A review of the first version
Well, I reviewed the "new" version already, but I'll also review this older version. I think that some things here are more effective. In particular, the film starts at a more accessible and interesting place; I think that the added-on scenes at the beginning in the new version are unnecessary; they aren't as interesting and don't add anything that isn't revealed in this older edit of the film, plus they begin without any music. Also, I liked the snowflakes in this film a lot more, as they look more interesting and it is clear that they are snowflakes. I wasn't sure what those white circles were in the new version; I thought they might've been specks of dust or something. The film doesn't have the nice animated backgrounds and some other things that the new version does, but on the whole, I think that some of the fundamental elements are stronger, and maybe this is why its rating is currently a little higher.
Also, I find it hard to believe that those extra scenes and animated backgrounds added 15mb to the file size! I have a suspicion that the new file size could've been reduced by a lot without making the film look any worse. Maybe not, but it just seems inefficient. Are all of the animated backgrounds in the newer film just vector images on another layer, or something else?