History WesternAnimation / FrostyTheSnowman

* NiceHat: '''The''' Hat, of course.

A sequel, ''Frosty's Winter Wonderland'', was produced in 1976 and the feature-length {{Crossover}} ''Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July'' followed in 1979; Jackie Vernon reprised the part of Frosty in both, and over the course of them our hero acquires a snow-wife (Crystal, voiced by Shelley Winters) and even snow-kids. A non-Rankin/Bass sequel, ''Frosty Returns'', with John Goodman as the title character and Creator/JonathanWinters as the narrator, was made in 1992; it was [[TheyJustDidntCare not generally well-received]]. In this one, the plot focuses around a secular "Winter Carnival" holiday and features an evil businessman named Mr. Twitchell that goes around spraying "Summer Wheeze" an aerosol that gets rid of snow. Apparently, ''the entire town hates snow''. The entire film is about Frosty and [[{{Expy}} a new girl named Holly]] ''singing about how good snow is''. If you haven't guessed, it's an environmentally-themed short. Then in 2005, another special, ''Legend of Frosty the Snowman'', was released on video, with Bill Fagerbakke as the voice of Frosty.

* RunningGag: Whenever a snowman comes to life (including Frosty himself, as well as Crystal and the snow parson), the snowman's first words afterwards, without exception, will be "Happy Birthday!"

-->'''Professor Hinkle''': ''[kicks a can while undergoing a VillainousBSOD]'' That's not fair! We evil magicians have to make a living too...

* HeelFaceTurn: Professor Hinkle, though only when threatened by Santa, and he still describes himself as an "evil magician" during this sequence (though that may just have been because he was GenreSavvy enough to realize just how low he had sunk and was only making a correct observation of how the average viewer would view him after what he had put Frosty through).

-->'''Professor Hinkle''': That's not fair! We [[GenreSavvy evil magicians]] have to make a living too...

The script is by Rankin/Bass' favorite writer, Romeo Muller, and as usual, is built around a classic holiday tune, though the usual additional original songs by Maury Laws and Jules Bass are conspicuously missing.

[[caption-width-right:340:Thumpitty Thump Thump! Thumpitty Thump Thump! Look at that Frosty go!]]

The script is by Rankin/Bass's favorite writer, Romeo Muller, and as usual, is built around a classic holiday tune, though the usual additional original songs by Maury Laws and Jules Bass are conspicuously missing.

A sequel, ''Frosty's Winter Wonderland'', was produced in 1976 and the feature-length {{Crossover}} ''Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July'' followed in 1979; Jackie Vernon reprised the part of Frosty in both, and over the course of them our hero acquires a snow-wife (Crystal, voiced by Shelley Winters) and even snow-kids. A non-Rankin/Bass sequel, ''Frosty Returns'', with John Goodman as the title character and Jonathan Winters as the narrator, was made in 1992; it was [[TheyJustDidntCare not generally well-received]]. In this one, the plot focuses around a secular "Winter Carnival" holiday and features an evil businessman named Mr. Twitchell that goes around spraying "Summer Wheeze" an aerosol that gets rid of snow. Apparently, ''the entire town hates snow''. The entire film is about Frosty and [[{{Expy}} a new girl named Holly]] ''singing about how good snow is''. If you haven't guessed, it's an environmentally-themed short. Then in 2005, another special, ''Legend of Frosty the Snowman'', was released on video, with Bill Fagerbakke as the voice of Frosty.

This is also not the first time the song was adapted into animation. There had previously been a theatrical short created in 1954 by UPA (of ''WesterAnimation/MrMagoo fame).

** In the 1992 sequel ''Frosty Returns'', the lead girl ([[{{Expy}} explicitly not Karen]]) is voiced by a ten-year-old ElisabethMoss. Yes, ''[[MadMen that]]'' ElisabethMoss.

'''''Frosty the Snowman''''' is a 1969 [[RankinBassProductions Rankin/Bass]] ChristmasSpecial, telling the story of how a snowman was brought to life by a magic top hat. ''Frosty the Snowman'' is unusual among the Rankin/Bass ''œuvre'' in that it features hand-drawn animation, instead of R/B's usual "Animagic" StopMotion puppet process.

It is notable that in the audio album version of this special, JuneForay voices Karen, and indeed all the children's parts, whereas the televised version uses the voices of actual (uncredited) children.

->''Happy Birthday!''

This is also not the first time the song was adapted into animation. There had previously been a theatrical short created in 1954 by UPA (of MrMagoo fame).

A television sequel entitled ''Frosty's Winter Wonderland'' was produced in 1976 and another, the {{Crossover}} ''Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July'', with Jackie Vernon reprising the part of Frosty, in 1979. A non-Rankin/Bass sequel, ''Frosty Returns'', with John Goodman as the title character and Jonathan Winters as the narrator, was made in 1992; it was [[TheyJustDidntCare not generally well-received]]. In this one, the plot focuses around a secular "Winter Carnival" holiday and features an evil businessman named Mr. Twitchell that goes around spraying "Summer Wheeze" an aerosol that gets rid of snow. Apparently, ''the entire town hates snow''. The entire film is about Frosty and [[{{Expy}} a new girl named Holly]] ''singing about how good snow is''. If you haven't guessed, it's an environmentally-themed short. Then in 2005, another special, ''Legend of Frosty the Snowman'', was released on video, with Bill Fagerbakke as the voice of Frosty.

Not to be confused with the somewhat similarly themed British ChristmasSpecial, ''TheSnowman''.

* AffectionateParody: Has one in the WebOriginal animated short series {{Snowy}}

* AnimateInanimateObject: Frosty himself.

** Jack Frost in the sequel pulls a more legitimate one.
* HeyItsThatVoice: Paul Frees, voice of Santa Claus, as well as assorted other minor characters, is probably best remembered as Boris Badenov from ''RockyAndBullwinkle'' (his partner, Natasha [JuneForay], portrays the children's teacher). Frees is also the "Ghost Host" from {{Disney}}'s Haunted Mansion rides.
** Frees also voiced Jack Frost in ''Winter Wonderland''.

* InkSuitActor: Jimmy Durante as the narrator and Billy [=DeWolfe=] as Professor Hinkle.

* LoveImbuesLife: In the sequel, the kids build Crystal, a (non sentient) snow wife for Frosty, who receives the gift of life out of the love Frosty immediately felt for her. Later, a gust of wind snatches away Frosty's hat (turning him back into a non sentient snowman) but Crystal's love allowed him to become alive again without the need of his magic hat.

----

* {{Snowlems}}: Frosty himself.

The script is by Rankin/Bass's favorite writer, Romeo Muller, and as usual built around a classic holiday tune, though the usual additional original songs by Maury Laws and Jules Bass are conspicuously missing.

-->'''Professor Hinkle''': ''[kicks a can while undergoing a VillainousBSOD]'' It's not fair! We evil magicians have to make a living too...

-->'''Professor Hinkle''': It's not fair! We [[GenreSavvy evil magicians]] have to make a living too...

* AchievementsInIgnorance: Prof. Hinkle apparently ''succeeds'' in the ImpossibleTask Santa Claus gives him-- writing "I am very ''sorry'' for what I did to Frosty" [[EleventyZillion a hundred zillion times]]. (He gleefully ran off out of sight to get started as soon as possible).

* EleventyZillion: Santa orders Hinkle to [[ImpossibleTask write, "I am very sorry for what I did to Frosty," a hundred zillion times. (And then maybe, just ''maybe,'' he'll find something in his stocking the next morning)]]. And apparently he's successful because the next time we see him, he's got a new hat!

* HeartDrive: The magic hat, without which Frosty's body is just an ordinary inanimate snowman.

* AffectionateParody: Has one in the WebOriginal animated short series {{Snowy}}

* AscendedExtra: Jack Frost, the [[{{Jerkass}} jerkass-]][[HeelFaceTurn turned-ally]] from ''Winter Wonderland'' would eventually star in his own Christmas Special, ''Jack Frost'', where he's a [[StalkerWithACrush lovestruck]] {{cloudcuckoolander}}.

* DastardlyWhiplash: Professor Hinkle is very close to this type of villain, at least in appearance. He's far less competent than either Dick Dastardly ''or'' Snidely Whiplash, and ''that's'' saying something.

* {{Narrator}}: Jimmy Durante in the original, Andy Griffith in ''Winter Wonderland''.
* NiceHat: '''The''' Hat, of course.

* ParodyCommercial: In 2009 CBS made this [[http://www.ebaumsworld.com/video/watch/80840560/ mash-up ad]] combining Frosty with ''HowIMetYourMother''.

* EleventyZillion: Santa orders Hinkle to write, "I am very sorry for what I did to Frosty," a hundred zillion times. (And then maybe, just ''maybe,'' he'll find something in his stocking the next morning).
** And apparently he's [[BeyondTheImpossible successful in writing it a hundred zillion times by the next morning]], because the next time we see him, he's got a new hat!

** And apparently he's [[BeyondTheImpossible successful in writing it a hundred zillion times by the next morning]], because the next time we see him, he's got a new hat! Either that, or it's that YourMileageMayVary on what's considered a zillion (which isn't an actual number, by the way).