“You’ve heard the old familiar tale, how Frosty came to life. But do you know the story…of how Frosty took a wife?”—Andy Griffith as the special’s narrator.
Frosty’s Winter Wonderland is a 1976 animated Christmas television special and a standalone sequel to the 1969 special Frosty the Snowman produced by Rankin/Bass Productions. It returns Jackie Vernon as the voice of Frosty, while Andy Griffith stars as the narrator (replacing Jimmy Durante, who had been incapacitated by a stroke three years prior and retired from acting) with the rest of the cast consisting of Shelley Winters, Dennis Day, and Paul Frees. Unlike the original special which aired on CBS, Winter Wonderland aired on ABC.
Plot[]
Years have passed since Frosty left for the North Pole, but he kept his promise to the children that he’d be back again someday. When he hears about the first snowfall of the season, he decides to return. The children are overjoyed when Frosty comes back to play with them, but then Jack Frost sees the fun that the children are having with Frosty. He becomes bitterly jealous of the snowman and, when he learns about the magical hat which brought him to life, decides to steal it from Frosty so that the children will love him more. That night, Frosty and the children go for a sleigh ride to the frozen pond to do some ice-skating. Unseen by anyone, Jack shows up and creates a huge gust of snowy wind in an attempt to blow off Frosty’s magic hat, but instead of getting the real hat, he gets a similar-looking one worn by one of the horses. Believing it to be Frosty’s top hat, he disappears with it.
Despite having the time of his life playing with the kids, Frosty feels lonely when they go home each night, which makes him cry for the first time. To cheer him up, the children build him a snow wife to keep him company the next day, following the instructions Frosty gives them. After several suggestions of what to name her (including “Cleoaptra” and “Corn Flakes”), Frosty decides on Crystal, but she is not alive like he is. They try placing a lady’s hat on her head, but to no avail.
Meanwhile, Jack discovers he has the wrong hat and vows to get revenge on Frosty, believing that the snowman deliberately tricked him. Late that night, when no new magic can be found, Frost gives his stationary sweetheart with a bouquet of frost flowers, and his gift of love brings her to life. As the two joyously frolic through the snow, Jack appears uses another gust of icy wind to, this time successfully, blow off Frosty’s hat, thus rendering him lifeless. As he taunts Crystal with cries of “No more Frosty!,” undaunted by this setback and refusing to believe that her frozen fiancée is truly gone for good, Crystal makes a corsage out of snow, place it in Frosty’s button hole and gives him a kiss, bringing him back to life. Jack is befuddled by Frosty’s reanimation, and the snow-couple begin to slide down the slope of the hill. Angered, Jack throws Frosty’s hat, which returns to its rightful place on the snowman’s head.
Frosty and Crystal run through the town and announce their wedding plans to the children, who gather together with Parson Brown, the local preacher, to marry them. Although Brown cannot perform the ceremony, being only allowed to marry humans, he assists the children in building a “snow parson,” which he brings to life with the Bible. Seeing all this, Jack is very upset about the wedding because he now feels that the competition for winter popularity has doubled. Not willing to allow this to go on, he resolves to spoil the wedding with a blizzard. Crystal tries to reason with him and pleas for him to stop it. He complies, and she asks him to be the best man at the wedding (after all, the whole wedding should be wintry, so it would only be appropriate for him to be the best man). Finally feeling appreciated and after being given a kiss from Crystal, Jack happily agrees, even calling out “Happy Birthday!” The wedding commences and Frosty and Crystal are married, set to the song “Winter Wonderland.”
Frosty, Crystal and Jack have fun with the children all winter, but they soon notice that the weather is starting to grow warm again. Jack uses his powers to make it so that winter lasts forever and Frosty and Crystal can stay. As the overly long winter continues and worries the adults, Parson Brown decides to talk with everyone. He warns them of the dangers of everlasting snow, telling the group that all the seasons are wonderful and need to happen, otherwise trees will never sprout leaves and flowers will never grow. Frosty, Crystal and Jack are saddened but understand that it’s time for them to leave. They skate through town to the train station to board the train headed for the North Pole once again (with another scare for the traffic cop) and bid farewell to the children. Months pass, and the land becomes a winter wonderland again. The special ends with the narrator wishing the viewers that “all their winters be wonderful,” with Frosty and Crystal adding, “and frosty, too!”
Songs[]
Cast[]
- Andy Griffith as himself (Narrator)
- Jackie Vernon as Frosty
- Shelley Winters as Crystal (also credited as Mrs. Frosty)
- Dennis Day as Parson Brown, Snow Parson
- Paul Frees as Jack Frost, Traffic Cop (uncredited)
The Children[]
- Barbara Jo Ewing as Elsie
- Shelly Hines as Elsie’s brother
- Manfreed Olea
- Eric Stern
External links[]
Frosty's Winter Wonderland on Bing Videos