''Jack Frost'' is a 1934 animated short film produced by

Ub Iwerks Ubbe Ert Iwwerks (March 24, 1901 – July 7, 1971), known as Ub Iwerks ( ), was an American animator, cartoonist, character designer, inventor, and special effects technician. Born in Kansas City, Missouri, Iwerks grew up with a contentious ...

and is part of the

ComiColor The ComiColor Cartoon series is a series of 25 animated short subjects produced by Ub Iwerks from 1933 to 1936. The series was the last produced by Iwerks Studio; after losing distributor Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1934, the Iwerks studio's senior com ...

cartoon series.

Plot summary

The animals are enjoying the warm summer and playing together. Suddenly,

Jack Frost Jack Frost is a personification of frost, ice, snow, sleet, winter, and freezing cold. He is a variant of Old Man Winter who is held responsible for frosty weather, nipping the fingers and toes in such weather, coloring the foliage in autumn, ...

arrives to the forest and paints the world in autumn colors. He announces the coming winter to the animals of the forest and urges them to prepare for it. Most of the animals, fearing

Old Man Winter Old Man Winter is a personification of winter. The name is a colloquialism for the winter season derived from ancient Greek mythology and Old World Paganism, pagan beliefs evolving into modern characters in both literature and popular culture. He ...

, begin their hibernation preparation. A

grizzly bear The grizzly bear (''Ursus arctos horribilis''), also known as the North American brown bear or simply grizzly, is a population or subspecies of the brown bear inhabiting North America. In addition to the mainland grizzly (''Ursus arctos horri ...

cub named Billy musically retorts "I don't have to worry; I don't have to care. My coat is very furry, I'm a frizzly, grizzly bear." His mom chides him if he meets Old Man Winter, he'll change his tune. Back home, where she prepares him to go to bed by putting on his nightshirt. When he tries to sneak away to go back out, his mom catches him, spanks him swiftly, and tucks him in. When his parents have fallen asleep (

hibernation Hibernation is a state of minimal activity and metabolic depression undergone by some animal species. Hibernation is a seasonal heterothermy characterized by low body-temperature, slow breathing and heart-rate, and low metabolic rate. It most ...

), the cub prepares to run away from home. He sees Jack Frost paint frost patterns on his bedroom window and follows him. Frost catches Billy outside while he's painting pumpkins into

jack-o'-lanterns A jack-o'-lantern (or jack o'lantern) is a carved lantern, most commonly made from a pumpkin or a root vegetable such as a rutabaga or turnip. Jack-o'-lanterns are associated with the Halloween holiday. Its name comes from the reported phenomen ...

and warns him of Old Man Winter again. Billy repeats his mantra, and a miffed Frost exits. Billy notices the jack-o'-lanterns, a scarecrow and trees coming to life and sing. At first, he's happy and thinks he made the right choice to leave his home. Billy's retort is interrupted by the surprise blast of cold winds and heavy snowfall. The scarecrow suddenly turns into a snowman. Billy is soon confronted by the sinister Old Man Winter who chases after him. He tries to take shelter in several trees, but is kicked out by the owners each time...save a hospitable skunk whose scent Billy spurns. Old Man Winter corners Billy within a hollow tree trunk, trapping the cub with icicles. Billy weeps over his entrapment as Frost arrives and mocks Billy's earlier bravado. He apologizes to Frost and begs to return him home to his warm bed. A cheery Frost uses his paintbrush to turn the ice to candy canes and Billy licks his way to freedom. Frost takes him back to his home using the palette. He tucks the happy cub back to his room where he's sleeping peacefully. After tucking him in bed, Frost closes the window and paints the word The End.

Alternate versions

In 1973, Jack Frost became one of several cartoons to be redrawn and colorized by Color Systems, Inc. under the name "Radio and Television Packagers" despite the fact that the cartoon was already in color and its original audio was replaced by stock music and sounds. It's likely that the company got a hold of a silent

black and white Black-and-white (B&W or B/W) images combine black and white in a continuous spectrum, producing a range of shades of grey. Media The history of various visual media began with black and white, and as technology improved, altered to color. ...

print of the cartoon to colorize.

Image gallery

File:Ub Iwerks - ComiColor - Jack Frost (1934) - Title Card.jpg, Title card

References

Jack Frost
' at the

Big Cartoon DataBase The Big Cartoon DataBase (or BCDB for short) is an online database of information about animated cartoons, animated feature films, animated television shows, and cartoon shorts. The BCDB project began in 1997 as a list of Disney animated featu ...

External links

* *
It's A Very Special Cel Bloc Xmas: Jack Frost (1934)
, extensive plot summary by Rik Tod Johnson. * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Jack Frost 1934 animated films 1934 films American animated short films 1930s American animated films Films directed by Ub Iwerks Animated films about bears 1930s English-language films ComiColor cartoons