Frosty the Snowman

Frosty the Snowman
Airdate	December 7, 1969
Written by	Romeo Mueller
Directed by	Arthur Rankin Jr., Jules Bass
Network	CBS
Style	25-minute animated Christmas special
Company	Rankin/Bass Productions, Mushi Productions
Origin	USA
— N/A	→ Frosty's Winter Wonderland

Frosty the Snowman is an animated Christmas special. It is based on a song written by Jack Rollins and Steve Nelson.

Plot Overview

A has-been magician, Professor Hinkle, loses his silk hat (and rabbit within). A group of children outside in the snow build a snowman and notice he's missing a hat. Retrieving Prof. Hinkle's hat, they put it on their snowman which magically comes to life (his first words: "Happy birthday!"). The sight of a snowman with a gang of kids marching through the streets becomes a bit of an eye catcher. When temperatures start to hover above 32 degrees Fahrenheit, Frosty feels it and he must get to the North Pole where he can thrive in a frozen environment. With no money for tickets to take a train, Frosty, accompanied by Karen (one of the kids), makes a trek to the North Pole, but they're followed by Prof. Hinkle, who wants his hat back.

Karen is not used to the extreme cold as they venture north via boxcar train, so after eluding Prof. Hinkle once, Frosty takes Karen to a plant nursery. But Hinkle locks both Karen and Frosty inside and keeps them there unless he gets his hat back. Hinkle's rabbit Hocus Pocus goes for Santa Claus nearby, but when they arrive, they see Karen on her knees crying over a puddle that was Frosty. By opening a door and allowing cold air in, Santa revives Frosty, but Hinkle arrives for his hat. Santa virtually blackmails Hinkle--he has to write "I am really sorry for what I did to Frosty" a hundred-zillion times to even get so much as a possibility of something in his stocking. With Hinkle pacified, Santa and Frosty take Karen home.

Cast

Actor	Character
Jackie Vernon	Frosty
Billy De Wolfe	Professor Hinkle
Paul Frees	Santa Claus
Jimmy Durante	Himself / Narrator

Trivia

Behind the Scenes

• The story as told in this special was taken from a children's record album, where the teacher and Karen were voiced by June Foray. A year after the TV special was made, the teacher and Karen had their voices re-recorded (Karen's by an actual little girl, her friends by actual children, all uncredited although Suzanne Davidson has popped up noted as Karen's voice).

DVD Release

Title			Release			Discs
Individual Episodes  (Region 1)
Frosty The Snowman			September 14, 2004			1
The Original Christmas Classics			October 4, 2011			2

Awards and Accolades

No. 4 of TV Guide's top 10 holiday specials.