Bowie Lazarus film to be given virtual screenings, and the story behind his Snowman scarf.

Well, I wish I could have included this little tidbit in my actual review of The Snowman, but Duncan Jones only unveiled the news a few days before Christmas.

Of course, if you’ve seen my review, you’ve probably seen that intro, and if you haven’t, you probably still have, and here it is for those of you who haven’t:

Bowie delivers his little monologue with such conviction that you barely even notice that he looks nothing like the boy in the actual short. But, of course, there’s that scarf. Fortunately, for those of us wondering whatever happened to it, Bowie’s son Duncan Jones actually found it in storage boxes:

Went looking for sock monkeys in the storage boxes and FOUND THE SCARF!!! YAY! pic.twitter.com/1pcdPqcD5U

— Duncan Jones (@ManMadeMoon) December 23, 2020

And shortly after, Brian Harding, the producer of the intro, replied:

Hi Duncan! I am Brian Harding, who produced the filming of your father’s introduction to The Snowman. You may not remember the history. The Scarf was knitted by the lady in the accounts department of TVC, the production company who made the animation. She came onto the set and presented it to David. When filming was over, David asked very politely if he could keep the scarf to give to his son, Zowie. This was the only fee he charged for the filming and I believe he offered his services for personal reasons. He was charming throughout and totally professional. I am glad that the scarf found its way to the destination he intended: from the dude to another dude.

As mentioned in my previous review, it looks like the “personal reasons” were related to his admiration of Briggs’ work, specifically When the Wind Blows. So, it looks like that mystery’s covered.

On that note, it also turns out that Lazarus, the show Bowie wrote (with Enda Walsh) as a sequel to his film The Man Who Fell to Earth, and which was running in New York at the time of his death, will be given virtual screenings between January 8 and 10 in America, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and Europe. The film, starring Michael C. “Dexter” Hall, Alan “Take Your Bloody Pick” Cumming, and Sophia Anne Caruso, was filmed during the London run, screened in New York’s Kings Theater in May 2018, and will be making its premiere (in places other than Kings Theater) with this series of virtual screenings, presented by Robert Fox and RZO Entertainment that marks the fifth anniversary of Bowie’s passing. The showings will start somewhere between 6-9 PM local time on January 8 and 9, and 1-4 PM on January 10, with prices being (depending on location) £16, €18, $21.50 American, and $28.50 Australian. Tickets can be found here. And now, I leave you on the most substantial excerpt of the filmed version I can find at the moment: