New York screening for Dylan tale

Dylan Thomas died in New York City in November 1953

Children in schools and hospitals across New York City will get a taste of a classic Welsh Christmas this year.

A new animated version of Dylan Thomas's A Child's Christmas in Wales has been co-produced by Caernarfon-based production company Cwmni Da.

Special Christmas Eve screenings have been arranged by the Welsh Assembly Government's office in New York.

First Minister Rhodri Morgan said US organisations would "learn more about life in Wales" by watching the film.

Thomas died in 1953 and A Child's Christmas in Wales was published two years later, telling the story of a young boy who wants to know what Christmas was like in previous times.

Through vivid descriptions of the festive period in 1920s Swansea, he discovers that Christmas has always had that certain magic.

A Child's Christmas in Wales is a genuine Welsh classic Christmas tale First Minister Rhodri Morgan

Directed by established UK animator Dave Unwin, the 30-minute film is a mix of 2D hand-drawn and computer animation and live-action sequences filmed in Swansea Bay and at Thomas's childhood home on Cwmdonkin Drive in the Uplands area of the city.

The first cartoon version of the classic tale, produced in association with Brave New World Productions, has been produced in both Welsh and English.

The Welsh language version will also be shown on S4C on 24 December.

Before its commercial release in the United States, the Welsh Assembly Government office in New York has worked with Michael Jeffrey of Brave New World to offer private screenings of the film.

The film will be shown to children's organisations and institutions including public schools in the Bronx, the Blythedale Children's Hospital, the Brooklyn Children's Museum and the United Nations International School in Manhattan.

Very popular

Mr Morgan said: "A Child's Christmas in Wales is a genuine Welsh classic Christmas tale which brings to life in Dylan Thomas's very own unique way what Christmases of his own childhood were really like.

"A wide range of organisations across the United States will get to learn more about life in Wales through watching this film."

A Child's Christmas in Wales is popular in the USA: stage versions are performed all over the country and sales of the book also rise over the festive period.

The Welsh Assembly Government in New York also recently helped Handcart Productions promote their New York production of A Child's Christmas in Wales with the Welsh actor Guy Masterson - an award-winning actor who is also a relative of Richard Burton.