The Snowman 16:9 widescreen. Channel 4 used this opening from 2002 until Mel Smith's death in 2013, when the Bowie introduction returned, returning the film to its original aspect ratio. The 30th anniversary DVD doesn't use any of the openings but includes all three openings as a bonus feature. The song "Walking in the Air" is sung in the film by chorister Peter Auty, who was not credited in the original version. He was given a credit on the 20th anniversary version. The song was covered three years later by Welsh chorister Aled Jones in a single which reached #5 in the
Wheels (The String-A-Longs song) song they'd brought from Plainview to Clovis to record on that day, so they instead recorded Petty's instrumental which became the hit. In Britain later the same year the tune was revived by the Joe Loss Orchestra as "Wheels Cha Cha"; it reached #21. It became popular in France later in 1961 under the title "Dans le cœur de ma blonde". Billy Vaughn's version was at number one in the 1961 German singles charts with the song for 14 weeks; in the USA he reached #28. Johnny Duncan released a vocal version with lyrics by Johnny Flamingo in 1963. The