Stars: 4 out of 5
Pros: Two Christmas specials that will appeal to kids of all
ages.
Cons: Frosty is a
little slow
The Bottom Line:
Two Christmas specials
Provide cheer on a dark night
Young kids will enjoy
Since I finally got Frosty the Snowman this year, I was only
missing one special I used to watch as a kid.
So when I found the bundle Frosty's Winter Wonderland/Twas the Night Before Christmas at a cheap price, I didn't hesitate to pick them up.
If you want the true Frosty sequel, look no further than
Frosty's Winter Wonderland. This half
hour special was created in 1976, 7 years after the original aired. Jackie Vernon returns as the magic snowman who
comes to life. While none of the kids
have names this time around, they do look similar to the ones from the first
special.
The story this time finds Frosty back from the North Pole
for another winter of fun. However,
every night when the kids go back to their homes for the evening, he gets very
lonely. So the kids decide to create a
wife for him. Crystal (Shelley Winters)
is brought to life, but their happiness might be short lived. Jack Frost (Paul Frees) is very jealous of
how much the kids love Frosty. Will he
conspire to ruin their happiness?
Watching this as an adult, I see how little story this one
has. But there is still something
charming about it. I was smiling through
most of it as I watched it last night.
The kids don't really drive any of the story, instead its focus is
Frosty, Crystal ,
and Jack Frost. There is a fun bit with
Parson Brown. Yes, in addition to
"Frosty the Snowman," we get the lesser known second verse of
"Winter Wonderland" during the special. Andy Griffith steps into the Narrator roll
and does a great job with it.
I had never seen ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas before,
but it's another half hour hand drawn animated special from the same company as
Frosty. It claims to be based on the
famous poem, but that's a stretch. The
story revolves around a town that suddenly finds themselves in a horrid
position. All the letters to Santa are
being return as rejected by the recipient.
While the humans, led by a clockmaker voiced by Joel Grey, try to build
a clock to win back Santa's affection, the mice of the town find the real
problem. One of the mice has decided
that Santa can't be real and wrote a letter the offended him. Will they be able to convince Santa they do
believe in him?
I was pleasantly surprised by this cartoon. It features a decent story with two fun new
songs. The songs have a definite 70's
feel to them, but since the special was originally released in 1974, that
doesn't surprise me. With the two story
lines, the special actually moves forward rather quickly. We do get the poem at the end, but it really
could have been called anything. This is
definitely a special that will appeal to kids, and I'm sure it will become a
regular in my Christmas special rotation.
The disc itself is only the two special; there are no extra
features. For the price I paid (about
$7), I'm not complaining. The picture
and sound are fine. They won't challenge
your system, but they don't have to.
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