Frosty The Snowman DVD
Sony Music Video
Rated: Not Rated
Genre: Television Special
Length: 70 minutes
Director: Arthur Rankin, Jr.
Year: (1969)
Britt Gillette's Frosty The Snowman DVD Review
A gold member of the Christmas classics elite, Frosty the Snowman has entertained generations of children and adults with its holiday magic. Jimmy Durante narrates this 1969 animated creation that features the birth of Frosty - a happy, upbeat snowman brought to life by a magic hat. The story is based on a popular Christmas song of the same name.
Since her children are forced to attend school on Christmas Eve (with snow outside none-the-less), a schoolteacher hires a local magician named Professor Hinkle to entertain her class. But Professor Hinkle is anything but a master of his trade. He entertains the kids only by means of their laughter as his ridiculous screw-ups. Frustrated by his failure to perform the famous magic trick of "pulling a rabbit out of a hat," Hinkle throws the old hat out the window. When the children are finally dismissed from school, they build a snowman and name him Frosty. And then something truly magical occurs.
A gust of wind blows Professor Hinkle's discarded hat onto the snowman's head, and "presto"! …Frosty the snowman comes to life with a call of "Happy Birthday"! Immediately, Professor Hinkle decides that he wants to keep his hat after all (so he can profit from its obvious magic powers), but the kids fight him off to save Frosty. However, Professor Hinkle is the least of Frosty's worries. The temperature is on the rise, and Frosty and the kids conclude that the North Pole is where he belongs. Together, they travel to the local train station to buy a ticket to the North Pole.
Karen, the leader of the schoolchildren, boards a cargo container along with Frosty, and the two set off for the North Pole. What they don't know is that Professor Hinkle is following them. When they reach the North Pole, Frosty is doing great, but Karen is icy cold. In an attempt to keep her from freezing to death, Frosty takes Karen into a warm greenhouse and lays her inside, but Professor Hinkle slams the door shut - melting Frosty.
The greedy magician is perfectly content to walk off in triumph with the confiscated hat, when Santa Clause appears and chastises him for what he has done. He promises Hinkle that he'll never again receive another present if he doesn't help Frosty. Hinkle relents and the cool, North Pole wind restores Frosty into his original snowman form. The hat brings him back to life, and he's reunited with Karen. Santa loads Karen and Frosty on his sleigh, and Karen is flown back to her house, where Frosty promises to return every year.
A holiday television classic unrivaled by none, Frosty the Snowman is "must-see" Christmas entertainment for the entire family. Its central theme of life and death are aptly portrayed by a snowman's good cheer and the love a young girl harbors for him. Frosty's charisma solidifies this as an enduring classic, right up there with some of the greats like Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (1964), A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965), and How the Grinch Stole Christmas (1966)…
Britt Gillette
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The Snowman DVD Reviews (MRI)
Posted on 3 December 2004