Frosty the Snowman (TV special)

Frosty the Snowman is a 1969 American

The special's story follows a group of school children, led by a girl named Karen, who build a snowman called Frosty and place a magician's hat on his head, which makes him come to life. Unfortunately, however after noticing the high temperature and fearing that he would melt, Frosty, along with Karen and a rabbit named Hocus Pocus, must go to the North Pole to be safe from melting.

Rankin/Bass veteran writer Romeo Muller adapted and expanded the story for television, as he had done with the "Animagic" stop-motion production of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.

TV Guide ranked the special number 9 on its 10 Best Family Holiday Specials list.^[4]

Plot

In a schoolhouse on Christmas Eve, inept magician Professor Hinkle unsuccessfully performs his tricks during a Christmas party. Disgraced and ridiculed by the children, Professor Hinkle throws his top hat away. Upon being dismissed, the children go outside to play in the snow and build a snowman they name "Frosty." Professor Hinkle chases his rabbit Hocus Pocus, who has absconded with his hat. The hat is blown off by the wind and caught by Karen, a student who puts it on Frosty's head and brings him to life. Hinkle realizes the hat is actually magic and sees this as a chance to become wealthy. Hinkle reclaims the hat when it gets blown off and ignores their protests that he threw it away. He also dismisses the children's claim that Frosty came to life. Later, Hocus switches the hat with a Christmas wreath and brings it back to the children. They use the hat to revive Frosty again, and the snowman is immediately delighted by his newfound life.

However, the temperature begins to rise, and Frosty fears he will melt unless he can get to the North Pole. The children suggest putting him on a train to get there and they parade through town on the way to the train station, shocking several townspeople, including the traffic cop. Because they have no money for tickets, Hocus, Frosty, and Karen secretly board a northbound freight train's refrigerator car filled with ice cream and Christmas cakes while Professor Hinkle follows them to reclaim the hat. As the train continues northward, Karen starts to freeze, and Frosty realizes she cannot withstand the extremely cold temperatures. When the train stops to let a passenger train pass, the group disembarks in search of somewhere to warm Karen, with Hinkle following in pursuit. By nightfall, Frosty and Hocus struggle to bring Karen through the forest. Hocus asks the forest animals to build a campfire for Karen, which they succeed in doing. Fearing that the fire will not be good enough, Frosty decides to look for Santa Claus, whom he assumes can save Karen and bring him to the North Pole. While Hocus searches for Santa, Professor Hinkle arrives and puts out Karen's fire. Karen and Frosty flee and arrive at a greenhouse, which Frosty brings Karen inside to warm up. Hinkle arrives and shuts the door, locking them inside.

When Hocus and Santa arrive at the greenhouse, Frosty has melted into a puddle. Santa comforts a heartbroken Karen, explaining that Frosty is made of magical Christmas snow and will return every winter. He then opens the door and the winter wind blows in magic snow to remake Frosty into a snowman. As they are about to put the hat on his head, Hinkle arrives demanding his hat back. Santa intervenes and threatens to never bring him another Christmas present unless he gives up the hat and writes his apologies 100 zillion times where he might find something in his stocking tomorrow. Thinking he might get a new hat, a contrite Hinkle leaves to write his apologies. They put the hat on Frosty reviving him and Santa drops Karen off at her house. He then takes Frosty to the North Pole, promising that he will return every year with the magical Christmas snow. As the credits roll, Frosty leads a parade with the children, Hocus, the narrator (Jimmy Durante), the traffic cop, and the rest of the town, including Professor Hinkle sporting a new hat, revealing that Santa has kept his promise to him. As the parade ends, Frosty boards Santa's sleigh, and they fly off to the North Pole, with Frosty altering the song's last line, saying, “I’ll be back on Christmas Day!”

Voice cast

• Jimmy Durante as himself (Narrator)
• Jackie Vernon as Frosty
• Billy De Wolfe as Professor Hinkle
• June Foray as Karen, schoolchildren, and Teacher
• Paul Frees as Traffic Cop, Ticket Man, Hocus Pocus, and Santa Claus
• Suzanne Davidson as Karen (later airings)
• Greg Thomas as children (later airings)

Production credits

• Producers/Directors: Arthur Rankin, Jr., Jules Bass
• Writer: Romeo Muller
• Based on "Frosty the Snowman" by
  Jack Rollins
• Character Designer:
  Paul Coker, Jr.
• Continuity Designer: Don Duga
• Sound Effects Engineers: Jim Harris and Phil Kaye
• Editorial Supervisor: Irwin Goldress
• Animation: Mushi Studios
  • Animation Supervisor: Steve Nakagawa
  • Animation Director: Osamu Dezaki (uncredited)
• Musical Director: Maury Laws

Soundtrack

Released by Rhino on October 1, 2002, the entire audio portion of Frosty the Snowman is available on CD along with the entire audio portion of Santa Claus is Comin' to Town, the Rankin/Bass special produced in 1970. This edition contains the full dialogue and song audio of both specials.

The track listing is as follows:

1. Medley: Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town...Be Prepared To Pay 25:18
2. Medley: Put One Foot In Front Of The Other...Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town (finale) 24:55
3. Frosty The Snowman Theme & Narration (Beginning) 13:45
4. Frosty The Snowman Theme & Narration (Conclusion) 11:48
5. Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town (Soundtrack Version) 1:50
6. Frosty The Snowman (Soundtrack Version) 1:04

Release

The special debuted on December 7, 1969, on CBS.^[5][6] It was immediately ranked as the No. 1 television program for the period of December 1–8, 1969, by Nielsen Media Research.^[7]

Home video

DreamWorks Animation made the entire special available for free through its YouTube channel Mini Moments beginning in 2017.^[8]

CBS's rights to the program did not include streaming rights, forcing the network to

The special received positive reviews. On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the special received an approval rating of 73% based on 15 reviews, with an average rating of 5.9/10. The site's critical consensus reads: "Frosty the Snowman is a jolly, happy sing-along that will delight children with its crisp animation and affable title character, who makes an indelible impression with his corncob pipe, button nose, and eyes made out of coal."^[10]

Sequels

Frosty returned in several sequels:

• standalone sequel by Rankin/Bass was also written by Romeo Muller. Narration is provided by Andy Griffith (Jimmy Durante retired after a stroke in 1972) and Jackie Vernon reprised the role of Frosty. The animation was produced by Topcraft in Japan. Unlike the original, the sequel takes place later in the winter season and is based upon the 1934 song "Winter Wonderland." The plot follows Frosty's pursuit of a wife and the town's efforts to preserve him into the springtime. Jack Frost
  is introduced as the new antagonist, and no characters besides Frosty and the traffic cop return from the original. As the special takes place in the late winter, it makes no mention of Christmas (the original song likewise did not mention Christmas).
• Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July – This 1979 Rankin/Bass feature-length sequel was filmed in the "Animagic" stop-motion style of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. While the Frosty special is 30 minutes long, and the Rudolph special runs 60 minutes, this film is feature-length, at 97 minutes long (120 minutes on television, including commercials). Jackie Vernon returned as the voice of Frosty for the final time. Jack Frost also makes a brief return from Frosty's Winter Wonderland. Although set during the Fourth of July, this sequel is the only one to mention Christmas, and Santa Claus plays a major role. This is also the only Frosty special not to feature a narrator.
• Frosty Returns – This 1992 half-hour special is not truly a sequel to the original since it was produced not by Rankin/Bass but by CBS, and the characters, setting, voices and animation (by Bill Melendez) have all changed. Frosty's physical appearance, personality, and humor are markedly different, and he has the ability to live without his top hat, in direct contrast with the Rankin/Bass specials. Despite this, it was included as a bonus on previous DVD releases. John Goodman provides the voice of Frosty in this special, and Jonathan Winters serves as narrator. The special avoids all mention of Christmas and has an environmentalist theme, as Frosty works to stop a corporate executive whose spray product wipes out snow.
• Rankin/Bass special, and the remainder of their pre-1974 library. This movie has been bundled with the original 1969 Rankin/Bass special and the CBS sequel and aired on Cartoon Network. The story features almost entirely new characters and there are some inconsistencies in continuity, though Frosty's appearance closely resembles the Rankin/Bass character design. Professor Hinkle also appears in a flashback cameo role, and is later revealed to be the grandfather of main protagonist Tommy Tinkerton (voiced by Kath Soucie), who as an adult is the narrator (voiced by Burt Reynolds). Frosty is voiced by Bill Fagerbakke, best known as the voice of Patrick Star on SpongeBob SquarePants (Tom Kenny, the voice of SpongeBob
  himself, voices Tommy's father Mr. Tinkerton).

See also

• List of Christmas films
• List of Rankin/Bass Productions films

Notes

1. ^ Recurring characters include Rudolph (voiced by Billie Mae Richards), Santa Claus (voiced by Stan Francis), and Mrs. Claus (voiced by Peg Dixon) in this special. Various actors portray the other reindeer.
2. ^ Recurring characters include Frosty the Snowman (voiced by Jackie Vernon), Santa (voiced by Paul Frees), and Professor Hinkle Tinkerton (voiced by Billy De Wolfe) in this special. Santa's reindeer also feature.
3. ^ Recurring characters include Santa (voiced by Mickey Rooney), Mrs. Jessica Claus (voiced by Robie Lester), and S.D. Kluger (voiced by Fred Astaire) in this special. Rudolph and Santa's other reindeer also feature.
4. ^ Recurring characters include the Easter Bunny (voiced by Casey Kasem), and Santa (voiced by Frees) in this special. Santa's reindeer also feature.
5. ^ Recurring characters in this special include Santa (voiced by Allen Swift), alongside his featured reindeer.
6. ^ Recurring characters include Santa (voiced by Rooney), Mrs. Claus (voiced by Shirley Booth), Snow Miser (voiced by Dick Shawn), Heat Miser (voiced by George S. Irving), and Mother Nature (voiced by Rhoda Mann) in this special. Rudolph and Santa's other reindeer also feature.
7. ^ Recurring characters include Easter Bunny (voiced by Robert Morse and Burl Ives), and Santa (voiced by Frees) in this special. Santa's reindeer also feature.
8. ^ Recurring characters include Frosty (voiced by Vernon), Mrs. Crystal Frosty (voiced by Shelley Winters), and Jack Frost (voiced by Frees) in this special.
9. ^ Recurring characters include Rudolph (voiced by Richards) and Santa (voiced by Frees) in this special. Santa's other reindeer also feature.
10. ^ Recurring characters include Easter Bunny (voiced by Skip Hinnant), and S.D. Kluger (voiced by Astaire) in this special.
11. ^ Recurring characters in this special include Santa (voiced by Frees), alongside Rudolph and his other featured reindeer.
12. ^ Recurring characters in this special include Santa Claus during a scene which compares the Ghost of Christmas Present to him (both characters were voiced by Frees).
13. ^ The recurring character is Jack Frost (voiced by Robert Morse) in this special.
14. ^ Recurring characters include Rudolph (voiced by Richards), Frosty (voiced by Vernon), Santa (voiced by Rooney), Mrs. Claus (voiced by Darlene Conley), Crystal (voiced by Winters), and Jack Frost (voiced by Frees) in this special. Santa's other reindeer also feature.
15. ^ The recurring characters in the special include Santa (voiced by Swift), alongside his featured reindeer.
16. ^ The recurring character is Frosty (voiced by John Goodman) in this special. Mother Nature is also referenced in the short.
17. ^ Recurring characters include Rudolph (voiced by Kathleen Barr), Santa (voiced by Garry Chalk), and Mrs. Claus (also voiced by Barr) in this film. Santa's other reindeer, and various other characters from the 1964 original also feature.
18. ^ Recurring characters include Frosty (voiced by Bill Fagerbakke), and Professor Tinkerton (voiced by Kath Soucie) in this special.
19. ^ Recurring characters include Snow Miser (voiced by Juan Chioran), Heat Miser (voiced by Irving), Santa (voiced by Rooney), Mrs. Claus (voiced by Catherine Disher), and Mother Earth (voiced by Patricia Hamilton) in this special. Santa's reindeer also feature.

References

1. ^ "Preservation". attleboro.advantage-preservation.com. Retrieved 14 April 2023.
2. ^ "Broadcasting". 1969.
3. ISBN 9781476672939
   . Retrieved 27 March 2020.
4. ISBN 0-7607-5634-1
   .
5. The High Point Enterprise
   . p. 2. Retrieved December 3, 2023.
6. ^ "New Format Sparks Classic Frosty Return". The Macon News. December 3, 1969. p. 23. Retrieved December 3, 2023.
7. ^ "Yule Specials Rate High In Recent Nielsen Poll". Fort Worth Star-Telegram. December 16, 1969. p. 12. Retrieved December 3, 2023.
8. ^ Moments, Mini (November 27, 2017). "Frosty the Snowman". DreamWorks Animation. Retrieved 2023-12-14.
9. ^ Sergent, Katie (2023-12-13). "'Rudolph,' 'Frosty the Snowman' showings to be blacked out on CBS streaming platforms". WWMT. Retrieved 2023-12-14.
10. ^ "Frosty the Snowman - Rotten Tomatoes". www.rottentomatoes.com. 2016-11-01. Retrieved 2023-09-27.

Notes

External links

Wikiquote has quotations related to Frosty the Snowman (TV special).

• Holiday Central at CBS.com
• Frosty the Snowman at
  IMDb