Frosty the Snowman (1969)

Tonight. I'm really doing a Christmas movie marathon!  For my second of three films tonight, I watched Frosty the Snowman (1969).

SYNOPSIS:
When a terrible magician (Billy De Wolfe) throws his hat out, some kids pick it up and add it to their snowman, who magically comes to life!  Afraid of melting in the warming temperatures, Frosty (Jackie Vernon) decides to go to the North Pole to stay cool. He is assisted by Karen (June Foray), one of the children who helped bring him to life.  But the magician, discovering the magic in his hat, wants it back and proceeds to follow them...

REVIEW:
I loved this film as a kid!  I can't tell you how many times I watched it over and over again.  But I haven't seen it since I was really young, so it was interesting to see it again as an adult.

This story was narrated by Jimmy Durante, who played a cartoon version of himself, something he was known for doing at the time (playing himself, not the cartoon version of himself).  This is the second older cartoony film I've seen today that had a narrator who looked like his character, as Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (1964) had a snowman designed to look like Burl Ives, who narrated the story.  Must've been a thing in the '60s.

I always thought it was funny how Frosty always said, "Happy Birthday!" every time he came to life.  I mean, it's accurate; he WAS just born...

It was interesting that everyone claimed the magician had no right to his own hat, simply because he got mad and threw it out the door.  His own rabbit (named Hocus Pocus), who lived in the hat, made sure he wouldn't get his hat back and follows Frosty and Karen, doing what he can to help them out and keep the magician away.

Karen made a dumb decision to go with Frosty to the North Pole, which put her in a dangerous situation.  While Frosty was fine in the cold, Karen started to freeze to death and had to be rescued.  Also, the scene where they both get locked in a greenhouse and Frosty started to melt in the heat was devastating for child me!

RECOMMENDATION:
I absolutely loved this TV special!  Like I said, I watched the hell out of it when I was little.  Anyone who hasn't seen this wonderful special needs to track it down on YouTube (I haven't seen it anywhere else).  It's a fun little story about Frosty coming to life and learning about the world around him with the help of children.  Go watch it!  It's only 25 minutes long.