The film was released theatrically first, but it played on only a few dates and was a flop. One sheet from the theatrical release is out there, but rare.
This was not only the first (and last) time Frosty (and his family) was animated using Animagic, but this was also the last time Rudolph was animated with the Animagic process.
The first time Frosty was seen in stop-motion animation following his hand-drawn stints in Frosty the Snowman (1969) and Frosty's Winter Wonderland (1976). The Jack Frost character from the latter also appears in this special.
Harold Peary, in his final performance, reprises his role of Big Ben from Rudolph's Shiny New Year (1976).
This was the last rankin bass film to feature Billie Mae Richards playing Rudolph and the last film to feature Jackie Vernon playing frosty as well.