Frosty Returns: The Mediocre Sequel to a Classic Holiday Special

Since I was very young, I have been a fan of the original Frosty the Snowman special, which turns forty years old this year. The cartoon was absolutely perfect, and featured enough charm to be classified as a holiday special that everyone should see every year. However, for the past fourteen years, it has been paired by an inferior sequel, one that has little to do with the original and even less to do with the holiday season. It is called Frosty Returns, and it first aired in 1995 on CBS and has been shown annually ever since. While the cartoon does has its merits, it also has its downsides that make it the lesser of the two Frosty cartoons that CBS airs. Let me explain why I feel the way I do.

The story revolves around Holly, a young girl with no friends except for Charles, a boy obsessed with science. It is wintertime, which kids love and adults hate with a passion, and the town of Beansboro is also preparing for the annual winter carnival. While preparing for her magic act at the carnival, Holly loses her hat in a strong breeze, and chases it down, only to find it in the possession of Frosty, the magical snowman who hails from the North Pole. The two of them quickly become friends, but their friendship is threatened by Summer Wheeze, a spray that makes snow disappear in an instant.

The spray is the invention of Mr. Twitchell, a man who hopes that it will result in his being crowned king of the carnival. Naturally, Holly is concerned that the spray will mean the end of Frosty, and at one point, he nearly melts away. Luckily, Charles had some snow packed away for an experiment, but decides to use it to save Frosty. Ultimately, Holly must convince the townsfolk that snow does have its benefits, and does so at the carnival, when her magic seemingly brings Frosty to life. Mr. Twitchell subsequently turns over a new leaf and never again tries to ruin the natural order with any artificial sprays.

Frosty Returns is not the direct sequel to Frosty the Snowman...that honor belongs to Frosty's Winter Wonderland, which still airs in ABC Family. That special in turn was followed by the movie Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July. In those films, some aspects of the original special, such as Frosty reverting back to a normal snowman after losing his hat, remained intact. Here, Frosty can take his hat off and still remain alive. There are almost no references to the original special: no mention of the evil Professor Hinkle, not even a brief origin story. Frosty does state that he is from the North Pole at one point, but he does not elaborate further on that fact. Perhaps these differences can be chalked up to the fact that Frosty Returns was not made by Rankin-Bass, unlike the original special, and thus lapses in continuity were to be expected.

To call this a Christmas special would be stretching it, as other that Frosty's presence and theme song, there is no obvious indication that the story takes place during the holiday season. For all I know, the special occurs in January or February, at a time when Frosty would be considered out of season. Even the worst holiday specials at least make it clear that they happen during the holiday season. Why the producers decided to not make any mention of Christmas, or the holiday season for that matter, I can not say. Take Frosty out of the story, and this special would simply become a wintertime cartoon with no Christmas references whatsoever.

The idea of a spray used to make snow vanish also seems to be a bit frightening and topical for a holiday special. Granted, this was made at a time when climatic concerns were gradually becoming a hot topic, leading up to fears of global warming in recent years. However, this special was made with children in mind, and do we really need to let environmental fears get in the way of having them try to enjoy the cartoon? To me, a good holiday special does not need to rely on hot issues to be enjoyable, and while the message of how harmful artificial climate changes can be has good intentions, it does not belong in a cartoon such as this.

All of this is not to say that Frosty Returns is completely bad. There are still some heartfelt moments to be found, and the special does not become too hip unlike specials in recent years. Some of the voice acting, particularly Andrea Martin as the grumpy teacher Miss Carbuncle and Brian Doyle-Murray as Mr. Twitchell, is good, and the former has the best line of dialog in the whole cartoon when she mentions where snow actually belongs, such as in songs by Bing Crosby. You do get the sense of caring for the good guys and hoping that they will persevere, although since this is a holiday special, that idea is pretty much a foregone conclusion. As for other complaints, it just does not have the same great feel of the older special, perhaps due in part to the reasons mentioned above. Also, I do not know why CBS airs this right after the original special when they have very little in common with each other. Even so, it is now considered to be the "official" sequel, and I suppose whatever will be, will be.

Frosty Returns is not terrible, but due to having little in common with the first special, seemingly having little to do with Christmas, and its insistence on using the theme of environmental changes to tell the story, it does not rise very much past mediocrity. It still has its merits, and there is a great holiday special in there somewhere, but it cannot hold a candle to its predecessor. Even so, it is better, if slightly, than some more recent holiday specials, which hardly seem to know the true meaning of the holiday season. I can see CBS continuing to air Frosty Returns alongside its superior prequel for many more years to come. When it airs this holiday season, as I am sure it will, you can check it out for yourself if you have not done so and see which of the two specials is better. For me, the answer is quite obvious, but I will leave it up to you to see if you will agree with my thoughts.