Frosty the Snowman (TV special)

In a schoolhouse on Christmas Eve, inept magician Professor Hinkle unsuccessfully performs his tricks during a Christmas party. 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. Seeing this as a chance to become wealthy, Hinkle reclaims the hat when it gets blown off and dismisses the children's belief 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 amazed 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 an unconscious 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 they assume 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 bring Karen inside to warm up, only for Hinkle to arrive and lock them inside.

When Hocus and Santa arrive the greenhouse, Frosty has already melted. Santa comforts a heartbroken Karen, explaining that Frosty is made of Christmas snow and will return every winter. He then opens the door and the winter wind revives Frosty. As they are about to put the hat on his head, Hinkle demands his hat back. Santa intervenes and threatens to never bring him another Christmas present if he reclaims the hat. After Hinkle leaves to write his apologies, Santa brings Frosty back to life, drops Karen off at her house, and 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 his new hat. 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!”

• Jackie Vernon as Frosty
• Jimmy Durante as himself (Narrator)
• 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)

• Producers/Directors: Arthur Rankin, Jr., Jules Bass
• Writer: Romeo Muller
• Based on "Frosty the Snowman" by Steve Nelson and 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

CD cover

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

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."[5]

Frosty returned in several sequels:

• Frosty's Winter Wonderland – This 1976 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.
• The Legend of Frosty the Snowman – This 2005 straight-to-video film was produced by Classic Media, the previous rights holder for the original 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).

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

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

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