will be expecting Disney and fail to see past the computer imagery), it's good to remember that this is a story to be enjoyed, not studied, and its for kids who probably wouldn't want it to drag on.

All in all this is a very worthy production, there are far worse ways to spend an hour of the holiday period.