Frosty the Snowman

Frosty the Snowman is one of my all-time favorite holiday specials along with Rudolph, the Red Nosed Reindeer. I look forward to watching it each year (without commercials since I own the home video on VHS) and enjoy the scene where Frosty comes to life with his first words "Happy Birthday!" Unfortunately, the thermometer becomes red and Frosty, concerned about melting, embarks with Karen and Hocus the rabbit to the North Pole.

It was sad when evil magician Professor Hinkle locked Frosty and Karen in the greenhouse, Frosty melted and Karen broke down crying. However, Santa saved the day when Frosty came back to life.

The voicework by Jimmy Durante, Billy DeWolfe and Jackie Vernon is outstanding. Although all three are gone, their memories live on in this jolly, happy holiday classic.

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.

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.

It's Christmas time and the kids are trying to get ready for their Christmas break when they notice that their snowman has come to life. With joy in their hearts they have to make sure that "Frosty" manages to get to a colder climate before he becomes nothing more than a puddle of water.

This is a true classic film utilizing the stars of the day. This is truly a film that can inspire children. Frosty the snowman is fairly simple and the voice acting is for par not really bad or really good. If there was a Christmas cartoon to show your kids this time of year this is probably my second favorite.

Watching the holiday specials lately with my young kids, I can gage which shows really grab them. This one scores points by being quick (30 minutes for the toddler group with short attention spans)and a real tear jerker for a four year old. The storyline is easy to understand for young kids and shows the idea of Santa being a generous guy instead of just a present deliverer. I really like it for them. My favorite as an adult is Charlie Brown Christmas, which my kids also love, but I think this scored higher for them. I found that I still liked it too. It's in my top three. Is this the only Rankin holiday film that is not stop motion?