Frosty's Winter Wonderland

 So Rankin Bass was starting to run out of ideas for new contents and angles for Christmas for a while. So what better to make more films for TV is to do a continuation with what they made earlier? What unintentionally works for A Year Without Santa Claus can work intentionally with one of them being Frosty the Snowman. This is the sequel as Frosty’s Winter Wonderland. 

It’s the first snowy day in “Whatever City the first film takes place”, Andy Griffith took over Jimmy Durante’s role after he died, and Frosty is getting lonely at the North Pole. Frosty went on his word that he returns again someday. Frosty came back to his “friends”, when they’re inside for the day, Frosty is still lonely. So his “friends” made Frosty a wife for him, by building her the same way “they” made him.

Meanwhile, there’s an icy artist that made winter (sorta) named Jack Frost. He has grown jealous of Frosty, because they kids loves and praise him more.

Frosty brings Crystal to life with ice flowers to have fun together, but Jack Frost got revenge to take his Hat of Life away, but Crystal brought him back to life with the power of love. After assuming 10 minutes of snow sledding, they decided to get  married with a help from Parson Brown after he made a Snow Parson (both voiced by Dennis Day. Yes, Disney’s Johnny Appleseed, Dennis Day.)

I do enjoy this as much as the original. The designs of Frosty are different from the first one. Reason is Mushi Production closed down after Festival of Family Classics ended. The series isn’t the blame; the actual reason was the many animes bombed that cost Mushi Production. The production is unknown, but it was said it was done entirely by Rankin Bass, and it’s the only one done by them before they switch to Topcraft. I may believe it’s the very last thing done by Mushi Production, and the rest had to be complete their own. While Frosty kept the hat, he gained a yellow with red pattern dots, and his proportion is become almost even. Weird enough, Marketers use this Frosty design at blow-ups and ornaments. No scarf equals nude?

I like the new characters of Jack Frost, played by Paul Frees (who also reprised his role as traffic cop from the first film). Before this version of Jack Frost was made, the only one some knows is Jack Frost done by Ub Iwerk; who isn’t the focus yet is the titled character to be one up by a bear cub, and was more on warm colors in order to be different from Olde Man Winter. Having the Rankin Bass version have the cold colors fits him better. Nowadays when I hear the name Jack Frost, I think of the Icy Artist, not the warm seasonal artist, a snowman (the kinda nice Micheal Keaten that doesn’t approve of this film, or killer one), and frozen Justin Bieber of the Shire. Crystal is a nice love interest to Frosty. While she’s literally made to be marriage just like the Bride of Frankenstein in Mad, Mad, Mad Monster, she has a mind enough to put some brains and heart to Frosty and Jack Frosty than to be an ice brick. The song, “Winter Wonderland” is a nice song, and their wedding is decent to go with the lyric.

You may notice the air quotes I put on the friends. Simply put they’re not the same kids from the original, unless there’s the exception the boy that chooses food as the name with Oatmeal and this time with Corn Flakes. I miss Karen, and her replacement, Ethyl, who I swear is the same girl from The First Easter Bunny isn’t much of a replacement. Maybe Karen dyed her hair red or grew up as a blonde and moved to Transylvania in Mad, Mad, Mad Monster.

It’s a nice of an ice sequel, and I mostly watch it almost every year. It would be better if it was longer to give the relation more time than few minutes or “We shall be married in the morning!”, but with the production problems and time limit, its fine for what it’s worth. I’ll get to Christmas in July, but I need Rudolph and Year Without Santa Claus in order to get that far. Instead, we’ll go to an alternate universe to the Peanut Universe with Frosty Returns, at least I could if time wasn't so strict for me at this time in North Carolina. Instead, we'll go to the big red man himself, Santa Claus.