FoW: 'Frosty the Snowman'

Welcome to the holiday Film of the Week series! Focusing on 2D animation, some of the films will be shorts - the classics that play every year - and some will be feature films, only one of which is Disney. This week, we welcome that magical, musical snowman to bring in the holiday season: Frosty the Snowman. Frosty is one of the classic short films of the holidays, like the Rankin/Bass stop-motion specials or A Charlie Brown Christmas.

Much like other holiday specials, Frosty the Snowman is a musical, using the obvious main song. The story comes together loosely; a not-so-talented magician's hat ends up on Frosty's head, enchanting him and bringing him to life. The kids rejoice, the adults are in disbelief, and the magician is pretty much a jerk. Despite the charming song and colorful animation, two issues quickly come to light: Frosty could lose his hat (and his life) or he could melt (and lose his life). Eventually both come to pass, making this film one of the only specials to feature a main character's death. This is quickly remedied, as to avoid traumatizing children, with Santa's explanation that Frosty is made of Christmas snow and can never truly melt away.

Aside from an excusably contrived plot and a really annoying villain, Frosty the Snowman remains a holiday classic. It is one of the sadder, less fantastical shorts, with just the one main song, but the animation is worth a watch. The backgrounds are pretty, the character designs are fun, and there are great moments of animated humor, such as when a man loses half his moustache during the children's march. Frosty the Snowman will always be a part of the holiday season, even with or in spite of attempted sequels, prequels, or remakes.

Is Frosty the Snowman part of your holiday season?