Frosty the Snowman (TV program)
| Frosty the Snowman | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by |
Jules Bass Arthur Rankin, Jr. |
| Produced by |
Jules Bass Arthur Rankin Jr. |
| Written by | Romeo Muller |
| Narrated by | Jimmy Durante |
| Starring |
Billy De Wolfe Jackie Vernon |
| Music by | Maury Laws |
| Production company | Rankin/Bass |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Original channel | CBS |
| Release date | December 7, 1969 |
| Running time | 25 minutes |
| Followed by | |
Frosty the Snowman is an American animated Christmas family television special based on the song "Frosty the Snowman". The program, which first aired on December 7, 1969 on CBS (where it still airs to this day), was produced for television by Rankin/Bass and featured the voices of comedians Jimmy Durante as the film's narrator (Durante's final performance in a film) and Jackie Vernon as the titular character.
This special marked the first use of traditional cel animation (as opposed to stop-motion animation) for Rankin/Bass in a Christmas special. Arthur Rankin, Jr. and Jules Bass wanted to give the show and its characters the look of a Christmas card, so Paul Coker, Jr., a greeting card and Mad magazine artist, was hired to do the character and background drawings. The animation was produced by Mushi Production in Japan, with then-Mushi staffer Osamu Dezaki among the animation staff.
Rankin/Bass veteran writer Romeo Muller adapted and expanded the story for television as he had done with Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.
TV Guide ranked the special number 4 on its 10 Best Family Holiday Specials list.[1]
Plot
On Christmas Eve, an elementary school teacher has hired an inept magician named Professor Hinkle to perform for the class Christmas party and keep her students' attention. Hinkle fails in both regards and throws his hat away in disgust. As soon as the school day ends, the children rush outside to play and decide to build a snowman. After considering and rejecting names such as Bruce, Christopher Columbus and even "Oatmeal," a young girl named Karen names the snowman Frosty. At that point, Hinkle's rabbit Hocus Pocus escapes from the building wearing the now discarded hat, which the children put on top of Frosty's head. To their surprise, the magic of the hat causes Frosty to come to life. This delights the students, but after seeing that the hat is actually magic, the agitated Hinkle takes it back after the wind blew it off Frosty's head, inanimating him again. When the children protest, he tells them that when they get older, they will learn that snowmen can't come alive. However, after he leaves, Hocus returns the hat to the children, thus bringing Frosty to life again. The children are very happy with their friend, but soon the temperature rises and Frosty must leave for somewhere that is colder or else he will melt. Frosty explains that the only place he won't melt is the North Pole. They parade through the town to the train station, shocking passersby and a traffic cop, who swallows his whistle. When they get to the station however, they find that they do not have money to buy tickets. So, Karen, Frosty, and Hocus sneak into the back of a train headed north as stowaways. Hinkle also sneaks aboard the undercarriage of the caboose, determined to get the hat back.
While Frosty is safe from melting in the refrigerated car, Karen is freezing. When the freight train stops to give the right of way to a passenger train, Frosty and Karen jump off, foiling Hinkle yet again. Frosty carries Karen through the forest, where she is starting to catch cold. Frosty recommends making a campfire to warm her up, but he knows he cannot do that, so Hocus convinces all the forest animals to make the fire. While Karen is warming herself, Frosty tells Hocus that they must find someone to take Karen home and Frosty to the North Pole. Hocus recommends enlisting the aid of the President of the United States or the US Marines, but Frosty says they need someone nearby, so Hocus suggest Santa Claus. Hocus leaves to wait for Santa with the animals, but Hinkle comes back to get the hat back. Being too fast for Hinkle, Frosty and Karen slide down the hill to a small greenhouse used to grow poinsettias. Frosty carries Karen inside where she will be warm and safe. However, Hinkle catches up and locks Frosty and Karen inside.
Hocus brings Santa to the greenhouse only to find Karen crying over a melted Frosty. Santa explains to Karen that Frosty can't melt away forever because he is made of Christmas snow and will always come back every winter. He then opens the greenhouse door, letting in a cold winter wind, reviving Frosty. But before they can put the hat to bring him back to life, Hinkle appears and demands the hat back. Santa tells Hinkle he will never bring him another Christmas present again if he takes the hat from Frosty. Hinkle begs for another chance; to which Santa says if he writes his apologies repeatedly, he may be forgiven and might get a new hat. Hinkle then runs home to write his apologies and after bringing Frosty back to life, Santa takes Karen on a sleigh ride home and then takes Frosty to the North Pole, promising that he will return every year when another Christmas snowfall comes.
As the end credits roll, Frosty leads the town on another parade through town and Hinkle is seen with a new hat as the title song is sung. At the end of the parade, Frosty climbs in the back of Santa's sleigh and they leave for the North Pole with Frosty altering the last lyric of the song, saying, "I'll be back on Christmas Day!"
Voice Characterizations
- Jackie Vernon as Frosty the Snowman
- Jimmy Durante as himself (Narrator)
- June Foray as Karen, student and friend of Frosty
- Billy De Wolfe as Professor Hinkle
- Paul Frees as the traffic cop, stationmaster, and Santa Claus
Production credits
- Produced and Directed by Arthur Rankin, Jr. and Jules Bass
- Written by Romeo Muller
- Based on the Original Song by Steve Nelson, Jack Rollins © 1954 Hill-Range Songs
- Production Designer: Paul Coker, Jr.
- Continuity Designer: Don Duga
- Animation Production by: Mushi Studios Inc.
- Supervising Director: Steve Nakagawa
- Music Composed and Directed by Maury Laws
- Sound Effects Enigneers: Jim Harris, Phil Kaye
- Supervising Film Editing: Irwin Goldress
© 1969 Videocraft International Limited
Soundtrack
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 tracklisting is as follows:
- Medley: Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town...Be Prepared To Pay 25:18
- Medley: Put One Foot In Front Of The Other...Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town (finale) 24:55
- Frosty The Snowman Theme & Narration (Beginning) 13:45
- Frosty The Snowman Theme & Narration (Conclusion) 11:48
- Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town (Soundtrack Version) 1:50
- Frosty The Snowman (Soundtrack Version) 1:04
Later edits
On later airings after 1970, June Foray's voice was replaced by an unknown actress (Foray's voice is still heard as her singing voice, as well as other minor roles). The dubbing is also obvious on the DVD, as the audio quality of the replacement voice is better than that of the other sounds. The current restored version, which debuted in 2005, does not restore Foray's voice. At the time, rumors implied a controversy over copyrights and/or royalties as the reason behind the change, but the reason remains unknown. The original soundtrack with Foray's original voice track is available on CD. Foray recalled her experiences in the book "The Enchanted World of Rankin Bass","I was called in to voice the little girl Karen, I was disappointed to learn later that my work for the Karen character was replaced by another actress. To this day, I am unsure of the reason, but I still enjoy the special."
Television rights
In the United States, CBS continues to hold the telecast rights to the original program (under license from the current copyright holder, DreamWorks Classics and still airs it yearly with the CBS-produced sequel Frosty Returns (see below). The CBC holds broadcast rights in Canada. The special also airs on ABC Family in some territories. However, CBS does not own the telecast rights to the 1976 sequel Frosty's Winter Wonderland (that special currently airs on ABC Family's 25 Days of Christmas each year), which prompted CBS to produce its own "sequel" of sorts, Frosty Returns (see below).
Sequels
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. Jackie Vernon once again reprised his role as the voice of Frosty. Unlike the original, the sequel doesn't take place on or around Christmas nor does it even mention anything to do with Christmas, instead taking place later in the winter season.
- Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July - This 1979 Rankin-Bass sequel was filmed in stop-motion animation in the style of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and Rudolph's Shiny New Year. While the Frosty specials were 30 minutes long, and the Rudolph specials were 60 minutes, this ambitious special was feature length, at 97 minutes long (120 minutes on television, including commercials). Vernon once again played the role of Frosty, in his last time for Rankin Bass playing the voice of Frosty.
- 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. The characters, setting, voices and animation (by Bill Melendez) are vastly different. Despite this, it is shown with the original special every year on CBS and was even included as a bonus on its DVD release. John Goodman provides the voice of Frosty in this special, as Jackie Vernon had died five years earlier in 1987. Frosty's appearance is physically different, his personality and humor have changed, and has the ability to live without his top hat. In this special and later specials, when his hat comes off, he turns back into an inanimate snowman. Like Frosty's Winter Wonderland, Neither Christmas nor Santa Clause is mentioned.
- The Legend of Frosty the Snowman - This 2005 straight-to-video film was produced by Classic Media, the current 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 has also aired on Cartoon Network. The appearance of Frosty resembles much more the Rankin-Bass character design from their original animation, and Professor Hinkle returns in two cameo appearances - shown in a picture and flashback. Frosty is voiced by Bill Fagerbakke, best known as the voice of Patrick Star on SpongeBob SquarePants.
References
External links
- Holiday Central at CBS.com
- Frosty the Snowman at the Internet Movie Database
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||