Frosty the Snowman

"Frosty the Snoman" is an odd little curio from the 1950s that I found on YouTube. Apparently, some music production company wanted to promote the song "Frosty the Snowman" and commissioned UPA to create this three minute promotional film. It's very bouncy and good considering it only cost $7000 to make. As for the animation, it's enjoyable but very primitive and simple...the sort of stuff UPA was known for and the best you could get for the money they were willing to pay! Don't expect MGM or Looney Tunes or Disney quality animation here...but working with these better studios would simply have been prohibitively expensive and this simple black & white animation is not bad and serve its purpose. Not exactly brilliant and nothing like the lovely 1969 cartoon version...which had a lot of story as well as the song. Here in the 1951 version, it's basically a music video.

RATHER THAN BEING classified as a cartoon (which it obviously is), this very brief 3 minutes of animated drawings could well be called a sort of Soundie. Although the term is not widely known today, Soundies were filmed versions of popular song forms.

BEING PRODUVED IN the 16 mm format and lasting about the length of a single recording (approximately 3 minutes in length), their venue was in that of specially equipped juke boxes that were equipped to show the short and the sound track for a nickel or a dime a play.

WELL ALL OF the above qualifications can be and are those of this FROSTY THE SNOWMAN b & w cartoon. But of course, rather than being played on a juke box in some gin mill, FROSTY was ,made for and thrived on Television; where he continues to this very day.

THE STYLE OF artwork in both the character design and the backgrounds is quite familiar to those who were around when the animated short was given a new direction in 1943 with the emergence of the United Productions of America or UPA for short and one prefers anagrams. UPA pioneered the stylized look of scenery and character' positing that Disney-style realism was not necessary for successful. Former Disney artist, John Hubley, was a principal partner in the formation of this studio..

EARLY SUCCESSES FROM this company include GERALD Mc BOING-BOING and the MISTER MAGOO theatrical series. They didn't do much in the way of television until around 1960 with their entries of MR. MAGOO TV Series and the DICK TRACY Show (featuring the voice of Mercury Theatre veteran Everett Sloan!) FROSTY THE SNOWMAN appears to have been their first venture into the small screen.

AS WE HAVE previously stated, FROSTY is short and to the point. It is not constructed in various vignettes or gag scenes. It quite possibly is the best cartoon of its genre, pound for pound or foot for foot (of film that is, Schultz!)

I recently discovered on Mark Evanier's site as linked from Cartoon Brew a couple of UPA animated holiday shorts that are on YouTube. One was Peter Cottontail which for some reason is not listed on IMDb. That one played the whole song and depicted visually the entire premise down to the hunter that shot the rabbit's tail. This one, Frosty the Snowman, features the title character's fun with some kids before he leaves so he won't melt away. Both had a chorus that featured no musical accompaniment, just them singing in the standard jazzy style of the period. These were longtime annual staples on Chicago kid shows for years. As a longtime animation fan, these were pleasant surprises. Definitely worth a look.

As a child--a "baby boomer"--coming up in Chicago in the 1950s and '60s, some local TV stations took great pride in presenting wholesome, meaningful entertainment.

"Suzy Snowflake" is a vestige of that era and of those times, when the world was not such a cold place because of the warmth and caring of the times. This stop-action animated short clearly was not "made for television", but most likely was made as a trailer to be shown in movie theaters during the yuletide season. It is credited to "Centaur Productions". Where they were--and who--merits research, but I suspect it was possibly made in NYC.

The Singers on this very, very short "3 minute drill" were--to my ear--The Norman Luboff Choir, one of the premier studio groups of that day. On records, they backed everyone from Sinatra to Belafonte. Here they give a lilting, haunting "A Capella" performance that instantly brings to mind all of the elements of Christmases of days gone by; home and hearth, family and friends, good times and pleasant memories.

There were a number of shorts such as this that were typical Christmas season fare...two others stand out as worthwhile watches... "Frosty The Snowman", a product of UPA studios and also made for theatrical release, featured a hip,"Be-Boppish" performance--also A Capella-- by the 'Starlighters' ( or could it be "Six Hits and a Miss"?)--who were then very busy west coast studio singers, and who were mainstays of the "Chesterfield Supper Club" radio program with Jo Stafford and Paul Weston... and then, possibly the most popular of the three, "Hardrock & Coco & Joe". This one ,too, might have featured the Luboff singers and was a "Centaur Production".

My personal favorite was "Frosty", but the women and girls may over-rule us guys in favor of the gentle qualities of "Suzy Snowflake". This is a part of TV and the past that never should have changed, and these should be staples on some TV station somewhere every Christmas.

What can you say about a 3-minute cartoon? It takes longer to write a review of it than it takes to watch it!

It's short, but I liked it. It is B&W, so be aware of that. The cartoon basically follows the well-known "Frosty" song, with kids putting a hat on his head, Frosty coming to life, then the group heading into town, followed by Frosty taking off until next year. Before you know it, it's over. But that's OK. Short and sweet. As good a holiday 3-minute time-waster as you're going to find.

P. S. There is no magician, no rabbit and Frosty does not say "Happy Birthday" as in the later Rankin/Bass production, so don't be surprised when you don't see them here!