'Toon Reviews 10: Rankin/Bass Christmas Specials Part 4: Frosty the Snowman

Frosty the Snowman

Told and Sung by Jimmy Durante

 

Original Airdate: December 7, 1969

Airs annually on CBS

Widely available on DVD and Blu-ray

This is one of the most popular specials Rankin/Bass ever created.  Through viewing it for the all the Christmases I can remember, and growing to understand of what makes a great animated work, I feel it really deserves the popularity it has.  The special is based on a song about the joys of building snowmen and the fun kids have with them before they melt. It takes the simple idea of what’s sung and with a little imagination, turns it into a memorable story with likable characters and many heartfelt dynamics. 

The story itself is quite simple, but that’s hardly a problem since despite that, it can still be executed with creative scenarios, many emotions, and even genuine stakes. The tone starts out light-hearted and fun as you’d expect when a girl named Karen and her friends build a snowman and name him Frosty.  In a creative addition to the story, the hat that brings Frosty to life comes from a washed-up magician named Professor Hinkle. He wants to use it for his own greedy purposes and spends the whole special trying to get it back.  The heart of the special grows when you consider how others view the hat. While Hinkle wants to use it to become a millionaire magician, the kids want to keep it safe, especially since it’s the only thing to keep Frosty alive.  Speaking of Frosty, the titular snowman is so lovable all throughout.  He’s one of those characters who lacks intelligence, but has a lot of care and love for those he meets and is always upbeat in spite of the circumstances.  Speaking of which, while the tone is still fairly light-hearted as Karen and the kids play around with the sentient snowman, the story slowly works in heavier emotions.  It happens when Frosty feels the temperature rising which means he’s in danger of melting, the snowman equivalent of death.  From there, a sense of urgency becomes apparent. The kids cut their playtime with Frosty short to save his life by getting him to the North Pole where he can never melt (debatable by today’s standards).  There’s still fun stuff at first though, like Frosty and the kids marching through town set to Jimmy Durante’s upbeat cover of the title song.  It's also spiced up by humorous bits like bystanders giving freaked out reactions to a live snowman and Hinkle’s rabbit, Hocus, tagging along.  However, the moment Frosty hops a freight train’s refrigerated box car with Karen, the light-hearted stuff is cast aside even more for effective drama.  Due to being in the cold box car , Karen is now in danger of freezing, so Frosty shows off his most empathetic side and strives to get her to safety.  It grows even more when they’re caught in a violent snowstorm and all Frosty can think of is Karen’s well-being, especially since he’s unable to make her a fire. The minimal dialog and music help you buy into the seriousness of the situation.  However, even that’s not the darkest thing this special does.  When he notices he doesn’t have the special hat, Hinkle goes to insane lengths to get it back, so while he’s protecting his friend, Frosty is never safe himself.

The big thing about this scenario is comes when circumstances lead Frosty and Karen into a greenhouse where Karen gets the warmth she’s desperate for. Hinkle locks them inside and succeeds in melting Frosty.  The sight of his watery remains alone is just devastating after all we saw of him.  Not to mention, even if we don’t see it, the moment is really implied to be tragic with Karen watching this fate befall her friend.  Out of this moment, we do get a mature lesson from Santa Claus about how snow never really goes away when it melts. It's a lot like sayings of how people we lose are always present in certain ways.  The lesson does lose a bit of its value when a December wind turns Frosty’s puddle back into the snowman he used to be. Santa could’ve easily convinced Karen to build a new snowman for the magic of Frosty’s hat to live on in and the special could still play out as it does.  Either way, the fact that Frosty himself has made this special so appealing makes this aspect not matter much. The happy ending is also very pleasing where he comes back and is finally brought to the North Pole all set to another playing of the aforementioned cover of the title song.

This special is a great, fun little tribute to the joys of snow and how special snowmen can be for kids. As you get older, there’s a lot to the story and characters you’ll better appreciate like the depth to the friendships, the genuine stakes, and the emotional tone.  For all these reasons, it makes perfect sense why this special is a must-watch at Christmas and one of Rankin/Bass’s absolute best works.

Highly Recommended

The Ranking

1. Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
2. Frosty the Snowman
3. The Little Drummer Boy
4. Cricket on the Hearth

Be sure to stay tuned for the review of the next special where you learn everything you wanted to know about Santa Claus and more in "Santa Claus is Comin' to Town."

If you would like to check out other Rankin/Bass special reviews on this blog, click here for the guide made especially for them.