Frosty the Snowman

'Frosty the Snowman', of course, doesn't make any sense, but it has the heart in the right place and it is perfect for children. Frosty (voice by Jackie Vernon) comes to life because a magic hat is put on his head. The hat belongs to professor Hinkle (voice by Billy De Wolfe) who wants it back. Because the temperature is rising Frosty has to go to the North Pole where he won't melt. Together with the little Karen (voice by June Foray) they go on the trip but Karen gets sick and professor Hinkle is still following them. Fortunately we have Santa Claus (voice by Paul Frees) to save the day.

Like I said this is perfect for children and I think adults can have a pretty good time with it too. There are some nice jokes. For Christmas this is a nice special.

Basically an extended version of the song, Frosty the Snowman probably holds more cheer for American audiences. In England we have The Snowman, a much subtler and sadder story, but very similar. Here we have some kids looking to have fun with Frosty while a magician tries to reclaim his magic hat. I couldn't completely enjoy this as, to me, it was rightfully the magician's hat in the first place. The song is always great, and I liked most of the voice work. At under half an hour, it's a great, quick dose of Christmas. The animation has its 60's charm and you can tell a lot of hard work must have gone into it. The vocal work is good too, but I found myself waiting for those recognizable chords.

In one sense, "Frosty the Snowman" sort of looks like something that can only appeal to kids. But, I guess that it does have a certain charm to itself. Now that I'm old enough to understand, I find it quite neat that Jimmy Durante narrated and June Foray - aka Rocky the Squirrel - provided voices. I wonder if Prof. Hinkle's name was an allusion to the dictator in Charlie Chaplin's "The Great Dictator"; after all, he was equally dastardly.

So, it's something cool (pun intended) to remember. Of course, I always like to contrast Frosty with the snow goons in "Calvin and Hobbes". Worth seeing.

I grew up with frosty i would look forward to watching this one every year even now. i think it really captures what Xmas is all about. Lol has a kid frosty meant more to me then Santa did so thats the type of effect this show had on me back then.

Its funny how even after all these years it doesn't really show its age other then the lack of computers in the classroom. I want to know what other cartoon can make you cry over snow.

There's also a Frosty Returns but it lacks in so many areas that its not even worth watching my opinion though i now others love it just has much has This one.

To sum it all up frosty is one of the all time Xmas shows to date

This one has always worked for me--where else can you find Jimmy Durante come Christmas time on Primetime TV nowadays? A special done with great heart, good work by Paul Frees, June Foray, and the great Billy De Wolfe. We always loved his 'Think Nasty! Think Nasty!' bit as kids. He was a funny man, a stand up comedian/magician combo.

All I can say is that Rankin Bass hit a homer with this one, and I am glad CBS keeps on trotting it out every December.

**** outta ****, this one works.