Frosty the Snowman (TV special)

Frosty the Snowman is a 1969 American animated Christmas television special produced by Rankin/Bass Productions. It is the first television special featuring the character Frosty the Snowman. The special first aired on December 7, 1969, on the CBS television network in the United States, airing immediately after the fifth showing of A Charlie Brown Christmas, both scoring high ratings. The special aired annually for the network's Christmas and holiday season until 2023. After 55 years, NBC acquired the broadcast rights to the special, and continues to air it yearly.
The special was based on the Walter E. Rollins and Steve Nelson song of the same name. It featured the voices of comedians Jimmy Durante (in his final film role) as the film's narrator, Billy De Wolfe as Professor Hinkle, and Jackie Vernon as Frosty.
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 Tokyo, Japan, with Yusaku "Steve" Nakagawa and then-Mushi staffer Osamu Dezaki (who is uncredited) among the animation staff. Durante was one of the first people to record the song when it was released in 1950 (though at the time the song had slightly different lyrics), and re-recorded the song for the special.
Rankin/Bass veteran writer Romeo Muller adapted and expanded the story for television, as he had done with the "Animagic" stop-motion production of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. TV Guide ranked the special number 9 on its 10 Best Family Holiday Specials list.
Inept magician Professor Hinkle unsuccessfully performs his tricks during a school's Christmas Eve party. Later when the children go outside to play in the snow and build a snowman they name "Frosty" after some debate. Professor Hinkle's hat lands on Frosty's head and brings him to life. Hinkle realizes the hat is actually magic and sees this as a chance to become "a millionaire magician". Hinkle reclaims the hat until his rabbit, Hocus Pocus switches it with a Christmas wreath and brings the hat back to the children, who revive Frosty.
However, the temperature begins to rise, and Frosty fears he will melt unless he can get to the North Pole. The children suggest putting him on a train to get there and they parade through town on the way to the train station, shocking several townspeople, including the traffic cop. Because they have no money for tickets, Hocus, Frosty, and Karen secretly board a northbound freight train's refrigerator car filled with ice cream and Christmas cakes while Professor Hinkle follows them to reclaim the hat. As the train continues northward, Karen starts to get hypothermia and Frosty realizes she cannot withstand the extremely cold temperatures. When the train stops to let a passenger train pass, the group disembarks in search of somewhere to warm Karen, with Hinkle following in pursuit. By nightfall, Frosty and Hocus struggle to bring Karen through the forest. Hocus asks the forest animals to build a campfire for Karen, which they succeed in doing. Fearing that the fire will not be good enough, Frosty decides to look for Santa Claus, whom he assumes can save Karen and bring him to the North Pole. While Hocus searches for Santa, Professor Hinkle arrives and puts out Karen's fire. Karen and Frosty flee and arrive at a greenhouse, which Frosty brings Karen inside to warm up. Hinkle arrives and shuts the door, locking them inside.
By the time Hocus and Santa arrive at the greenhouse, Frosty has melted. Santa comforts a distraught Karen, explaining that Frosty is made of magical Christmas snow and will return every winter. He then opens the door and the winter wind blows in magic snow to remake Frosty into a snowman. As they are about to put the hat on his head, Hinkle arrives, demanding the hat. Santa intervenes by threatening not to bring Hinkle anymore presents, and tells him to write his apologies. Thinking he might get a new hat, Hinkle runs off.
Santa revives Frosty, drops Karen off at her house, and then takes Frosty to the North Pole, promising that he will return every year with the magical Christmas snow. Later, Frosty leads a parade with the children, Hocus, the narrator, the traffic cop, and the rest of the town, including a redeemed Professor Hinkle sporting a new hat, revealing that Santa has kept his promise to him. As the parade ends, Frosty boards Santa's sleigh and they fly off to the North Pole with Frosty altering the song's last line saying “I'll be back on Christmas Day!”
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:
The special debuted on December 7, 1969, on CBS. It was ranked as the No. 1 television program for the week of December 1–7, 1969, by Nielsen Media Research, earning a 30.5 rating and a 45 share. It remained on CBS for the next 55 years until NBCUniversal, which owned the program along with the rest of the pre-1974 Videocraft (Rankin/Bass) catalog, brought the special (along with Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer) onto its own network, NBC for 2024.
Family Home Entertainment released Frosty the Snowman on VHS as part of the Christmas Classics Series in 1989 and 1993, with multiple re-prints throughout the 1990s. It was paired with The Little Drummer Boy on LaserDisc in 1992. Upon its 1989 and 1993 releases, the special was also bundled in box sets with the other Rankin/Bass Christmas specials including Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and Santa Claus is Comin' to Town, the 1973 Chuck Jones holiday special, A Very Merry Cricket and the sequel Frosty Returns which aired on CBS in 1992. In 1998, Sony Wonder and Golden Books Family Entertainment released the special on VHS, and also paired it with these other Rankin/Bass Christmas specials including Cricket on the Hearth in the separate Holiday Classics Collection box sets.
The special was also released on DVD by Sony Wonder and Golden Books Family Entertainment in 2001 and Classic Media in 2002 and 2004, and by Genius Entertainment in 2007. Vivendi Entertainment re-released it on DVD and for the first time on Blu-ray on October 12, 2010, and on the DVD/Blu-ray combo pack on November 6, 2012. Most DVD releases also include Frosty Returns. On September 8, 2015, Classic Media re-released both the special and Santa Claus is Comin' to Town in their 45th Anniversary Collector's Edition on Blu-ray and DVD in addition to the 50th Anniversary release of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer in 2014. Universal Pictures Home Entertainment released a Deluxe Edition of the special, along with other specials on Blu-ray and DVD, on October 16, 2018. In 2022, Universal released the special in 4K Ultra HD as part of The Classic Christmas Specials Collection (with Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town).
DreamWorks Animation made the entire special available for free through its YouTube channel Mini Moments from 2017 to 2023.
CBS's rights to the program did not include streaming rights, forcing the network to black out the special on all streaming platforms, including its own Paramount+ and feeds provided to cable and satellite alternatives such as YouTube TV and Hulu + Live TV.
The special received positive reviews, albeit more modest than most of its contemporary specials. Clarke Williamson's 1970 survey of Christmas specials aired that year ranked Frosty as having a "fair" reception, which other than a 1960s compilation of The Ed Sullivan Show performances was the lowest ranking of any special on the survey. On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the special received an approval rating of 73% based on 15 reviews, with an average rating of 5.9/10. The site's critical consensus reads: "Frosty the Snowman is a jolly, happy sing-along that will delight children with its crisp animation and affable title character, who makes an indelible impression with his corncob pipe, button nose, and eyes made out of coal."
Frosty returned in several sequels: