Best Frosty the Snowman Special

[Brandon Pierce]

I liked the first one, Frosty & Rudolph's Christmas in July, and Frost Returns.
I didn't think Frosty's Winter Wonderland was very good.

[J.E.Smith]

Frosty Returns. None of the others have Midget Canadian Jonathan Winters Man in them^_^.

[TimTwoFace]

I've only seen the original and Frosty Returns, and the original is an instant classic; Frosty Returns was really lame.

Never heard of the other two, though - when were they produced?

-Tim

[Eddy]

I voted the original.

Frosty Returns is one of the worst holiday specials I have ever seen in my life. That piece of trash deserves to be buried deep undergound and never viewd by anyone ever again.

[Daizaburo Estes]

Hmmm.....well, I can't say I've seen many of these, but, either way, I'm pretty sure I'm just gonna stick to familiar ground and go with the original Frosty.

[Skeeter]

I picked Frosty & Rudolph's Christmas in July. I loved how Rankin-Bass stuck Frosty and Rudolph in the same continuity, and I also thought that Frosty and his family easily made the transition from 2-D animated characters to the stop-motion, 3-D animation that Rankin-Bass is famous for.

"Frosty Returns" needs to be burned, and the ashes disposed of properly. There are shows and specials that have no business being made, and Frosty Returns is one of them.

-Skeeter

[Gary L Thompson]

I've only seen the original and Frosty Returns, and the original is an instant classic; Frosty Returns was really lame.

Never heard of the other two, though - when were they produced?

-Tim

Frosty's Winter Wonderland came out shortly after the first as its sequel. I opted to pass on it, because I was suspicious it would be your typical lame sequel when they trumpeted Frosty was getting married. Though I have no idea when it originally came out, I did see "Frosty and Rudolph's Christmas in July" a time or two, and my first thought was "this is really odd."

"Frosty Returns" I found interesting, it was almost like the answer to the question, "What would Frosty the Snowman be like if he were done like a Charlie Brown TV special?" (In fact, it was done by the Peanuts crew!) But the original Frosty--well, if you think "A Charlie Brown Christmas" and "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" were about the only holiday specials to really capture the true spirit of the holiday, I guess Frosty would be prime example of mere holiday fluff. But who cares, it's fun! Probably one of the best things Jimmy Durante ever done, and how can you hate a show in which the villain whimpers, "but that's not fair, us villain magicians have to make a living too you know!" Plus, it has a really great rendition of the song.

[Martianinvader]

Aw man, I knew some of you people were going to bash "Frosty Returns." I vastly prefer this to the original Frosty sequel, where he got a wife and...that was it, basically. So boring. I'm so glad CBS kicked it off and put on a better one.
"Us villain magicians have to make a living too, you know" does NOT hold a candle to such absolute gems as "Let's go outside and make a fertility goddess" and "Where do you think you are, MTV??" This one is not only better and funnier than the original, it also actually makes references to other things(no other special does that). I can't think of a smarter special that's run every year. And I don't care that Frosty doesn't look the same. That's a copyright issue they had to overcome--they couldn't use that exact build from the first show.

Edit: Oh yeah, and Frosty doesn't say "HAPPY...BIRTHDAY!!" in it, thank God.

Of course, my favorite holiday special will always be the first Rudolph.

[RZetlin]

The original Frosty the snowman is the best. Second place goes to Frosty & Rudolph's Christmas. The stop motion animation is cool.

I don't ever remember seeing Frosty's Winter Wonderland.

Frosty Returns just sucked. The story is lame. (The town is divided by cans of snow removal) The writing is dry as a hot desert. The series reflected too much of the 1990s PC values. Compared to the other Frosty series, watching Frosty Returns is so painful because you know Frosty can be so much better.


Edit: Oh yeah, and Frosty doesn't say "HAPPY...BIRTHDAY!!" in it, thank God.


Damn it! But that was Frosty's charm!

[Daffyfan2003]

I voted for the first one. I have to agree that "Frosty Returns" did look like a Charlie Brown special, but wasn't quite as good. How the heck could frosty move around without wearing his hat anyway?

[Eddie G.]

Frosty is the best, and Returns is second although I agree with the complaints about it.

[Eddy]

I didn't like any Frosty sequels.

Frosty Returns... SMART? Don't make me laugh. Forsty was able to be alive without the magic hat in that God awful thing... It was NOT smart.

[TnAdct1]

Never heard of the other two, though - when were they produced?

Both Frosty's Winter Wonderland and Frosty and Rudolph's Christmas in July were produced in the 1970's. Frosty's Winter Wonderland is about Frosty getting married. Meanwhile, Frosty and Rudolph is a stop-motion animated film featuring Frosty, his family, and a certain red-nosed reindeer spending the summer by helping an American circus be a success while trying to foil the evil plans of a sorcerer who wants to make stop Rudolph's nose from shining.

[DianaGohan]

What about Frosty vrs Jesus?

Okay, that was sort of a South Park skit (before South Park was even a show) and not a "real" Frosty cartoon, but it's my favorite mentioned so far.

[Gary L Thompson]

I don't ever remember seeing Frosty's Winter Wonderland.


Well, if you're curious about seeing it, "Frosty's Winter Wonderland" will be shown during this Saturday's Rankin-Bass marathon on the ABC Family Channel.

[DarkPoet89]

The original Frosty was the best. I always make sure I see it at least once every holiday season. And I agree that Frosty Returns was awful. The plot was horrible and the songs were annoying and badly written.

[RockItShipper]

Had the R-B marathon on while I was working.. Caught F'sWW... In the magical world of R-B, you can try to kill someone and still be best man at his wedding. WW was annoying, but it's kinda fun to see the hero of one R-B special as the villain in another.

[JDWeil]

I may be old-fashioned, but the best Frosty film i've seen is the original Jam Handy production the was directed by Max Fleischer. There is also a short cartoon built around the song that was produced by UPA in the '50's.

[Brainatra]

I may be old-fashioned, but the best Frosty film i've seen is the original Jam Handy production the was directed by Max Fleischer. There is also a short cartoon built around the song that was produced by UPA in the '50's.

Ah yes, that one----they reran it on the "Bozo Show" (on WGN in Chicago) as a kid; my sister and I thought Frosty looked like a stick figure in that one...

Anyway, my takes on the Frosty specials:

Frosty the Snowman: the original, and the best (the one I voted for). Still think it holds up, even if it is pretty lightweight story :-)

Frosty's Winter Wonderland: the first sequel, produced in the mid-70's. Apparently, one *can* become one's best man at a wedding after trying to kill them (heh). Pretty entertaining (though ABC Family's rerunning of it cut out a bunch of scenes, *grumble*)...

Frosty and Rudolph: OK special (Ethel Merman's "singing" aside). This one had various elements/characters from other specials (including Jack Frost, with the design from the "Jack Frost" stop-motion special) show up (a la some big honkin' comic book crossover)...


Frosty Returns: *UGH*. I vote "burn it" as well...

-B.

[Shaggy&Daphne]

The first Frosty special was the best. You can't mess with the original. After that, there was nothing else but a chain of lame sequals for no other purpose but to make money.

[PeppeRaskell1]

The first, I thought, was the best.

Coincidentally, I heard a version of the "Frosty the Snowman" song sung by Jimmy Durante at work yesterday, where he spoke with some kids at the beginning, sang the song, talked with the kids again, then sang the rest of the song (no Maury Laws BG music, though). Technically, this would be some kind of in-joke, wouldn't it?

And here's a question I want to ask of any real music trivia experts out there: Who was the FIRST singer to record "Frosty the Snowman?"

[Gary L Thompson]

The first, I thought, was the best.

Coincidentally, I heard a version of the "Frosty the Snowman" song sung by Jimmy Durante at work yesterday, where he spoke with some kids at the beginning, sang the song, talked with the kids again, then sang the rest of the song (no Maury Laws BG music, though). Technically, this would be some kind of in-joke, wouldn't it?

And here's a question I want to ask of any real music trivia experts out there: Who was the FIRST singer to record "Frosty the Snowman?"

That's a very good question. Gene Autry was the first to make "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" a standard, and Bing Crosby make "White Christmas" a hit. But I have no idea where "Frosty the Snowman' originated, I'd like to know that myself.