Frosty the Snowman (1969)

(YouTube Streaming, August 2021) I’m not sure I had ever seen Frosty the Snowman before — although I can certainly recognize the song and be amazed that it’s Jimmy Durante acting both as the film’s narrator and its lead singer. Made for TV, the animation style is simplistic and cheap… but it’s based on some very cute designs, which have certainly helped the result hold up even today. The story is an agreeable piece of nonsense mixing magic, fantasy and comedy — it’s not much, but it works. The Rankin/Bass pair responsible for putting together Frosty the Snowman had a long career producing holiday specials for TV, but few of them have the enduring popularity of this one. No wonder it still pops up every holiday season.