'Frosty the Snowman' Turns 50: Rankin/Bass Historian Tells All
OAK LAWN, IL — Another Rankin/Bass Christmas TV special is marking a major milestone this year. “Frosty the Snowman,” who thumpety-thump-thumped into America’s living rooms on Dec. 7, 1969, turns the big 5-0 this year.
Although Frosty had already magically come to life in song long before the 1969 TV special, it wasn’t until Arthur Rankin Jr. and Jules Bass happened along that Frosty got a back story. What the pair of animators didn’t foresee was that their version of the jolly Sasquatch with a corn cob pipe would still be airing a half-century later.
Rick Goldschmidt, who lives in a pop culture memorabilia-filled home in Oak Lawn, IL, is keeping the duo’s legend alive as the “official Rankin/Bass historian,” a title given to him by the late Arthur Rankin before he passed away in 2014. Goldschmidt has authored six books on the making of the specials that came to define Christmas in the 20th century.
“‘Frosty the Snowman’ is the only special to air on the same network — CBS — for 50 years,” Goldschmidt said. “Not just Christmas but any TV special.”
In 1969, Jimmy Durante, who sings and narrates the tale of Frosty, was a popular star of TV, film and Vegas nightclubs. Comedian Jackie Vernon was better known for his raunchy stand-up act than as a wholesome children’s entertainer.
Rounding out the cast was persnickety character actor Billy de Wolf as the evil Professor Hinkle. June Foray, the famous voice behind Rocky the Flying Squirrel and Cindy Lou Who, provided the voices for the child Karen and the other children. Foray’s voice was eventually replaced by the voices of actual children.
“Rankin and Bass weren’t the first to use big stars to voice characters,” Goldschmidt said. “Today producers will put anyone in a role to capitalize on their name as a star. Durante, Vernon and the rest were chosen because they had good voices for animation. Their voices are very distinct.”
Many of the Rankin/Bass holiday specials were based on famous, secular Christmas songs, which inspired “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” and “Santa Claus Is Coming To Town.” The specials were written by Romeo Muller, who supplied the historical explanation of the character and animated with Rankin/Bass’s trademark Animagic stop-action puppetry.
“While they’re doing that, they’re giving the character a distinct personality that brings them to life and makes them memorable,” Goldschmidt said. “The stories became the acceptable explanation of a character’s history.”
The same successful formula was applied to “Frosty the Snowman,” a children’s novelty tune written by Walter “Jack” Rollins and Steve Nelson. The song became a massive hit when recorded by Gene Autry in 1950. Instead of Animagic, Rankin and Bass chose to illustrate Frosty with cel animation, which required hand-painting transparent plastic cels to create 2D animation. Paul Coker Jr., one of “the usual gang of idiots” at Mad magazine and a former Hallmark card illustrator, designed the characters.
“Arthur wanted ‘Frosty’ to look like a Christmas card,” Goldschmidt said. “Coker designed the lettering to make Frosty look like an old-timey Christmas card.”
At its height, Rankin/Bass Productions churned out 30 TV specials, a dozen Saturday morning cartoon series, including The Jackson 5, and another dozen feature films over a 30-year period. The most popular of their specials — “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer,” “Santa Claus Is Coming To Town” and “Frosty the Snowman” — will air in their usual network slots this holiday season. Disney-owned Freeform TV is also including the Rankin/Bass specials in its “25 Days to Christmas” lineup.
Not an admirer of today’s animation, Goldschmidt said of Rankin/Bass, “they created a world so much different from what they do with computers today.
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“You pick apart a Rankin/Bass film and everything is the best,” he said.
Goldschmidt’s Enchanted World of Rankin/Bass blog draws hundreds of thousands of visitors during the holiday season. His new book — Rankin Bass’s Frosty The Snowman 50th Anniversary Scrapbook” — is due to be released in December. Goldschmidt has also penned five other lavishly illustrated books about the duo’s holiday classics, all of which are available on Miser Bros Press or Amazon.