Frosty the Snowman (film)

Updated on Dec 04, 2023

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Frosty the Snowman is a 1969 animated Christmas television special based on the song "Frosty the Snowman". The program, which first aired on December 7, 1969 on CBS (where it still airs to this day), was produced for television by Rankin/Bass Productions and featured the voices of comedians Jimmy Durante as the film's narrator (Durante's final performance in a film) and Jackie Vernon as the title character.

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Arthur Rankin, Jr. and Jules Bass wanted to give the show and its characters the look of a Christmas card, so Paul Coker, Jr., a greeting card and Mad magazine artist, was hired to do the character and background drawings. The animation was produced by Mushi Production in Japan, with then-Mushi staffer Osamu Dezaki among the animation staff.

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Rankin/Bass veteran writer Romeo Muller adapted and expanded the story for television as he had done with Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.

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

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Plot

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On Christmas Eve, the teacher hires Professor Hinkle, an inept magician, to perform for the children's Christmas party. After becoming uninterested in his tricks, the children go outside to play in the snow where they build a snowman and name him Frosty. Just then, Hinkle's rabbit, Hocus Pocus, hops outside with Hinkle's hat over him. The wind then blows the hat onto Frosty's head, bringing him to life. However, Hinkle takes the hat back after finding out that it's magic. When the children refuse him to take the hat back, Hinkle refuses, saying that when they grow up, they'll learn that snowmen can't come to life and leaves. However, Hocus escapes with the hat and returns it to the children who bring Frosty back to life. However, the temperature starts to rise and Frosty worries he will melt. So the children decide to take him to the North Pole. After realizing they have no money to buy train tickets, Frosty and Karen hitch a ride on a train headed north in a refrigerator car. However, Hinkle sneaks aboard, still vowing to get his hat back. Noticing that Karen is freezing in the boxcar, Frosty vows to warm her up. Frosty suggests Hocus to tell the forest animals to build a fire for her and find Santa Claus to come bring her home and him to the North Pole. But Hinkle soon shows up and puts out the fire. Frosty and Karen escape Hinkle, and see a greenhouse used to grow Christmas poinsettias. The exhausted Hinkle closes the door behind them.

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Meanwhile, Santa arrives and Hocus leads him to the greenhouse, only to find Karen crying over a melted Frosty. But Santa explains that Frosty is made of Christmas snow and will come back every winter. He then opens the greenhouse door, reviving Frosty. But just as they're about to put his hat on to bring him back to life, Hinkle still demands that he wants the hat back. But Santa warns him that if he takes it, he'll never get another Christmas present for the rest of his life until Santa suggests that if he writes his apologies, he'll get a new hat in his stocking on Christmas morning. After Hinkle runs home to write his apologies, Santa puts Frosty's hat on him, bringing him back to life, takes Karen home, and brings Frosty back to the North Pole, promising that he'll return next year.

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As the end credits roll, Frosty and the children parade through town, including a reformed Professor Hinkle wearing his new hat. At the end of the parade, Frosty boards Santa's sleigh and they leave for the North Pole with Frosty altering the song's last lyric, saying, "I'll be back on Christmas Day!"

Voice cast

Jackie Vernon as Frosty

Jimmy Durante as the Narrator

June Foray as Karen, schoolteacher, and Karen's friends; Karen's non-singing lines were re-dubbed by an unknown actress for later releases of the film

Billy De Wolfe as Professor Hinkle

Paul Frees as the traffic cop, ticket man, and Santa Claus

Production credits

Produced and Directed by Arthur Rankin, Jr. and Jules Bass

Written by Romeo Muller

Production Designer: Paul Coker, Jr.

Continuity Designer: Don Duga

Animation Production by Mushi Studio

Supervising Director: Steve Nakagawa

Animation Director: Osamu Dezaki (uncredited)

Animation: Akio Sugino, Sadao Miyamoto (both uncredited)

Music Composed and Directed by Maury Laws

Sound Effects Enigneers: Jim Harris, Phil Kaye

Supervising Film Editing: Irwin Goldress

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:

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

Television rights

In the United States, CBS continues to hold the telecast rights to the original program (under license from the current copyright holder, Universal Television, and still airs it yearly with the CBS-produced sequel Frosty Returns (see below). The CBC holds broadcast rights in Canada. The special also airs on Freeform in some territories. However, CBS does not own the telecast rights to the 1976 sequel Frosty's Winter Wonderland (that special currently airs on Freeform's 25 Days of Christmas each year), which prompted CBS to produce its own "sequel" of sorts, Frosty Returns (see below).

VHS and LaserDisc

Family Home Entertainment released Frosty the Snowman on VHS as part of the Christmas Classics Series in 1989 and 1993, with multiple re-prints throughout the 1990s. It was paired with the The Little Drummer Boy on LaserDisc in 1992. Upon its 1989 and 1993 releases, the special was also bundled in box sets with the other Rankin/Bass Christmas specials including Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and Santa Claus is Comin' to Town, the 1973 Chuck Jones holiday special, A Very Merry Cricket and the sequel Frosty Returns which aired on CBS in 1992. In 1998, Sony Wonder and Golden Books Family Entertainment released the special on VHS, and also paired it with these other Rankin/Bass Christmas specials including Cricket on the Hearth in the separate Holiday Classics Collection box sets.

DVD and Blu-ray

The special was also released on DVD by Sony Wonder and Classic Media in 2002 and 2004, and by Genius Entertainment in 2007. Gaiam Vivendi Entertainment released it on DVD and Blu-ray on October 12, 2010, and on the DVD/Blu-ray combo pack on November 6, 2012. Most DVD releases also include Frosty Returns. On September 8, 2015, Classic Media released both the special and Santa Claus is Comin' to Town in their 45th Anniversary Collector's Edition on Blu-ray and DVD in addition to the 50th Anniversary release of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer in 2014.

Trivia

The engine on the train is a 2-2-2 or an American type steam locomotive. Locomotives of this wheel arrangement were used most common during the 1800s on American railroads, and from the 1830s until 1928, were given the name "American" in 1872, because of how they did all the work of every railroad in the United States. These types of engines have six wheels (two leading wheels, two driving wheels, and two trailing wheels).

Sequels

Frosty returned in several sequels:

Frosty's Winter Wonderland - This 1976 sequel by Rankin/Bass was also written by Romeo Muller. Narration is provided by Andy Griffith (Durante had suffered a stroke that had forced his retirement in 1972 and eventually killed him). Jackie Vernon once again reprised his role as the voice of Frosty. Animation is 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;" it features Frosty's pursuit of a wife and efforts to preserve him into the springtime. Furthermore, it makes no mention whatsoever of Christmas; in fact it could be considered more a "winter solstice" special than a Christmas special as it celebrates the season of winter.

Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July - This 1979 Rankin/Bass feature-length sequel was filmed in "Animagic" stop-motion animation in the style of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and Rudolph's Shiny New Year. While the Frosty specials were 30 minutes long, and the Rudolph specials were 60 minutes, this ambitious special was feature length, at 97 minutes long (120 minutes on television, including commercials). Vernon once again played the role of Frosty, in his last time for Rankin/Bass playing the voice of Frosty. This film features Frosty and his family as supporting characters. This is the only other Frosty cartoon to mention Christmas or Santa Claus in addition to the 1969 original.

Frosty Returns - This 1992 half-hour special is not truly a sequel to the 1969 classic, as it was produced not by Rankin/Bass but by CBS. The characters, setting, voices and animation (by Bill Melendez) are vastly different. Despite this, it is shown with the original special every year on CBS and was even included as a bonus on its DVD release. John Goodman provides the voice of Frosty in this special, and Jonathan Winters serves as narrator. Frosty's appearance is physically different, his personality and humor have changed, and he has the ability to live without his top hat, in direct contrast with the original and its other sequels. Also in contrast to the original specials, the special avoids all mention of Christmas (despite the special portraying the beginning of winter) and has an environmentalist theme, as Frosty works to stop a corporate executive whose product wipes out snow packs with one spray.

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 has also aired on Cartoon Network. The appearance of Frosty resembles much more the Rankin/Bass character design from their original animation, and Professor Hinkle returns in two cameo appearances - shown in a picture and flashback. Frosty is voiced by Bill Fagerbakke, best known as the voice of Patrick Star on SpongeBob SquarePants. And it, like Frosty Returns and Frosty's Winter Wonderland, also never mentions anything to do with Christmas whatsoever.

References

Frosty the Snowman (film) Wikipedia

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