Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July

The King of the North Pole, Winterbolt, ruled ruthlessly with his Ice Scepter. Lady Borealis casts a spell putting him to sleep for many winters. Santa Claus arrives to built his toy factory. Borealis fades and Winterbolt wakes. He aims to get rid of Santa Claus by stopping him from delivering his toys. Borealis leaves her last magic onto the nose of baby Rudolph the reindeer. With Rudolph, Santa is able to defeat the fog laid down by Winterbolt's Snow Dragons. Winterbolt has an elaborate plan to lure Rudolph out of the north and extinguish his magic nose. Ice cream man Milton arrives on his balloon who convinces Rudolph and Frosty to go save the circus. Milton is in love with circus owner Lily Loraine's daughter Lainie. Winterbolt gives amulets to keep the Frosty family from melting until 4th of July ends. Winterbolt sends sneaky reindeer Scratcher south to lead Rudolph astray.

This is a mashup of the Christmas characters from a few different specials. I don't like the circus idea or a lot of the convoluted story. I wish the story is simpler and more natural. I do like Rudolph's dilemma. It is a touching moment. In the end, this is Rudolph and Frosty together. It's good family fun over the holidays.

Feature-length spectacle that combines elements from previous Rankin/Bass specials (Rudolph, Frosty & wife Crystal, Santa & Mrs. Claus). Also adds an overcomplicated story and dark atmosphere. In addition to the familiar characters, we get new ones. An evil wizard named Winterbolt (who is accompanied by the creepiest music from any of the Rankin/Bass specials), good witch Lady Boreal, ice cream man Milton, Lily and Laine Loraine, Scratcher the evil reindeer, and the mega-scary Genie of the Ice Scepter.

The story is about Winterbolt awakening from a deep sleep he was put into by Lady Boreal. She put her power into Rudolph's nose, which will stop glowing if it is used for evil. So Winterbolt plans to destroy Rudolph and reclaim the North Pole from Santa. That's just scratching the surface, folks, and it already seems like a very involved plot. The reason why I called it "The Movie" is because it reminds me of when a television cartoon series would put out a theatrical film. It has lots of familiar characters though they're not quite the same, plus tons of new characters that are hit or miss, and a new plot that is a bit much for what should be a simple show. Also, and I'm not sure on this but it was my impression, the budget on this seemed higher than other specials. Lots of flashier effects, particularly for the Winterbolt scenes, and added sound effects that you don't usually hear in a Christmas special. Maybe this was their attempt to make something the Star Wars generation would enjoy.

The creepiest and most interesting scenes involve Winterbolt and his lair. So dark and spooky with weird music and sound effects. Those dragons! Beyond this, the rest of the film has little to recommend except for the curiosity factor. It doesn't have as much warmth and heart as the more popular Rankin/Bass specials. Why are Frosty and his family all decked out in orange? I never got that. Anyway, the voicework is fine but the new songs are weak. Animation is excellent, of course. I would recommend if you are Rankin/Bass fan you check it out but if you're a parent looking to share it with your kids, I would watch it first by yourself to decide. Because it's pretty dark in tone and Winterbolt is just oozing evil.

I truly believe that most of the negative reviews are just a result of people jumping on the bandwagon about "the Rankin and Bass special we're not supposed to like." One might ask then, why did it "flop" at the box office? It sounds like it was very poor marketing to have released it in July. Just because the story was set in July does not change the fact that it is a Christmas story in every sense of the word and should be shown at Christmas time. That was a tactical error which caused it to fail, obtain a bad reputation, and now everyone just agrees that it's bad without thinking for themselves. Judged on its content, it's a great story and the complaints against it make little sense. For one thing, it's a major mistake to compare this to the earlier Rankin and Bass specials, as if this movie was somehow made to be in competition with them. It was obviously created to complement them and it does an excellent job of it. Secondly, it is a delightful, heartwarming movie that anyone with a soul should enjoy. Thirdly, the movie does a very clever job of incorporating the many favorite Rankin and Bass specials together and reinforces the idea that it is all in one universe. It provides closure to many aspects of the specials, such as Frosty and Crystal's life and family together, their ongoing friendship with their former advisory Jack Frost, Rudolph's origin, and many other details. It even subtly explains Santa's more idiosyncratic behavior in past specials, such as his grumpiness in Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer and self-pity in Year Without A Santa Clause. He says to Mrs. Santa Clause, "I'm not the easiest man to get along with" and she says, "Only when it gets close to Christmas Eve." It's really a very significant special and it's a shame that it's lost on some. So, folks, watch this delightful Christmas movie, don't be influenced by the hate that others have directed towards it, avoid holding it to crazy standards that no other fantasy movie would be held to, just lighten up, sit back, and enjoy Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July with an open mind and a happy heart.

COME ON!!!!!! How do you get confused just because frosty is now a puppet, big deal. This is just like the people who need the godfathers to be played in order. The singing in this movie is plentiful, original, but gets annoying. The story line is very different and extravagant (as all Rankin Bass films are). The film is very rare and is a small treat to watch because you'll most likely never find someone who's seen it. It was kind of cheap how they tried to make a bang of the success of the original character's movies and tie them together, but if people didn't do that we wouldn't have any James Bond Films. All in all you should at least give it a look especially if you have kids that you can watch it with.

If you're a Ranken and Bass fan like I am, then you're bound to enjoy this one! As soon as Halloween wraps up, it seems as though Im waiting around with my Tivo at the ready to record each and every R/B stop-motion holiday special. "Christmas in July" is the longest of the group, running at an hour and a half, and was one of the last produced. Sure, its a little ridiculous in that its a Holiday plot in the middle of the summer, but its fun-filled reunion-ensemble show! And it has one of the best R/B villains: Winterbolt. This special is a personal favorite of mine! Anyone who cant enjoy it is either a Scrooge, or not appreciative of the lost art of stop-motion film-making.