RANKIN/BASS PART TWO: FROSTY & SANTA CLAUS

Frosty the Snowman
What can I say about Frosty? He's a magical snowman who comes to life! How much better can it get, really?

The animation was pretty limited and I enjoyed watching various objects blip out of existence for a few frames every now and then. The style of the art is very neat, though. Black outlines around the outside of characters, and colored outlines on the inside.



This particular Christmas special emphasizes the importance of friendship. Santa does make an appearance, but only to give the moral of the story and get rid of the bad guy. It's not about presents or any of the typical Santa-related subject matter. It doesn't even need to be a Christmas special to get across the message it conveys.

Nevertheless, it's cute... it's fun... it's one of those cartoons we all grew up on and has a special place in our hearts.

Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town
I was a bit wary of this Christmas special at first. My only exposure to Rankin Bass for the longest time had only been Rudolph and Frosty. Anything besides that I, for no rational reason at all, refused to watch. So when Kurtis suggested watching Little Drummer Boy and this one I wasn't very excited. But I got done watching it and realized I really did enjoy it.

The special is all about answering every little kid's question about Santa. Why does he have a beard? Why does he wear a red coat? Why does he go down the chimney? The story opens with a mailman (played by Fred Astaire) delivering letters to Santa. He decides to tell everyone the origin of Santa Claus, to answer everyone's questions at once. Some questions that were answered were some I hadn't even thought of. Like how did he meet Mrs. Claus? Or why do we put little presents in stockings?

It was a lot of fun... and it made me think! Okay, so it was pretty hokey. But I don't have any more questions about Santa Claus!