Frosty’s Winter Wonderland (1976)

Movie Info

Hey kids…I’m back!!!! Now where can I mean some fine snowwomen?

Frosty the Snowman is back!  As the winter snow flies, Frosty returns to town much to the chagrin of Jack Frost who is jealous of his popularity.  When Frosty realizes how alone he is in the world, the children help Frosty by building a snowwoman named Crystal.  When Crystal and Frosty find love, warmer weather’s return could doom their romance.

Directed by Jules Bass and Arthur Rankin, Jr., Frosty’s Winter Wonderland is an animated Rankin/Bass special that is a sequel to the popular Frosty the Snowman cartoon of 1969.  The special first aired on December 2, 1976 on ABC but often isn’t found with the companion specials Frosty the Snowman and Frosty Returns due to the splitting up of the Rankin/Bass properties.

Oh yeah…I’m taken now!

I never was a big fan of Frosty the Snowman.  Of the “classic” Christmas cartoons, I always found Frosty the weakest…possibly because it isn’t Claymation like Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town and Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.  Frosty’s Winter Wonderland continues this ho-hum relationship with the Frosty character.

The story of Frosty’s Winter Wonderland doesn’t have much direction.  The first story had Frosty evading the evil Hocus Pocus and trying to get to the North Pole before melting…here, Frosty is hated by Jack Frost, gets a wife, is liked by Jack Frost, then hangs out until it is realized that spring must eventually come.  It just doesn’t have much of a theme…it just keep plodding along.

Hey Jack Frosty, do you speak French? Ever hear of a ménage à trois?

The special does bring back Jackie Vernon who reprises his role as Frosty.  Added to the cast however is Paul Frees (a Rankin/Bass regular) as Jack Frost and Oscar winner Shelley Winters as Frosty’s wife Crystal.  The special also employs Andy Griffith as the narrator who replaced Jimmy Durante who died few years after narrating Frosty the Snowman.

The visuals is where both the original Frosty and Frosty’s Winter Wonderland fail.  I just am not a fan of Rankin/Bass’s standard animation.  Frosty did finally get the Claymation treatment in Rudolph and Frosty’s Christmas in July 1979, and despite a bad story, that special looked better than this entry.

Frosty’s Winter Wonderland is a so-so follow-up to a so-so animated special.  As average as these Frosty the Snowman specials are, they look like great works of art when compared to the other follow-up sequel Frosty’s Return in 1995 which was made by different production company.

Related Links:

Frosty the Snowman (1969)

Rudolph and Frosty’s Christmas in July (1979)

Frosty Returns (1992)