What's The Deal With Frosty Anyway?

On the show this morning my partner Shannon and I were talking about all the Christmas specials that are on TV these days. We were having the usual fun with them, when she made the off-handed comment that Frosty the Snowman, was" a little whiney," and it wasn't her favorite. I decided that was funny, and ran with it. I too recalled Frosty being "whiney," and I think I even threw in a "sniveling" or two. Shannon was right. His voice is kind of whiney, and spineless. Then we tried to track down the actual story from the TV special and we found out we needed help. And the phone started ringing!

Listener after listener called in to tell us the story as they saw it. There was this "evil scientist" that was chasing Frosty. That character turned into a "musician" then a "magician," then a "jokester" and even a "mad scientist." It finally came to be officially confirmed as a magician, who was trying to get his magic hat back, that brought Frosty to life in the first place. So he terrorizes our hero.

Then the debate raged on. Frosty became locked in a "potting shed," that became a "shed," that became a "garage," that became a "barn," that became a "greenhouse," where he began to melt! It was confirmed that it indeed was a greenhouse, that the magician DID lock Frosty in so he WOULD melt so the magician could get his magic hat back.

Speaking of the magic hat, Shannon even mentioned that there was a bird flying around in the hat, and even provided sound effects. Then there was Karen, the little girl that Frosty is traveling with to the North Pole so he won't melt and she gets cold. So Frosty says he'll risk life and limb to take shelter in the warm greenhouse. He then gets locked in by the magician while Karen is warming up. AND HE MELTS, as the magician laughs!!!. Frosty melts into a pool of water on the floor, with nothing but the hat laying on the cold, cold ground!

I don't remember one word of any of this in that silly song I learned in the 2nd grade!

Are we sure this isn't a lost Stephen King novella of some kind???? This whole thing sounds kind of brutal!!! There was so much confusion from so many listeners, this became an interesting study in human communication. How can so many people watch the same old Christmas special for so many years, and have such different accounts of the actual story? And this should be mentioned, most of the calls were from MEN! Might not be a bad idea for a stocking stuffer for the guy in your life.

Look, does Rudolph go through this?? I think not. Charlie Brown? No again. We know these classics cold. NO one gets Rudolph wrong. NO one thinks Rudolph's nose goes on the fritz and Santa's sleigh goes cantilevering out of control and Christmas Eve is ruined. And everyone knows about the stupid, lousy stick tree Charlie Brown buys for some reason and the happy singing at the end. But for whiney, dizzy old Frosty, there is massive confusion. Even though this special has aired every year since 1969.

But in the end, Frosty is fine, Santa saves the day and Frosty has life. But even after all this debate about this rotund ball of snow, Frosty is still a bit whiney. Shannon was right!