Frosty's Winter Wonderland

Frosty's Winter Wonderland is an animated Christmas television special produced in 1976 by Rankin-Bass. It originally aired on December 2, 1976, on ABC. It is the second Frosty special and is a sequel to the 1969 Frosty the Snowman special, also written by Romeo Muller, with narration provided by Andy Griffith.

Plot

Years have passed since Frosty left for the North Pole, but kept his promise to the children that he would be back again someday. When he hears the news about the first snowfall of the season, he decides to come back to the children. The children are excited to hear about Frosty's return and are overjoyed when he comes back to play with them, but then Jack Frost (voiced by Paul Frees) sees the fun that the children are having with Frosty and becomes jealous. Despite the fun he has, Frosty ends up feeling lonely again at the end of each day when his friends go home for the night, making him cry for the first time. To cheer him up, the kids, with his help, build him a snow wife the next day (suggested names included Cleopatra, Minnehaha, and Corn Flakes) and name her Crystal (voiced by Shelley Winters), but she is not alive like how he is. The children try placing a horse's bonnet on her head, but to no avail. Late that night, Frosty presents Crystal with a bouquet of frost flowers. His gift of love brings her to life, and she immediately says his trademark line: "Happy Birthday". The two joyously frolic through the snow, until Jack uses a gust of icy wind to blow off Frosty's hat. As he taunts Crystal with cries of "No more Frosty! No more Frosty!", she refuses to believe that her frozen fiance is truly gone for good. To prove Jack wrong, she sculpts a corsage out of snow, places it on Frosty's chest and gives him a kiss which immediately brings him back to life. Befuddled by his reanimation, Jack throws Frosty's hat back on his head.

Frosty and Crystal run through the town announcing their wedding to the children. The children gather together with Parson Brown, the local preacher, in town to marry them. Parson Brown says that he can't perform the ceremony, as he can only legally marry real people. Everyone is dejected until Parson Brown suggests they build a "snow parson" with his assistance. After the minister is constructed, Parson Brown states that "A parson is not a parson 'til he holds the good book in his hand." He places a Bible into the snow parson's hand, and he is immediately vivified. Jack Frost witnesses this and decides to spoil the wedding with a blizzard. Crystal decides to reason with him asks for him to be the best man at the wedding (after all, she says, the whole wedding should be wintry, and so it would only be appropriate for him to be the best man). Finally feeling appreciated, Jack agrees. The wedding goes on without a hitch, to the song "Winter Wonderland".

Frosty, Crystal, and Jack have fun with the children all winter, but they notice the weather is starting to grow warm again. Jack decides to make it so that winter lasts forever and Frosty and Crystal can stay. As the overly long winter continues and worries adults, Parson Brown decides to talk with everyone. He tells them that winter can never last forever, or the trees will never sprout leaves and flowers will never grow. Frosty, Crystal, and Jack are saddened, but acknowledge it's time for them to leave. They once again head for the train to the North Pole (But not before one last skate through town and one more scare for the local policeman). All traces of winter melt away, but everyone remembered that the winter wonderland was a good memory and good memories can never die, so the narrator (voiced by Andy Griffith) said. Because everyone knows that on one not so faraway day, that first snowflake will fall. The scene then shows Jack Frost up in a tree. And in a few months, the whole town becomes a winter wonderland again. The special ends with the narrator saying to the viewers, "May all your winters be wonderful." And Frosty and Crystal responding, "And frosty, too!"

Cast

• Dennis Day - Parson Brown, Snow Parson
• Barbara Jo Ewing - Child
• Paul Frees - Jack Frost, Traffic Cop
• Shelly Hines - Child
• Manfreed Olea - Child
• Eric Stern - Child
• Jackie Vernon - Frosty the Snowman
• Shelley Winters - Crystal the Snow Wife (In the opening credits, her name appears to be Mrs. Frosty also)
• Andy Griffith - Narrator

Television rights

The rights to this special are held by Warner Bros. Television Distribution, which licenses the show to ABC Family. The latter airs the special annually on its "25 Days of Christmas" marathon.

Because the ownership of the television rights to the Rankin/Bass library was split into two parts (one including all productions prior to 1974 and one including all productions from that point onward) after the company's dissolution in 1987, Frosty's Winter Wonderland was separated from the original Frosty the Snowman special. The rights to the original are now held by CBS, who produced a companion sequel of its own, Frosty Returns, with a totally different cast, style and production staff.

Home video

Frosty's Winter Wonderland has been issued on VHS in 1992, as well as on DVD in 2004 paired with the 1974 special 'Twas the Night Before Christmas by Warner Home Video. The DVD was re-released in 2011.

External links

• Frosty's Winter Wonderland at The Internet Movie Database