I had, of course, read the reviews of this film before unintentionally falling upon it by chance on Christmas television.
I have long lamented the lack of charm in most of the recent Disney films, for example, indeed the absence of charm in today's society in general, but it is present in this film in abundance. Not only is this film visually captivating but I was frequently moved to tears by the unexpected pathos of this story, which is a microcosm of the experiences of that most extra-ordinary generation who fought and survived the Second World War and who's members, through age and slow disease, are now virtually all departed from this world.
This film is sincere, amusing and observant, and like the Snowman, however different in style, will endure forever.