Rankin/Bass quite honestly did more harm than good in the longrun. No, I'm not citing stuff like sexism or racism in that. I mean we have a bunch of fundamentally flawed Christmas specials that are heralded to this very day from constant television airings. How else did Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory get its following?
I know no movie, show, special is ever perfect, but there's a limit, especially when it comes down to how its executed. It's a hard pill to swallow, but Rankin/Bass' animated specials, a majority at least, just don't hold up as well as they should. Exceptions apply, but without the rose tinted sunglasses you can't possibly see past the faults many of them have, especially if the remainder has little to show for it. Of all the Rankin/Bass specials, I consider Frosty the Snowman to be the worst of the bunch, bar none. If the only defense you can raise for it is nostalgia, it proves my point. Not to say you're not allowed to like it, if you enjoy the special you have the right.
There's a certain order when it comes to Frosty specials and their reps. Ironically, the few Frosty specials I kinda like, emphasis on kinda, are the two that're considered the worst, as contrarian as that sounds. Funnily enough, the worst specials tend to have more thought into character motivations, keep that in mind as I get into the 60s special. Frosty Returns at worst is an environmentalist pamphlet, but if so it's at least better than others like it. I get the picture, Holly wants to prevent the mass removal of snow if it means she has to lose Frosty forever, and to its credit the snow removal is done out of pettiness, so you can err more to Holly's side especially if you as a kid enjoyed snow days.
As for Legend of Frosty the Snowman, let me put it like this, the only takeaway people took from this is that it burns its ties to the Rankin/Bass special, that's all anyone ever says about it. What is this movie like in a vacuum? Honestly still not good, but not as bad as people claim it to be. At large it tries to be quirky, but it really lacks the staying power that something like Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer had.
But What the Hell is Wrong with Frosty the Snowman?
To put it simply, it had little thought put into it, you ironically feel more bad for the villain because he was essentially wronged and now forced to get the shaft, the jokes are bland and at this rate you'd wish it were stop motion because the cel animation looks like ass, lacking the stylization Peanuts had. It's not much, but beyond the songs, they essentially encompass the entire special.
The plot can be easily summed up. Hack magician gets rid of hat that he believes doesn't work, kids find hat and use it for a snowman they made, snowman comes to life, hijinks ensue between their fun and the magician trying to get the hat back, snowman dies, Santa says it's no longer his hat because Christmas. You could argue that the plot was made as it were to go along with the song of the same name, but look, a little liberty can go a long way. High risk high reward.
I mean is it too much to ask for the plot to be about a girl finding an old top hat in her attic or buy it from a store, it turns out to be magic and Frosty is born. You'd probably argue that there'd be no conflict if it were that way, and if so, why not make it so the hat is valuable, and Hinkley had been after it in order to improve his career, thus he tries to snatch it. As for that emotional Frosty death scene at the end, why not have it as a noble sacrifice, where Hinkle falls under thin ice and Frosty dives in to save him, melting to nothing. Realizing the noble effort, Hinkle is unable to take the hat and lets Karen keep it as a sign of good faith, and hey, Christmas is the time to give so it checks out.
One thing that always bothered me about this special is that Karen basically stole a hat, whether intentional or not. Whether it landed on the snowman or in the vicinity of the kids, they just took it for themselves basically. In an era where parents were more prudish, this would've raised a lot of red flags, don't take what may be personal property, it's basic morality. It's not even like this was intended to be groundbreaking or subversive, this was just not well thought out.
And it gets especially bad at the end, where Santa comes in and says "Oh, you want your hat back? Tough. I'll put you on my naughty list and give you a punishment." What were they going for with that? This sounds like something Phelous would mock. This is what happens if you never grew up with the special, the faults take the forefront.
And look, this isn't to say all specials from this timeframe held up poorly, Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol was the first Christmas special and it aged gracefully, so have most others. It's possible, but Frosty's issues are too big to ignore if you never grew up with it. It's certainly one of the more faulty Rankin/Bass specials, and what makes it worse is that while it's technically more competent than cheaper offerings, that means you can see the film more objectively, flaws and all.
You can do much better, especially with a dumb story or an over the top saccharine tale, or perhaps one with both. They're not any better, but they're certainly a lot more fun to watch.
My Question to You
If you still enjoy this movie, then answer me this. What do you see in it? You can still enjoy it, but I want to know your mentality, if it's anything beyond just being nostalgic for it.
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