Frosty The Snowman

“Frosty the Snowman,” debuted in 1969. It was by Rankin/Bass Productions, the same company that produced many holiday specials. Most of us had favorite Christmas specials we would watch. Mine was Rudolph, A Charlie Brown Christmas, The Grinch, and this one…Frosty The Snowman.

Narrated by the legend Jimmy Durante, the special involves a magic hat that transforms a snowman, Frosty, into a living being. The magician who owned the hat wants it back now that he knows it contained actual magic, so the kids had to get together and find a way to bring Frosty to the North Pole to keep him from melting. However, once there, Frosty sacrifices himself to warm up the little girl, Karen, who took him to the North Pole. He melts, but Santa Claus explains that Frosty is made out of special Christmas snow and thus can never truly melt. Frosty then comes back to life and everyone has a Merry Christmas.

The song was written in 1950 by Walter “Jack” Rollins and Steve Nelson. They wrote it for Gene Autry, especially, after Autry had such a huge hit with “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” the previous year. It was later recorded by Jimmy Durante as we hear in this wonderful cartoon.

Another animator was Paul Coker Jr. from  Lawrence, Kansas. He not only was  a character designer on this show but he also worked at Mad Magazine. He also designed the “Chesty Lion” for Lawrence High School in Lawerence Kansas. Thank you to long time reader Run-Sew-Read!

This wasn’t the only animation of Frosty…

In 1954, United Productions of America (UPA) brought Frosty to life in a short cartoon that is little more than an animated music video for a jazzy version of the song. It introduced the characters mentioned in the lyrics visually, from Frosty himself to the traffic cop. The three-minute, black-and-white piece quickly became a holiday tradition in various markets, particularly in Chicago, where it’s been broadcast annually on WGN since 1955.

John from The Sound Of One Hand Typing is the one that told me about the older Frosty.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N6p6LRtQ2WY

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Author: Badfinger (Max)

Power Pop fan, Baseball, Beatles, Alternative music, old movies, and tv show fan. Also anything to do with pop culture in the 60s and 70s... I'm also a songwriter, bass and guitar player. Not the slightest bit interested in politics at all.

19 thoughts on “Frosty The Snowman”

    1. Thank you! If it were just Mad Magazine it would be fantastic…but to be in this realm also put him on a different level.
      I didn’t remember the Mad magazine but I remember now the Chesty Lion! Thank you.
      I’m going to add it now so next year if I rerun it…it will be in there.

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  4. The style of the original looked really familiar so I just verified that it was directed by Robert Cannon, who directed the classic Gerald McBoing-Boing. I grew up with Gerald on record with a book to follow along, much like “Woody Woodpecker’s Talent Show” (which had Woody’s laugh to tell you when to turn the page).

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    1. Oh I remember Gerald McBoing-Boing! I would watch the reruns as a kid along with Woody…. also Chilly Willy comes to mind.
      They have a youtube of Woody Woodpecker’s Talent Show book on youtube…that is really cool. I’ve never seen that before.

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  5. Gotta admit, I never umm, ‘warmed’ up to Frosty much but I know many people who did indeed love the special, and as with you I think, love it now for the memories that it brings back. Cool about the tie-in to Mad magazine – now that I loved as a kid!

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    1. I always liked Frosty…and was MAD (no pun intended) at the villian in the show. It was this… Rudolph, Charlie Brown, Grinch, and this one…they were the big 4 to me.
      I like it now because of the seventies-sixties looking animation…the big eyes on characters.

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