Frosty the Snowman/Frosty Returns
by Arthur Rankin Jr., Bill Melendez, Evert Brown, Jules Bass
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Actor: Andrea Martin, Billy De Wolfe, Jackie Vernon, Jan Hooks, Jonathan WintersDirector: Arthur Rankin Jr., Bill Melendez, Evert Brown, Jules Bass
Brand: GENIUS PRODUCTS INC
Producer: Bill Melendez
Writer: Jim Lewis
Writer: Oliver Goldstick
Writer: Romeo Muller
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); Spanish (Dubbed)
Format: Color, Dubbed, DVD, NTSC, Original recording remastered
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 70 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2004-09-14
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Classic Media
DVD Reviews of Frosty the Snowman/Frosty Returns
DVD Review: The Two Faces Of Frosty
Summary: 3 Stars
Do not let the double feature release of "Frosty The Snowman" and "Frosty Returns" fool you. Even though the titles appear together on video (and are aired back-to-back each Christmas season on CBS), they are, by no means, a series. The tone of "Frosty The Snowman" differs from the tone of "Frosty Returns." The animation of the two features is different.The actors are different. Most of the characters are different. All that remains the same are Frosty and his song.
"Frosty The Snowman" marked the first animated feature where the direction and production team of Arthur Rankin, Jr. and Jules Bass used traditional cel animation. As Rankin explains in one of the few DVD extras, Rankin wanted "Frosty The Snowman" to have a greeting card feel - and these characters look like they'd be found on a greeting card. They were designed by Paul Coker, Jr., who had made greeting cards prior to joining Rankin/Bass. The story is based on the song by Steve Nelson and Jack Rollins, and is simply and faithfully adapted to the screen by Romeo Muller, who wrote on many a Rankin/Bass project. On the last day before Christmas vacation, a grade school teacher (voiced by June Foray) brings the magician Professor Hinkle (Billy De Wolfe) to school to entertain her class. Hinkle, though, is so inept, he can't even pull his rabbit, Hocus Pocus, from his hat. Hocus comes out while the Professor is messing up another trick. The frustrated Professor throws his hat in the garbage.
After school, the students build a snowman, using the discarded hat, which they don't realize has been brought there by Hocus. Once the snowman has his hat, he exclaims "Happy Birthday!" The children decide he should have a name. A little girl named Karen decides Frosty is the appropriate name for their creation. Hinkle, though, sees his hat is magic and takes it from them. Hocus, hiding in the hat, hops off Hinkle's head and returns to the children. Frosty (Jackie Vernon) spends time with the kids as they play around on the streets of the town. The weather doesn't stay cold, and Frosty knows he has to head to the North Pole so that he won't melt. Frosty, Karen, and Hocus stow away in a refrigerated boxcar headed north, with Hinkle in pursuit. Their intent is to get to the home of Santa Claus (Paul Frees), where neither heat nor Hinkle can hurt Frosty. Santa, of course, is not oblivious to the plight of the trio.
Their tale is narrated by Jimmy Durante, who sets a lighthearted ease befitting the story. He also takes the honors of singing the song for whom the feature is named.He shows how Karen understands the world differently than adults, and how her sense of fair play stands in contrast with the adult world. Karen's encounters with a police officer and a station agent (both voiced by Frees) provide some of the many sweet and amusing moments of the cartoon. My only complaint is that neither the feature nor the DVD release give credit to the young woman who voiced Karen. The credit has been given to Foray, but the veteran voice actress best known as the voice of Rocket J. Squirrel has said it's not her voice we hear. A small search of the internet, including IMDb, did not provide a clue to the girl's identity. Vernon is perfect as the innocent, but fast-learning, Frosty. When he sees that Karen needs to get to someplace warm, he knows he can't start a fire for her. With help from Hocus, he finds a solution. De Wolfe and Frees are also strong in support.
"Frosty The Snowman" remains the video greeting card that Rankin and Bass had imagined for the feature. It incorporates the elements of the song into a story that captures the song's essence. "Frosty The Snowman" is a welcome holiday visitor every Yule season, and will be for many families for many years to come.
The song closes on this note of promise: "I'll be back again someday." In the case of the animated "sequel" entitled "Frosty Returns," that note should be taken as a note of warning. It's not the fault of the actors - they do what they can with this feature, which first aired in 1992. By this time, all of the adults who had done voices for "Frosty The Snowman" had died, with the exception of June Foray. Rankin/Bass was no longer doing animated features. Frosty, apparently, doesn't even return to the place where first created him. I'm not sure how any actor familiar with the original feature might see this working on this follow-up as any sort of honor. Frosty (John Goodman) has been created in the town of Beansboro right around the time the town is preparing for its annual winter carnival. Young magician Holly DeCarlo (Elisabeth Moss) is trying to perfect her magic act for the carnival with her friend Charles (Michael Patrick Carter). When Charles complains that Holly's house is too hot, she opens the window, and her hat blows out the window and onto Frosty's head.
Frosty's arrival, though, coincides with the invention of a product called Summer Wheeze. Its creator, Mr. Twitchell (Brian Doyle-Murray), promises to make snow vanish when people spray his product on it. All of the adults, who have been complaining about the snowfall, welcome the opportunity of a snow-free winter. Even Holly's mother (Jan Hooks) encourages Holly to use it. Holly's not a fan of the product, and even confronts Twitchell about Summer Wheeze. Charles, who is the science expert in his class, has different objections to the product. Twitchell, though, dreams of riches and being crowned the king of the winter carnival. He's out to silence the opposition, and even sends someone after Frosty with a can of Summer Wheeze.
"Frosty Returns" is almost completely devoid of cheer. I live in a city where winter snowfall is a fact of life, but I have never heard as much bellyaching about the snow in my own life as I did in this cartoon. Even Holly's classmates get into the act, as one student says snow shoveling leads to heart attacks, and another welcomes Summer Wheeze as a way to have ten months of summer vacation every year. "Frosty The Snowman" was about the joy of the Christmas season. "Frosty Returns" makes Ebenezer Scrooge look like a happy man. When the citizens of Beansboro aren't complaining about the weather, others like spinster schoolteacher Miss Carbuncle (Andrea Martin) are just perpetually complaining. Given this, I don't know why the narrator (Jonathan Winters), a traveling spirit in love with cold weather, would ever go to a locale like Beansboro. "Frosty Returns" isn't even a lesson about the true meaning of Christmas. It's a lesson about not interfering with the environment.
The animation itself is completely uninspired. Directors Bill Melendez and Evert Brown, who spent many years working behind the scenes on Peanuts animated features, present a community filled with characters that look like rejects from Charles Schulz's famous comic strip. Mark Mothersbaugh, whose composition credits include work on the "Rugrats" series and the films of Wes Anderson, offers up the utterly forgettable "Let There Be Snow." He works so hard to make it memorable, each character takes a verse of the song, offering their take on wintry weather. The script by Oliver Goldstick meanders so far from the song "Frosty The Snowman," we get scenes where Frosty doesn't have to wear a magic hat in order to walk and talk. I suppose a little contact with a magic hat goes a long way.
"Frosty The Snowman" and "Frosty Returns" are as mixed a blessing as someone can get in a DVD double feature. "Frosty The Snowman" celebrates the joy of Christmas, while "Frosty Returns" complains much more than it celebrates the season. The only DVD extras available for "Frosty Returns" are chapter selection and the option to view it in either English or Spanish. Even Sony Wonder and Classic Media, who released this DVD, give more time to listing credits on "Frosty The Snowman" than they do on "Frosty Returns." It appears even these distributors don't think much of this pairing. I have some words of advice for those considering this DVD purchase: think of this as purchasing "Frosty The Snowman" and getting "Frosty Returns" for free. This way, you can consider your money well spent.
As individual features, I give "Frosty The Snowman" five stars, while "Frosty Returns" gets one star.
Originally published on Epinions.com.
Description of Frosty the Snowman/Frosty Returns
Studio: Genius Products Inc Release Date: 09/05/2006 Run time: 70 minutes Rating: NrBestsellers in DVD
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