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''Frosty the Snowman'' is an American animated Christmas family television special based on the song "Frosty the Snowman". The program, which first aired on December 7, 1969 on CBS (where it still airs to this day), was produced for television by Rankin/Bass and featured the voices of comedians Jimmy Durante as the film's narrator (Durante's final performance in a film) and Jackie Vernon as the titular character. This special marked the first use of traditional cel animation (as opposed to stop-motion animation) for Rankin/Bass in a Christmas special. Arthur Rankin, Jr. and Jules Bass wanted to give the show and its characters the look of a Christmas card, so Paul Coker, Jr., a greeting card and ''Mad'' magazine artist, was hired to do the character and background drawings. The animation was produced by Mushi Production in Japan, with then-Mushi staffer Osamu Dezaki among the animation staff. Rankin/Bass veteran writer Romeo Muller adapted and expanded the story for television as he had done with ''Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer''. ''TV Guide'' ranked the special number 4 on its 10 Best Family Holiday Specials list. ==Plot== On Christmas Eve, the schoolteacher hires an inept magician named Professor Hinkle to perform magic for the class Christmas party and keep her students' attention, but Hinkle fails in both regards and throws his hat away in disgust. As soon as the school day ends, the children rush outside to play and decide to build a snowman. After considering and rejecting names such as Harold, Bruce, Christopher Columbus and even "Oatmeal," a young girl named Karen names the snowman "Frosty." At that point, Hinkle's rabbit Hocus Pocus escapes from the building wearing the now discarded hat, which the wind blows it off before Hinkle finally grabs the rabbit. Karen quickly catch the hat from the wind, and place it onto Frosty's head. To the surprise of the children and Hinkle, the magic of the hat causes Frosty to come to life, saying his first words, "Happy Birthday!" This delighted the children at first, but after seeing that the hat is actually magic, the agitated Hinkle takes it back after another wind blows it off Frosty's head, inanimating him again. When the children protest, he tells them that when they get older, they will learn that snowmen can't come alive. However, after he leaves, Hocus steals back the hat by switching it with a pine wreath and returns it to the children, thus bringing Frosty to life again. The children are very happy with their friend, but soon the temperature rises and Frosty must leave for somewhere that is colder or else he will melt. Frosty explains that the only place he won't melt is the North Pole. They parade through the town to the train station, shocking passersby and a traffic cop, who swallows his whistle. When they get to the station however, they find that they do not have money to buy tickets. So, Karen, Frosty, and Hocus sneak into the back of a train headed north as stowaways. Hinkle also sneaks aboard the undercarriage of the caboose, determined to get the hat back. While Frosty is safe from melting in the refrigerated car, Karen is freezing. When the train stops to give the right of way to a passenger train, Frosty and Karen jump off, foiling Hinkle yet again who jumps off the now moving train and tumbles down a cliff and hits the ground where snow and icicles fall on him while a nearby squirrel laughs at his misfortune. Frosty carries Karen through the forest before Hinkle woke up, and she is starting to catch cold. Frosty recommends making a campfire to warm her up, but he knows he cannot do that, so Hocus convinces all the forest animals to make the fire. While Karen is warming herself, Frosty tells Hocus that they must find someone to take Karen home and him to the North Pole. Hocus recommends enlisting the aid of the President of the United States or the US Marines, but Frosty says they need someone nearby, so Hocus suggests Santa Claus. Though frosty takes it much to Hocus's dismay he leaves to wait for Santa with the animals, but Hinkle comes back to get the hat back. Being too fast for Hinkle, Frosty and Karen slide down the hill to a small greenhouse used to grow poinsettias. Frosty carries Karen inside where she will be warm and safe. However, Hinkle catches up and locks Frosty and Karen inside. Hocus brings Santa to the greenhouse only to find Karen crying over a melted Frosty. Santa explains to Karen that Frosty can't melt away forever because he is made of Christmas snow and will always come back every winter. He then opens the greenhouse door, letting in a cold winter wind, reviving Frosty. But before they can put the hat to bring him back to life, Hinkle appears and demands the hat back. Santa tells Hinkle he will never bring him another Christmas present again if he takes the hat from Frosty. Hinkle begs for another chance and Santa suggests if he writes his apologies repeatedly, he may be forgiven and might get a new hat. Hinkle then runs home to write his apologies and after bringing Frosty back to life, Santa takes Karen on a sleigh ride home and then takes Frosty to the North Pole, promising that he will return every year when another Christmas snowfall comes. As the end credits roll, Frosty leads the town on another parade through town and Hinkle is seen with a new hat as the title song is sung. At the end of the parade, Frosty climbs in the back of Santa's sleigh and they leave for the North Pole with Frosty altering the last lyric of the song, saying, "I'll be back on Christmas Day!" 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Frosty the Snowman (TV program)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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