Frosty the Snowman 1969

     A discarded silk top hat becomes the focus of a struggle between a washed-up stage magician and a group of school children after it magically brings a snowman to life.  Realizing that newly-living Frosty will melt in the spring unless he takes refuge in a colder climate, Frosty and a young girl Karen stow away on a freight train headed for the North Pole.  Little do they know that the magician is following them and he wants his hat back?  This animated short is based on the popular Christmas song of the same name.
     This classic holiday cartoon has a few mildly perilous and sad scenes and one villain in the form of a bumbling magician.  Frosty occasionally loses the magic hat that brings him to life.  The small-town kids are sad when Frosty is just an ordinary snowman instead of their friendly walking and talking pal.  Frosty's young friend Karen runs away from home in order to help Frosty.  She truly believes she will only be gone for a little while and no one will notice that she is gone?  After a few short scenes, Karen is in danger of freezing in the refrigerated box car.  In the saddest scene, Frosty completely melts and Karen believes he's gone forever.  But, this is a family holiday movie so of course he's not gone forever!!  This movie is often paired with Frosty Returns a sequel from 1992 that isn't nearly as fun?  5* (I really liked this movie)

25 min, animation directed by Jules Bass and Arthur Rankin Jr. written by Romeo Muller with the voices of Jackie Vernon, Billy De Wolfe, Jimmy Durante, Paul Frees, June Foray.

Note:  Imdb 7.3* out of 10* with 15,323 reviews, Rotten Tomatoes 73% with 15 critics 72% with 354,137 audience scores, Amazon 4.8* out of 5* with 500 reviews, Common Sense Media, Ellen Dendy, age 3+, Letterboxd 3.2* out of 5*.

Special Note:  This movie begins with children going to school on Christmas Eve and this was common up until the mid-60s.  One of the main street stores is Steve's Tailor Shop.  This aired for the first time on the 28th anniversary of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor?

Mistakes:  When building Frosty, two boys talk to Karen.  One boy says "We're building a snowman, Karen.”  The other boy says "You make the head.”  When they speak these lines, their mouths continue moving after they're finished talking?  When Frosty carries Karen into the greenhouse, his mouth never moves when he says, "Besides, I've been needing to take off a little weight, anyway."  Professor Hinkle somehow manages to blow out a campfire with a single breath of air?