Frosty the Snowman (1969) and Frosty Returns (1992) Discussion

 Hey everyone, how's it going? I'm doing okay. It's been rough around here. I'm not going to get into it here, but if you know me personally, then you know what's been going on. That's the reason my review of Home Alone 3 hasn't been posted yet, and won't be posted. At least, not the way I planned on doing it. So, instead I'm going to be talking about the 1969 Christmas special, Frosty the Snowman and its 1992 sequel, Frosty Returns in a different format. So let's get into it.

First aired on CBS on December 7th, 1969, Frosty the Snowman was produced by Rankin/Bass Productions. and is one of my absolute favourite Christmas specials of all time. That, and Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, which was also produced by Rankin/Bass. I remember watching Frosty on Global Television, along with the other Rankin/Bass Christmas specials, but I don't know if that's where it originally aired here in Canada, or if it aired on a different network. I just know that that's where it aired when I was growing up and well into the 2010s, though I don't know if Global still airs Frosty or not. I would assume they would since they tend to air alot of shows from CBS, including the NCIS franchise, but I don't watch much broadcast television anymore, so I have no idea.

One of the things I love about this special is how fun it is. And it's simple too. It's just a snowman coming to life thanks to a magic silk top hat, combined with Christmas snow, and needing to get to the North Pole before he melts. Sure, there's Professor Hinkle, whose trying to get the hat back, and would totally get Frosty all melted just to do it, but he's a complete doofus who sucks as a magician anyway, even with the hat. Speaking of Professor Hinkle, I watched Frosty on DVD on Saturday night with my brother, who was in town for the weekend, and I noticed that in the credits, Hinkle is only referred to as "the Magician". No name or anything. Which I found hilarious, and I can't believe I never noticed that before.

Besides watching it on Global every year, I watched Frosty on VHS alot. This has a long history of being on home video, but I had the 1989 VHS release from Family Home Entertainment, who is well known for releasing the original Transformers cartoon and the original 1987 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoon on VHS. As I mentioned earlier, I have it on DVD and that's how I watch it most of the time, though I still pop in the VHS from time to time. Speaking of which, let's take a look at the physical media releases before we talk about Frosty Returns.

 Family Home Entertainment first released Frosty the Snowman on VHS on August 10th, 1989. According to Moviepedia, the Movie Wiki, Trans-Atlantic Video released it on VHS in 1988, but the home media list doesn't include an actual release date or an image of the box art, nor can I find an image of it anywhere on Google Images or any eBay listings. I grew up with the original F.H.E. VHS release, though I suspect the copy I had was the 1992 edition, which has the same cover, as this edition was re-released in 1990, 1991 and 1992. I remember getting this tape in 1992 or early 1993.

F.H.E. re-released Frosty on VHS on September 15th, 1993, with a brand new cover, most likely around the time they released Frosty Returns on VHS, which we'll get to shortly. This edition was kept in print until 1997, as it got new printings in 1994, 1995, 1996, and 1997. 

Frosty was released on VHS by Golden Books Home Entertainment on September 1st, 1998. At some point F.H.E. lost the home video license for all of the Rankin/Bass Christmas specials after the 1997 reprints of the 1993 VHS edition had come out. Because we still had the 1992 printing of the 1989 release, I never owned either of these other VHS releases. I also wasn't as into physical media as I am today, so I didn't necessarily need to get newer editions of movies and TV shows. Which is why it took me so long to get most of the movies I grew up watching on VHS, on DVD. It took even longer for me to get Frosty on DVD, because even after we got rid of our VHS collection, I still watched it on TV every year, and I could watch it on YouTube once that became a thing. Golden Books Family Entertainment re-released this edition on August 31st, 1999.

Golden Books Family Entertainment first released Frosty on DVD on September 12th, 2000 with a different cover from their 1998 VHS release. This release is light on bonus features, but it does include the animator's original pencil test for Frosty. However, they also included Frosty Returns with it, instead of giving it its own DVD release, which is interesting. I'll be talking about this a little bit more later, but Frosty Returns will not have its own DVD release until 2019. Again, I'll get into that in a bit.

Frosty was reprinted on DVD by Golden Books Family Entertainment, along with Sony Wonder on September 11th, 2001...yeah, that's unfortunate. Moviepedia doesn't have more information on this release than that, but it doesn't indicate on the front cover whether or not Frosty Returns is included on this reprint or not. If not, then that's the only difference between this printing and the original 2000 printing.

Sony Wonder and Classic Media re-released this edition on September 24th, 2002. Other than the cover no longer sporting the Golden Books spine design anymore, this is basically the same edition as the previous two releases, though unlike the 2001 version, this one once again indicates that Frosty Returns is included.

Once again, Sony Wonder and Classic Media re-released Frosty on DVD on September 14th, 2004. This time there's an entirely new cover, and there aren't any bonus features included, apart from Frosty Returns, and a Spanish audio track.

On September 4th, 2007, Classic Media and Genius Entertainment put out a new DVD edition. Aside from the cover and the addition of a French audio track, this is exactly the same edition as the 2004 version, so you're not missing anything if you don't own both.

In 2010, Classic Media re-released Frosty on DVD and on Blu-ray for the very first time. Both are barebone releases with no bonus features, though Frosty Returns is included on both the DVD and the Blu-ray. The DVD was released on September 7th, 2010 and the Blu-ray was released on October 12th, 2010.

On September 3rd, 2013, Classic Media released a Blu-ray/DVD combo set, which took the Blu-ray and DVD discs from the 2010 releases and put them together.

On September 8th, 2015, Classic Media released a 45th Anniversary Collector's Edition on DVD and Blu-ray. Besides Frosty Returns being included, there's a how to draw Frosty and Santa feature, a sing-along version, and a fun facts feature that includes snowflakes on the screen with facts about Frosty. This would be the last time that Classic Media would release the Classic Christmas specials on home media.

On October 16th, 2018, Universal Pictures Home Entertaiment released Frosty on deluxe edition DVD and Blu-ray. Unlike with most, if not all of the previous DVD and Blu-ray releases, Frosty Returns wasn't included. However, the original pencil test returned as a bonus feature and two new bonus features  were added to both the DVD and the Blu-ray. The first was a feature length documentary on the history and legacy of the Rankin/Bass Christmas specials called "The Animagic World of Rankin/Bass". The second was an audio commentary by animation historian, Mark Evanier, who is also a comic book historian and television writer, who worked on shows such as Garfield and Friends and Superman: The Animated Series, among many others. I mainly know him as a comic book historian and his appearance in a documentary on the history of comic books. 

Universal released Frosty on 4K on November 1st, 2022. It appears to be the same contents as on the 2018 DVD and Blu-ray sets, including Mark Evanier's commentary track, and the Rankin/Bass documentary, which is cool. It doesn't appear that Frosty Returns appears on this release either. 

Frosty Returns is a bit of an odd duck when it comes to Christmas specials. Unlike the Rankin/Bass specials from the '60s and '70s, it was produced by Bill Melendez, the guy who produced all of the Peanuts specials that we all know and love. Which explains why the animation style looks like a Peanuts TV special rather than the classic Rankin/Bass productions. Produced in 1992, and released on home video in 1993, Frosty Returns didn't air on TV until December 1st, 1995. Which makes sense, because I remember when it first aired. My parents taped it for my siblings and I when it debuted on Global that night. Which is why I was surprised when I saw it was produced in 1992 and released on home video in 1993. Normally Christmas specials like this air on TV first, and then get released on home media. Even something like Shrek the Halls aired on TV before coming out on home media.

My history with this special is brief. As I mentioned, my parents taped it off the TV when it aired in 1995 and we watched it on that VHS for years, though, unlike the 1969 special, I didn't watch this one quite as often. I love that John Goodman is the voice of Frosty in this. Jonathan Winter voices the narrator, who never interacts with the characters, much like the way Jimmy Durante's narrator didn't interact with the characters in the 1969 special, and Bill Murray's brother, Brian, voices the special's antagonist, Mr. Twitchell, who has delusions of grandeur because he thinks winning carnival king gives him actual power (sounds like certain politicians I could name but won't). Once we stopped watching VHS tapes quite as much (I still do obviously), I didn't watch Frosty Returns on TV, so the next time I saw it was when I watched it on DVD either last year or the year before.

On September 15th, 1993 Family Home Entertainment released Frosty Returns on VHS. This was the same day they re-released the other Rankin/Bass Christmas specials on VHS, which is why the cover design for it is the same as the 1993 release of the 1969 special. By the way, I didn't actually know of the existence of the 1976 direct sequel, Frosty's Winter Wonderland, or the 1979 third film, Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July, as they didn't air up here when I was growing up. At least not to my knowledge. And despite Frosty's Winter Wonderland having multiple home video releases, including VHS releases in 1985 and 1992 and DVD releases in 2004 and 2011, my family never rented it or owned it. It wasn't until sometime in the early 2010s that I became aware of the other sequels in the Frosty and Rudolph franchises.

On September 1st, 1998 Golden Books Home Entertainment released Frosty Returns on VHS, the same day as its first releases of the Rankin/Bass specials. This would be the special's final individual home media release for 21 years.

While Frosty Returns was released on both DVD and Blu-ray, on the home video releases of the 1969 special, throughout the 2000s and 2010s, Universal put out the special's first individual DVD release, and first individual home media release since 1998, on November 5th, 2019. It's an extremely barebones release, with no special features included. 

I have both Frosty the Snowman and Frosty Returns on DVD in the The Original Christmas Classics Anniversary Collector's Edition box set from 2015. The box set also includes Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (1964), The Little Drummer Boy (1968), Santa Claus is Comin' to Town (1970), Cricket on the Hearth (1967), and Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol (1962). All of the bonus features included in this set are from the individual 2015 DVD and Blu-ray releases of these specials. Frosty and Frosty Returns are on Disc 2 with Rudolph and Cricket on the Hearth.

Alright my friends, that's going to be it for me for today. I'll be back soon for a comic book related post in this new format that I'm trying out. In terms of movies and TV shows, I'll be focusing on the movies and shows in general as well as their VHS, DVD, Blu-ray, and, potentially, 4K releases. So while a movie or show may have been released on Betamax, CED or Laserdisc, I have no experience with those formats, so I have nothing to say about them. Oh, and I'll be primarily talking about my favourite shows and movies, so it'll be not as broad as some people would like it to be. But until next time have a great rest of the day and I will talk to you all later. Take care.