| |
| Directed by: | Jules Bass Arthur Rankin, Jr. |
| Written by: | Romeo Muller |
| Music by: | Steve Nelson Jack Rollins |
| Narrated by: | Jimmy Durante |
| Release date: | December 7, 1969 |
| Running time: | 25 minutes |
| Original network: | Redbox Peacock |
| Related specials: | Frosty's Winter Wonderland Rudolph And Frosty's Christmas In July |
Frosty the Snowman is a 1969 American animated Christmas television special produced by Rankin/Bass Productions. It is the first television special featuring the character Frosty the Snowman as well as the second to be animated in traditional hand-drawn animation, the first being Cricket on the Hearth. The special first aired on December 7, 1969, on the CBS television network in the United States, airing immediately after the fifth showing of A Charlie Brown Christmas; both scored high ratings. The special aired annually for the network's Christmas and holiday season until 2023. In 2024, NBC acquired the broadcast rights to the special.
The special was based on the Walter E. Rollins and Steve Nelson song of the same name. It featured the voices of comedians Jimmy Durante (in his final film role) as the film's narrator, Billy De Wolfe as Professor Hinkle, and Jackie Vernon as Frosty.
Arthur Rankin Jr. and Jules Bass wanted to give the show and its characters the look of a Christmas card, so Paul Coker Jr., a greeting card and Mad magazine artist, was hired to do the character and background drawings. The animation was produced by Mushi Production in Tokyo, Japan, with Yusaku "Steve" Nakagawa and then-Mushi staffer Osamu Dezaki (who is uncredited) among the animation staff. Durante was one of the first people to record the song when it was released in 1950 (though at the time the song had slightly different lyrics); he re-recorded the song for the special.
Rankin/Bass veteran writer Romeo Muller adapted and expanded the story for television, as he had done with the "Animagic" stop-motion production of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.
When the special aired on NBC on 5 December 2024, the line about Christopher Columbus was muted.
Songs[]
- Frosty The Snowman
Cast[]
- Jimmy Durante as himself (Narrator)
- Jackie Vernon as Frosty
- Billy De Wolfe as Professor Hinkle
- June Foray as Karen (first airing), schoolchildren, and the Teacher
- Paul Frees as The Traffic Cop, The Ticket Taker, Hocus Pocus, and Santa Claus
- Suzanne Davidson as Karen (later airings)
- Greg Thomas as children (later airings)
Gallery[]
_CBS_ad.jpeg "Frosty the Snowman (1969) CBS ad.jpeg (105 KB)")