''The Legend of Frosty the Snowman'' is a 2005

direct-to-video Direct-to-video or straight-to-video refers to the release of a film, TV series, short or special to the public immediately on home video formats rather than an initial theatrical release or television premiere. This distribution strategy w ...

animated Animation is a method by which still figures are manipulated to appear as moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Today, most ani ...

film produced by

Classic Media Classic Media, LLC, doing business as DreamWorks Classics, is an American entertainment company owned by DreamWorks Animation, which is a subsidiary of Universal Pictures and a division of Comcast's NBCUniversal. It was founded as Classic Media ...

, Studio B Productions, and Top Draw Animation. The film is narrated by

Burt Reynolds Burton Leon Reynolds Jr. (February 11, 1936 – September 6, 2018) was an American actor, considered a sex symbol and icon of 1970s American popular culture. Reynolds first rose to prominence when he starred in television series such as ' ...

and features

Bill Fagerbakke William Fagerbakke ( ; born October 4, 1957) is an American actor. He voices Patrick Star in the animated series ''SpongeBob SquarePants'' and played Michael "Dauber" Dybinski on the sitcom '' Coach''. He also appeared in 12 episodes of the sitc ...

as the voice of

Frosty the Snowman "Frosty the Snowman" is a popular Christmas song written by Walter "Jack" Rollins and Steve Nelson, and first recorded by Gene Autry and the Cass County Boys in 1950 and later recorded by Jimmy Durante. It was written after the success of A ...

and voice actress

Kath Soucie Kath or KATH may refer to: * Kath (city), the historical capital of Khwarezm * Kath (name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name or surname * KATH-TV, the NBC TV station in Juneau, Alaska * KATH (AM), a radio station in ...

as Tommy Tinkerton, with background music composed by

Jared Faber Jared Faber (also known as J-Radical) is an American musician, composer, and producer who works primarily in television and film. He composed the theme songs for '' Oobi'', '' As Told by Ginger'', '' Emily's Reasons Why Not'', and ''Suburgatory' ...

. It is the fifth and last television special to feature Frosty.

Plot

Frosty the Snowman travels to the town of Evergreen, which is seemingly idyllic but full of unhappy children who must follow harsh rules. Frosty tries to play with Mayor Tinkerton's son Tommy, but he is afraid of displeasing his uptight father, who keeps the family and the town on a strict schedule and favors Tommy's devoted older brother Charlie. Seeing he cannot reach Tommy yet, Frosty finds Tommy's best friend and neighbor, a nervous boy named Walter Wader, and convinces him to play in the snow with him one night. Walter has so much fun that he walks into school confidently the next day. Word spreads about Walter breaking curfew and having fun, prompting the school's principal Hank Pankley to complain to Mr. Tinkerton. Walter and Charlie get into a food fight at lunch period and are immediately placed in detention. Tinkerton takes a pin marked "#1" from Charlie and interrogates Walter, who replies that he was "playing with a magical snowman", causing Tinkerton to react nervously. Pankley assures Tinkerton that Walter's story is not true, secretly desiring to take Tinkerton's job as mayor. As school ends, Charlie mocks Walter for believing in Frosty, but Frosty arrives outside the school and the two join him. Tommy leaves to follow Sara Simple, a schoolmate he has a crush on, but instead Frosty's hat leads him to the library, where he discovers a comic book about Frosty. The comic tells of a boy whose father is a stage magician (Professor Hinkle) who denounces magic, yet the boy brings Frosty to life using his father's hat. Tommy reads that the boy spends the rest of winter looking for Frosty, but the rest of the comic's pages are blank. An increasingly disturbed Tinkerton finds Tommy and gives him the "#1" pin, confessing that Charlie and the other children have told him the same story about a magic snowman and wanting Tommy to tell him if anything else strange happens. Tommy wears the pin to school but is ignored for being Tinkerton's new favorite. Tommy discovers his mother scrapbooking old photos of his father, revealing that the boy in the comic is Tinkerton. Frosty continues to play with the children, including Sara, until they begin disobeying rules, appalling their parents and causing Tinkerton to break down. Pankley convinces Tinkerton to make him mayor at the next town meeting, promising to restore order. He also notices Walter feeling left out of playing with Frosty and tricks him into helping him lay a trap for Frosty. Walter goes ice skating with Frosty on a frozen pond until Frosty falls through the ice and melts, allowing Pankley to steal the hat. As Tommy attempts to read the comic, the blank pages restore themselves. Pankley is revealed to have stolen the hat and locked it away the same winter Tinkerton was looking for Frosty, warning that Pankley will take over Evergreen completely if he is allowed to succeed. Tommy regains the trust of his friends when he shows them the complete comic, and they successfully retrieve the hat from the school and revive Frosty. The adults notice their children's absences and head into the woods to find them dancing with Frosty despite Pankley's attempts to stop them. Tommy returns the "#1" pin to Tinkerton, accepting his apology to disobey him, but Tinkerton assures his son he did the right thing and happily recognizes Frosty and his father's hat. Tinkerton reinstates himself as mayor after he realizes Pankley's treachery and Walter hits him with a snowball, leading Frosty to involve the other adults in a snowball fight. The adults reconcile with their children and Tinkerton comes to believe in magic again, not wanting his sons to grow up without magic as he did. He also removes the rules and curfews from the town. The film's narrator is revealed to be an elderly Tommy who now lives together with Sara, hearing her call him home from the cold.

Cast

as Narrator, Old Tommy *

as Frosty the Snowman *

as Tommy Tinkerton, Old Sara *

Tom Kenny Thomas James Kenny (born July 13, 1962) is an American actor and comedian. He is known for voicing the titular character in ''SpongeBob SquarePants'' and associated media. Kenny has voiced many other characters, including Heffer Wolfe in '' ...

as Mr. Tinkerton * Larry Miller as Principal Pankley * Jeannie Elias as Charlie Tinkerton, Librarian *

Kenny Blank Kenny Blank (born September 15, 1977), also known as Kenn Michael, is an American actor, musician and director. Blank is best known for his role as Michael Peterson in the television series ''The Parent 'Hood'' from 1995 to 1997 for which he al ...

as Walter Wader *

Tara Strong Tara Lyn Strong (née Charendoff; born February 12, 1973) is a Canadian-American actress. She is known for her voice work in animation, websites, and video games. Strong's voice roles include animated series such as '' The New Batman Adventure ...

as Sara Simple, Sonny Sklarew * Grey DeLisle as Miss Sharpey, Simon Sklarew, Sullivan Sklarew *

Candi Milo Candyce Anne Rose "Candi" Milo (born January 9, 1961) Timestamps: (00:27:12-00:27:45) Milo states that she is "firmly 51". (00:06:40-00:06:47) Milo states that she was born in Palm Springs. (00:16:23-00:16:25) She says her birthday is in Januar ...

as Mrs. Tinkerton, Girl #2 * David Jeremiah as Mr. Simple, Mr. Sklarew, Townsperson #1 *

Tress MacNeille Teressa Claire MacNeille (née Payne; born June 20, 1951) is an American voice actress, whose credits include voicing Dot Warner on the animated television series '' Animaniacs'', Babs Bunny on ''Tiny Toon Adventures'', Chip and Gadget Hackwrenc ...

as Mrs. Simple, Girl #1 * Vernee Watson-Johnson as Mrs. Wader * Evan Gore as Paperboy

Background

The film holds only a loose continuity with

Rankin/Bass Rankin/Bass Animated Entertainment (founded and formerly known as Videocraft International, Ltd. and Rankin/Bass Productions, Inc.) was an American production company located in New York City, and known for its seasonal television specials, usual ...

's 1969

television adaptation An adaptation is a transfer of a work of art from one style, culture or medium to another. Some common examples are: * Film adaptation, a story from another work, adapted into a film (it may be a novel, non-fiction like journalism, autobiography, ...

of Steve Nelson and Jack Rollins's 1950 Christmas song, "

", although Frosty's design by Paul Coker, Jr. is identical and Tommy's grandfather is clearly Professor Hinkle, the reformed antagonist of the original special. Although

Santa Claus Santa Claus, also known as Father Christmas, Saint Nicholas, Saint Nick, Kris Kringle, or simply Santa, is a legendary figure originating in Western Christian culture who is said to bring children gifts during the late evening and overnigh ...

is mentioned, there is no direct reference to Christmas itself. Even so, this special has more in common with the original than the previous sequel in 1992, the

Lorne Michaels Lorne Michaels (born Lorne David Lipowitz; November 17, 1944) is a Canadian-American producer, screenwriter, and comedian. He is best known for creating and producing ''Saturday Night Live'' (1975–1980, 1985–present) and producing the '' La ...

Bill Melendez José Cuauhtémoc "Bill" Melendez (November 15, 1916 – September 2, 2008) was an American character animator, voice actor, film director and producer. Melendez is known for working on the ''Peanuts'' animated specials. Before ''Peanuts'', he p ...

collaboration '' Frosty Returns''. The film was produced in late 2004, but like '' Rudolph's Shiny New Year'', it was not released until a full year later. The film originally aired annually on

Cartoon Network Cartoon Network (often abbreviated as CN) is an American cable television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. It is a part of The Cartoon Network, Inc., a division that also has the broadcasting and production activities of Boomerang, ...

from 2005 until December 11, 2011, when the special moved to Kids & Teens TV, which ceased operations in 2019. Following this, the special was acquired by AMC as part of their Best Christmas Ever event. Distribution rights to the film are currently held by

NBCUniversal Television Distribution NBCUniversal Syndication Studios (a.k.a. NUSS), formerly known as NBCUniversal Television Distribution (a.k.a. NUTD), Universal Domestic Television, Studios USA Television Distribution and MCA TV, is the television syndication division of NBCUniv ...

following its parent

Comcast Comcast Corporation (formerly known as American Cable Systems and Comcast Holdings),Before the AT&T merger in 2001, the parent company was Comcast Holdings Corporation. Comcast Holdings Corporation now refers to a subsidiary of Comcast Corpora ...

's acquisition of

DreamWorks Animation DreamWorks Animation LLC (DWA, also known as DreamWorks Animation Studios and simply known as DreamWorks) is an American animation studio that produces animated films and television programs and is a subsidiary of Universal Pictures, a divisio ...

, which acquired the film's holder

in 2012. DreamWorks released the special for free on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...

on November 30, 2017, along with the original ''Frosty the Snowman''.The Legend of Frosty the Snowman , 2005 , HD , Full Movie , Christmas Movies for Kids
''Animated Cartoons for Children'' (verified account of DreamWorks Animation). November 30, 2017. Retrieved November 11, 2021.

References

Notes

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Legend of Frosty the Snowman, The 2005 films 2005 animated films 2000s American television specials 2000s animated television specials American Christmas films American children's animated fantasy films Canadian animated fantasy films Animated Christmas films Canadian Christmas films Canadian fantasy films Frosty the Snowman television specials DHX Media films 2000s Christmas films Films set in the 1970s Philippine children's films Philippine Christmas films Philippine animated films Animated direct-to-video specials Canadian direct-to-video films 2000s children's animated films 2000s American films 2000s Canadian films