Frosty the Snowman is probably the Christmas special my siblings and I watched the most when we were kids. Mainly because it's the only TV Christmas special that we owned on VHS and so we didn't have to wait for it to air on TV to watch it every year. Though I'm pretty sure we did watch it on TV after Frosty Returns originally came out in 1992. Regardless, we watched this special alot.
The interesting thing about this special is that it was done in a traditional 2-D animation style rather than the stop motion animation that the other Rankin/Bass specials, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and Santa Claus is Comin' to Town in particular, are done in. Which gives it a unique look and feel to it than the other Rankin/Bass TV Christmas specials have. It's also shorter than some of the other ones as well. 25 minutes (30 with commercials) instead of 50 (60 with commercials). And the animation is pretty good for a 1969 TV special.
There isn't much of a story in this special. It's basically Frosty needing to get to the North Pole so he doesn't melt and a greedy, failed, magician named Professor Hinkle trying to get the hat back, knowing that the hat is magic. Yeah of all the antagonists in children's movies and TV shows, this one isn't exactly evil. He's greedy for sure, but not evil. Even though he proclaims that he is. I mean the only evil thing he does is trap Frosty in a hot room so that he melts. Of course all it takes for Professor Hinkle to change his ways is Santa threatening to never bring him another Christmas present as long as the magician lives. That definitely would not have worked on Lord Zedd or Queen Beryl.
I don't really have a whole lot to question about this, except for one thing. While I like the fact there was a kid with Frosty, who thought that would be a good idea? I mean obviously Frosty did, but as he had just come to life, he wouldn't stop to consider that going to the North Pole, especially in a freezer car, would be detrimental to Karen's health and overall well being. Also, how did Santa know to land in that exact forest?
Overall, Frosty the Snowman is such a great TV Christmas special. Like I said, it was one of my favourites when I was a kid and it still holds up fairly well today. If you haven't seen Frosty I would recommend sitting down with the family, or by yourself and putting it on, because it's awesome. I'm giving Frosty the Snowman 8.5/10 stars.
That's going to be it for me for today. I'll be back tomorrow with a comic book review. On Saturday I'll be reviewing the first episode of The Hardy Boys. Then on Sunday I'll have a Christmas movie review for you as well. Until then have a great evening. Bye!
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