Frosty the Snowman (TV special)

In the schoolhouse on Christmas Eve, a teacher hires Professor Hinkle, an inept magician, to entertain her class for their Christmas party. After fumbling a trick, he throws his hat away in disgust. It then bounces off the trash can and releases his white rabbit, Hocus Pocus, who wears the hat and humiliates Hinkle, much to the otherwise bored and impatient children's amusement. Class is dismissed and the children go to play in the snow where they build a snowman. After suggesting several names, a girl named Karen names him "Frosty" to her classmates’ jovial agreement. Hocus comes out of the school with the hat, which is then caught in a gust of wind until Karen grabs it and puts it on Frosty's head, causing him to magically become conscious. When Hinkle sees this, he takes the hat back after another wind blows it off Frosty's head, turning the snowman back to his previous inanimate form. Hinkle refuses to give the hat back, planning to use the hat's magic to become rich.

Hocus brings the hat back to the children, who return Frosty to an animate state. While celebrating with the children, he feels the temperature rising and fears he will melt. The children then suggest putting him on the next train to the North Pole and parade through town on the way to the train station. This shocks several townspeople, including a police officer who accidentally swallows his whistle. Because they have no money for a ticket to the North Pole—noted by the receptionist as a $3,000 fare, Hocus, Frosty, and Karen hop a refrigerated boxcar on a northbound train. Hinkle clings to the undercarriage of the caboose of the same train, scheming to recover the hat.

As the train continues northward, Frosty notices Karen getting colder and realizes that she has to get out as soon as possible. When the freight train stops to let a passenger train full of Christmas travelers pass, they disembark in search of somewhere to warm Karen, with Hinkle following in pursuit. By nightfall, Frosty, Karen, and Hocus struggle through the woods. Hocus convinces a group of animals to build a campfire for Karen. Fearing that she still cannot survive for long in the cold weather, Frosty asks Hocus who else might be able to help them. Hocus suggests the United States Marines and President of the United States before they agree upon looking for Santa Claus. Hocus then goes off in search of him, and soon after, Hinkle catches up to Frosty and Karen, extinguishes the fire, and forcefully tries to steal Frosty's hat. The team then flee with Karen riding on Frosty's back as he luges down a hill on his stomach (described by narrator Jimmy Durante: “you see Frosty, for he was made of snow, was the fastest belly-whopper in the world.”)

At the bottom of the slope, they discover a greenhouse filled with poinsettias. Despite Karen's objections, Frosty steps inside with her, suggesting that he could afford to lose a little weight while she warms up. When Hinkle arrives, he locks the door and traps them inside.

Meanwhile, Hocus leads Santa to the greenhouse, only to find a heartbroken Karen crying over a melted Frosty; this segues into a flashback sequence through the puddle of water. After Santa breaks a fourth wall and refutes the Narrator’s claim that he and Hocus were “too late,” he explains to Karen that Frosty cannot permanently die because he is “made of Christmas snow”, meaning he will return every winter. He then opens the greenhouse door, causing a gust of wind to reconstruct Frosty’s lifeless figure. Just as they are about to put his hat back on, Hinkle arrives and demands its return. Santa intervenes, threatening to never give him any more presents if he assumes the hat. With Hinkle having to give up his plans, Santa tells him to go home and write an apology in order to receive a present; Hinkle leaves realizing that it might be a new hat and excitedly rushes off the screen. Santa then places the current hat on Frosty's head, bringing him back to life, before the three of them celebrate. Later, he returns Karen home and takes Frosty to the North Pole, promising to return on Christmas Day.

The ending shows Santa making good on his promise as Frosty parades through town again with Karen and her classmates, but this time joined by a reformed Hinkle with a new hat (indicating Santa kept his promise), the traffic cop, Hocus, the Narrator, and several townspeople. At the end, Frosty boards Santa's sleigh to be taken back north and said he'll be back on Christmas as the sleigh takes flight to end the parade.

• Frosty the Snowman - the main protagonist, an anthropomorphic and childlike snowman who comes to life by the magic hat.
• Karen - an 8-year-old girl who appears to be the leader of the children who built Frosty. She gives Frosty his name and accompanies him on his journey north.
• Hocus Pocus - Professor Hinkle's stunt rabbit, disloyal to its owner and friendly helper to Karen and Frosty.
• Professor Hinkle - the main antagonist, an inept magician who discards his hat but goes to extreme lengths to get it back.
• Santa Claus - legendary figure who promises Professor Hinkle to be on his "Nice" list if he agrees not to cause any more mischief before Frosty melts. He's good at nurturing Karen after she cries from the snowman's exposure to heat after he found her crying in the greenhouse.
• The Narrator - A wise gentleman who resembles Jimmy Durante.

• Jackie Vernon as Frosty
• Jimmy Durante as himself (Narrator)
• June Foray as Karen (original airing, vocal effects in later airings), Karen's friends (original airing, some lines in later airings), schoolteacher, and Hocus Pocus
• Suzanne Davidson as Karen (later airings)
• Greg Thomas as Karen's friends (later airings)
• Billy De Wolfe as Professor Hinkle
• Paul Frees as the traffic cop, ticket man, and Santa Claus

• Producers/Directors: Arthur Rankin, Jr., Jules Bass
• Writer: Romeo Muller
• Based on "Frosty the Snowman" by Steve Nelson and Jack Rollins
• Character Designer: Paul Coker, Jr.
• Continuity Designer: Don Duga
• Sound Effects Engineers: Jim Harris and Phil Kaye
• Editorial Supervisor: Irwin Goldress
• Animation: Mushi Studios
  • Animation Supervisor: Steve Nakagawa
  • Animation Director: Osamu Dezaki (uncredited)
• Musical Director: Maury Laws

CD cover

Released by Rhino on October 1, 2002, the entire audio portion of Frosty the Snowman is available on CD along with the entire audio portion of Santa Claus is Comin' to Town, the Rankin/Bass special produced in 1970. This edition contains the full dialogue and song audio of both specials.

The track listing is as follows:

1. Medley: Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town...Be Prepared To Pay 25:18
2. Medley: Put One Foot In Front Of The Other...Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town (finale) 24:55
3. Frosty The Snowman Theme & Narration (Beginning) 13:45
4. Frosty The Snowman Theme & Narration (Conclusion) 11:48
5. Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town (Soundtrack Version) 1:50
6. Frosty The Snowman (Soundtrack Version) 1:04

In the United States, CBS holds the telecast rights to the original program (under license from the current copyright holder, Universal Television), and airs annually with the CBS-produced sequel Frosty Returns (see below), making it the longest run of a television special (50 years) on the same network, longer than any other currently airing Christmas special. The CBC holds broadcast rights in Canada. The special also airs on Freeform in some territories, and it began airing on that network in the U.S. beginning in 2019.[4] (The deal will continue to allow both CBS and Freeform to share the broadcast rights to the special.)[5] The telecast rights to the 1976 sequel Frosty's Winter Wonderland are held by AMC as part of its “Best Christmas Ever” block. CBS would later commission its own "sequel" of sorts, Frosty Returns (see below).

Frosty returned in several sequels:

• Frosty's Winter Wonderland – This 1976 sequel by Rankin/Bass was also written by Romeo Muller. Narration is provided by Andy Griffith (Jimmy Durante retired after a stroke in 1972) and Jackie Vernon reprised the role of Frosty. The animation was produced by Topcraft in Japan. Unlike the original, the sequel takes place later in the winter season and is based upon the 1934 song "Winter Wonderland." The plot follows Frosty's pursuit of a wife and the town's efforts to preserve him into the springtime. Jack Frost is introduced as the new antagonist, and no characters besides Frosty return from the original. As the special takes place in the late winter, it makes no mention of Christmas (the original song likewise did not mention Christmas).
• Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July – This 1979 Rankin/Bass feature-length sequel was filmed in the "Animagic" stop-motion style of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. While the Frosty special is 30 minutes long, and the Rudolph special runs 60 minutes, this film is feature-length, at 97 minutes long (120 minutes on television, including commercials). Jackie Vernon returned as the voice of Frosty for the final time. Rudolph is the primary character of the story, with Frosty and his family being supporting characters, and Jack Frost makes a brief return from Winter Wonderland. Although set during the Fourth of July, this sequel is the only one to mention Christmas, and Santa Claus plays a major role.
• Frosty Returns – This 1992 half-hour special is not truly a sequel to the 1969 classic, as it was produced not by Rankin/Bass but by CBS, and the characters, setting, voices and animation (by Bill Melendez) have all changed. Frosty's physical appearance, personality, and humor are markedly different, and he has the ability to live without his top hat, in direct contrast with the original and its other sequels. Despite this, it was included as a bonus on previous DVD releases. John Goodman provides the voice of Frosty in this special, and Jonathan Winters serves as narrator. The special avoids all mention of Christmas and has an environmentalist theme, as Frosty works to stop a corporate executive whose spray product wipes out snow.
• The Legend of Frosty the Snowman – This 2005 straight-to-video film was produced by Classic Media, the previous rights holder for the original Rankin/Bass special, and the remainder of their pre-1974 library. This movie has been bundled with the original 1969 Rankin/Bass special and the CBS sequel and aired on Cartoon Network. The story features almost entirely new characters and there are some inconsistencies in continuity, but Frosty's appearance closely resembles the Rankin/Bass character design, and Professor Hinkle appears in a flashback cameo role. Frosty is voiced by Bill Fagerbakke, best known as the voice of Patrick Star on SpongeBob SquarePants.

Wikiquote has quotations related to: Frosty the Snowman (TV special)

• Holiday Central at CBS.com
• Frosty the Snowman on IMDb