When The Wind Blows Is A Devastating Blend Of Traditional Animation, Stop-Motion, And Roger Waters Music

David Bowie was originally supposed to craft all of the music for the film, but left the project to finish his album “Never Let Me Down,” allowing Roger Waters of Pink Floyd fame to fill the void. Bowie still provides the eponymous title track, which includes the devastating chorus of “So long child, it’s awful dark, I never felt the sun. I daren’t to think of when, when the wind blows.” Genesis, Squeeze, Hugh Cornwell, and Paul Hardcastle also contribute to the soundtrack, pairing some of Britain’s most political songwriters with a deeply political film.

By utilizing a hybrid of traditional and stop-motion animation, “When The Wind Blows” takes on an uncanny appearance, even for a film not in live-action. Jim and Hilda Bloggs are hand-drawn, as is most of the area outside of their home. However, the interior of their home and a majority of the objects they interact with are real, seldom moving but consistently animated with stop-motion if need be. This was meant to imitate the style of “Protect and Survive” public information films, which were created to advise on preparation suggestions in case of nuclear war despite being no more useful than a band-aid on a bullet hole. Bleak, dramatic, emotionally obliterating films are common in live-action, but a film as relentless (with a PG rating, no less) as “When The Wind Blows” is hard to find. The use of animation may have hurt the film’s marketability and generationally shared legacy, but has allowed it to exist as one of the most poignant and painful animated films in history.

“When The Wind Blows” is currently available to stream on Tubi TV and The Roku Channel.