When it comes to Christmas classics, Frosty the Snowman is always on the yearly rotation.
After all, it's got magic just like in that old top hat they found. It's also got some random things you probably didn't know about the beloved classic.
Things like how the voice actors were switched mysteriously and how there are more parallels to Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer than you'd think.
Songwriters, Jack Rollins and Steve Nelson, wanted to capitalize on the success that Rudolph's song created.
While both songs featured the same singer, Gene Autry, the Frosty one failed the reach the same level of success.
Thank goodness for that!
But before this, it was first transformed into a story via Little Golden Books and Dell Comics.
If you noticed some similarities, that isn't a coincidence.
Rankin/Bass Productions created other classic holiday classics, such as Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town and The Year without a Santa Claus.
The voice actor behind Frosty had quite a risqué reputation.
That jolly snowman was voiced by comedian, Jackie Vernon. The comic was known for doing what's called "slideshow" routines.
Jimmy had a long career as a singer, jazz pianist, and comedian.
He was also known for being such a kind guy. Since he loved kids so much, he once famously turned down a performance fee at the Eagles International Convention in 1961
Sadly, the narrator of Frosty the Snowman passed away in 1972 after suffering a stroke.
His memory — and voice — carry on each year with the annual viewing of the Christmas film.
Foray initially voiced young Karen and the school teacher, while Frees was the traffic cop and Santa Claus.
Both also voiced some of the children.
You can only find the original on the Rhino Records soundtrack.
To this day, it's still a mystery as to why they were replaced
"I was called in to voice the little girl Karen. I was disappointed to learn later that my work for the Karen character was replaced by another actress," Foray recalled in the book The Enchanted World of Rankin/Bass.
"To this day I am unsure of the reason, but I still enjoy the special."
This happens after Frosty becomes alive.
He has five fingers while he was counting to 10, but then in the next shot, he's down to four fingers.
They did the same thing with the narrator in Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and then Fred Astaire in Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town.
It helps add a personal touch.
In order to achieve it, they hired Paul Coker, Jr., a greeting card illustrator and Mad magazine artist, to create the look of the characters and backgrounds.
It was the United Productions of America that brought Frosty to life in a short cartoon in 1954.
It's in black and white and seems more like a music video for the movie's song.
Instead of using stop-motion animation like the other Christmas specials, traditional animation was done by Mushi Studio.
This was the same company that produced Astro Boy and Kimba the White Lion cartoons.
He was Boris Badenov in The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show and provided voice work for several Rankin/Bass productions.
This included the Three Wise Men in The Little Drummer Boy and Father Winter and Kubla Kraus in Jack Frost.
Nickelodeon's SpongeBob SquarePants ran a parody of Frosty called Patrick the Snowman from 2002 to 2005. It featured Patrick Star from SpongeBob SquarePants.
Anyone else think he should have been the Christmas star?
It was the songwriter, Steve Nelson, who included this in the lyrics since he loved to visit Armonk when he was young.
The town has taken this as a badge of honor, as they host an annual Frosty Day parade and celebration.
There are even some people who claim that the traffic cop who hollers “Stop!” is based on former chief of police John Hergenhan.
