After writing Fungus the Bogeyman, Briggs had the desire to create something very different in tone and style. The result was a book which catapulted him to a much greater level of recognition: The Snowman.

Having taken you through that wonderful relationship, he doesn’t shy away from death and the inevitability of life Nick Park

Briggs says: "It was done as a reaction. I'd been two years immersed in all this slime and muck and wanted to do something different. Something lighter and quicker, less laborious, no words, just for the sake of a change."

His long-time editor, Julia MacRae, felt overwhelmed with emotion when Briggs first showed her the work.

She recalls: "He didn't like to be in the room when I was looking at his work, he'd go outside. He came back in and he found me in floods of tears and said, 'You don't like it?' and I said, 'Raymond, they're just tears of pure joy because it's just so beautiful'."

The book, first published in 1978, feels as if it was drawn by a child as Briggs drew with coloured pencils. It went on to form the basis for an animated film of the same name that was released in 1982, although there is no reference to Christmas in the book. (Briggs initially saw this addition as "corny and twee" but he admitted "it worked extremely well".)

Wallace and Gromit creator Nick Park recalls the thrill of seeing the famous flying sequence when he was a film student.

Park says: "They only had a clip ready and they showed it as a treat at the London Film Festival. I remember hearing about it and I was so thrilled to see it. For me it was like a dream come true - I was just so hoping it would reflect his original comic book artwork and it did. It was a real groundbreaker."

It might be a children's story but it doesn't shy away from life being temporary, as is reflected in the ultimate demise of the Snowman. Park adds: "At the end there is that harsh reality of what happens to a snowman, and having taken you through that wonderful relationship that developed, he doesn’t shy away from death and the inevitability of life."