Frosty the Snowman (1969)
…was a jolly happy soul.
Brief Backstory
Rankin/Bass was on a hot streak with Christmas cartoons as their last few cartoons achieved high reception, and that continued onwards at the end of the decade with Frosty the Snowman (which was around the same time Scooby-Doo and the Cattanooga Cats came out). Unlike their last work, the Little Drummer Boy and Rudolph, R/B decided to go with 2D animation rather than the 3D animation they were well known for in the 60s.
Renounced as an immediate classic upon airing, Frosty the Snowman continues to air yearly.
Story
Frosty, brought to life by Professor Hinkle’s discarded hat, is in jeopardy from red thermometers (indicating an increase in temperature) and needs to go to the North Pole. However at the same time, Professor Hinkle is in hot pursuit for the hat in hopes of being rich, and Frosty must elude him, and even worse, Karen, one of the children who witnessed Frosty coming to life and like all humans, is in serious danger from the dangerously low temperatures of the North Pole and needs to be taken back home before she dies.
Narrated by Jimmy Durante.
Random Facts
Frosty’s saying of “Happy Birthday” might come from Cinderella when Gus screamed it out as Cinderella’s restored dress (only to be vandalized later) was shown.
Karen’s right about Hinkle disposing his hat. It no longer belonged to him. This is the same as giving some movies to someone stating no need for them only to swipe them back later.
Of the villains in R/B cartoons Professor Hinkle ranks up as one of – if not – the most evil of them. Burgermeister Meisterburger was pretty close but he didn’t murder anyone.
It would cost Frosty around $24,361 including tax to take a train nowadays. That just goes to show how less a dollar is worth than it was 50+ years ago.
Random Opinions
I never cried when Frosty was “dead’ – but I’ll not argue that it counts as one of the more emotional scenes in Rankin/Bass cartoons.
Frosty’s pretty damn smart to know who the marines and the president are.
To me Professor Hinkle oddly looks a little like a Ingo from the Zelda series (also Luigi since Ingo was a straight copy) – no kidding. Sure the eyebrows are a little big but the mustache seems slightly similar.
A more notable reference to Hinkle though would be the duke from Frozen.
I don’t think I ever made snowmen before except maybe once, and even given the chance I could never stay outside in snowy weather for very long (I lived in humid subtropical climates my entire life so very cold weather can be rough; same with hot weather.) Besides, none of the areas I lived in had snow that stuck around long enough and even on the occasional times it snowed most of the time it never really was very heavy enough except maybe once or twice in my lifetime (1993 and 1998 come to mind).
Pros
- Professor Hinkle, for being an absent-minded villain, is actually one of the most evil villains in Rankin/Bass cartoons and he deserves that notion. His avarice for his hat leads to killing Frosty at one point.
- Great narration by Jimmy Durante and amazing voice work by Jackie Vernon.
- The entire scene where Frosty is believed to be dead is very well done and makes you feel bad for Karen.
Cons
- The animation hasn’t aged well. I mean yeah a lot of toons in the late 60s had some pretty bad animation, but since this is something that likely had a slightly bigger budget it looks more like Astro Boy to some extent. However people in the 60s were probably already spoiled with great animation from Disney’s classics.
Rating: 9/10 – Amazing
Despite the animation, Frosty is another landmark classic by Rankin/Bass.
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