With(in) Myself: Narcissistic Trajectories in the Animated Film The Snowman (1982)

This essay follows the trajectory of the 1982 animated short film The Snowman. The film's depiction of a relationship between a young child and an anthropomorphized snowman is used to explore a Freudian conception of the normal course of human sexual development. Specifically, the understanding of the snowman as a creative extension of the child is utilized to examine the shaping of narcissistic processes and negotiation of object choice, as well as the complex ways these can continue to interweave through psychical and external realities to shape the experiencing of love.

Automated summary

This essay explores the development of the 1982 animated short film "The Snowman" and analyzes its depiction of a relationship between a child and a humanized snowman from a Freudian perspective on sexual development. The author examines the snowman as an extension of the child's creativity to understand the formation of narcissistic processes and negotiations of object choice, as well as their impact on the experience of love through psychological and external realities.