An animation which depicts the heartwarming love story of Snowman creator Raymond Briggs’ parents could be on its way to receiving Europe’s version of the Oscars.

Ethel and Ernest, written and directed by acclaimed Wivenhoe animator Roger Mainwood, has been nominated at the 30th European Film Awards.

Not only that, it has secured the Jury Prize at the Bucheon International Animated Film Festival in South Korea, and Best Feature Animation Prize at ANIMA, in Argentina.

He said: “I couldn’t be happier about how people all over the world are reacting to a very British film as you never quite know until it happens, so it’s very pleasing.

“The story has an universal appeal, although it’s set within a very British context.

“Essentially it’s a love story which spans 40 years.”

Nostalgic and bittersweet, the film follows the lives of lady’s maid Ethel and milkman Ernest from their first chance meeting in 1928, through the birth of their son Raymond in 1934, to their deaths, within months of each other, in 1971.

Since its cinema debut in October 2016, it has also been released on DVD, broadcast on TV and circulated film festivals. Shortly it will go on general release in Korea but the really big news is across the pond.

READ MORE: DIRECTOR DELIGHTED AFTER ANIMATION PULLS IN FOUR MILLION VIEWERS

Mr Mainwood said: “We’re looking towards the US release which has been secured for the week of December 15, in LA, at the Landmark Nuart Theatre, then it will be shown in various cities in the States.

“It’s a long shot, but we’re hoping to put in for the Oscars and the only way to do that is to have a US release. Whether it will go into the short list, I don’t know.

“But the big one for us is the European Film Awards which is the equivalent of the Oscars.”

The awards and this coveted nomination will inevitably boost the distribution and therefore, the reputation of the film, which involved a team of 300.

A painstaking 67,680 frames were hand-drawn to create the 94-minute production.

“The crew was so dedicated and put in so many extra hours for the film to be its best for Raymond, who was very happy with how it turned out,” Roger said.

“For an independent British film we had a reasonably big budget of £6.5million.

“We would’ve liked more but it shows what you can do with a relatively small budget if you compare that to Hollywood.”

When Roger spoke to the Gazette last year, he hoped the film would go some way to resurrecting hand-drawn animation. In the US, it is dying out, he explained.

Closer to home, he has not seen a hand-drawn feature film in nearly a decade.

He said: “It’s very much 3D computer animation but now people are beginning to appreciate the hand-drawn look again.

“Something like Raymond Briggs’ films, one of the nicest comments we had was people got so involved with the story and characters, because it was so believable, they forgot it was drawn.

“They saw it as pure drama. There’s something that connects with people, especially of this nature as it’s dealing with very strong human emotions.”