tek's rating: ½

Frosty's Winter Wonderland, on ABC
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This sequel to Frosty the Snowman originally aired in 1976 (when I was one year old). I must have seen it sometime in the 80s, and then... I'm not sure, but I probably saw it sometime in the early 2000s. Either way, I've wanted to see it again for years, and I finally got it as part as a DVD set of ten Christmas specials in 2016, which is when I'm writing this review.

So, this time the special is narrated by Andy Griffith. And Frosty's friends miss him, because he's been gone so long. (I didn't recognize any of the kids, but I assume they're supposed to be the same ones from the original special.) Meanwhile, Frosty, who's now living at the North Pole, misses his friends, himself. And as soon as he learns that things have gotten wintry again where they live, he goes there, and starts having lots of fun with them. However, Jack Frost is jealous that the kids love Frosty and not him, so he decides to steal Frosty's hat. Well... that plan goes awry, but he doesn't realize it for awhile, and just goes away thinking he's won.

Meanwhile, Frosty starts getting lonely because the kids have to go home every night and leave him alone. Then the kids decide he needs a snow wife. So they build a snow woman, whom Frosty names Crystal. Unfortunately, she's not alive, so... it seems kind of pointless. But Frosty doesn't give up, because he loves her. (This requires possibly the greatest suspension of disbelief that any romance has ever required, but whatever.) And... eventually Crystal does come to life. I won't spoil how, but it doesn't really make any sense. And the two of them want to get married, so the kids fetch Parson Brown (a name I'm sure we all recognize from the song "Winter Wonderland," hence the title of this special). But he says he can only marry "real" people, and suggests Frosty and Crystal be married by a snow parson. So they build one, and he comes to life, too... and at this point I am pretty much down with the fact that nothing is ever going to need to make sense, as long as it serves the story. (I also want to say that I think when I was a kid, I had the notion that the snow parson from this special was Sam the Snowman from Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, and that this special explained that character's origins. I have no idea why I might have thought that, but now it's pretty clear to me that Sam and the parson were totally different snow persons, and I still have no idea where Sam came from.)

Anyway, Jack Frost finally realizes his plan had failed, and tries again to put an end to Frosty. But... Crystal saves the day with some quick thinking (which is the only thing in the special that actually does make sense). And that's all I want to say about the plot, though it does go on a bit longer. It's really not a great story (and has no connection to Christmas). But it's not bad, and it is nostalgic to me, at least a bit. So I'm glad I finally have it on DVD.

Followed by Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July.


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