Not all Rankin/Bass holiday specials are created equal. On one side of the spectrum, we have the famous and the first of the Rankin/Bass specials Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. On the other side, we have The Easter Bunny is Comin to Town, and the Leprechauns Christmas Gold (yes, thats actually a real special). Jack Frost falls a little closer to the latter, unfortunately. I do understand that a great deal of these specials success lately has come because of the nostalgia associated with them. Jack Frost is not one that I grew up with, so I will try to be sensitive to those of you who did.
Like Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer‘s snowman and Santa Claus is Comin to Town‘s mailman, Jack Frost opens with the narrator of the story. In this case its Pardon-Me-Pete (voiced by Buddy Hackett), the Punxsutawney Phil of the Rankin Bass world. Hes the Groundhog of Groundhog Day and hes got a deal going with Jack Frost. Every February 2nd, Pardon-Me-Pete will step out of his hole, look around with his beady eyes, then fake being scared of his shadow and go back in his hole for another six weeks of winter so he can sleep in. Pretty smart and pretty lazy.
Anyway, after a little song and dance number, Pete settles in to tell us about the time Jack Frost became human. Jack Frost is always invisible except the one time he became human. In January Junction, the evil ruler named Kubla Kraus, steals the money from the poor townfolk. Every year, the people wait for Jack Frost to come freeze everything so they can slice up the icicles into ice coins. Everyone is rich until spring comes and all their money melts away. The beautiful Elisa loves winter and the first snow and marvels at what she calls “Jacks work”. She tells everyone that she just loves Jack Frost.
Well, our friend Jack hears this and believes her. He immediately falls in love with her and makes a deal with Father Winter to become human so he can marry Elisa (whom hes never met). Father Winter tells him he has until spring to get a house, a horse, a bag of gold, and a wife, then he can be human forever. The only problem with that is, Kubla Kraus owns all of the gold and horses, and there are no vacant houses. Poor Jack Frost.
Elisa is kidnapped by Kubla Kraus, so two sprites come to help Jack, Holly and Snip. But instead of Jack coming to Elisas rescue, she is rescued by a knight named Sir Raveneau. Jack has to turn back into his old self to stop Kubla Kraus by creating the largest snow storm ever, thereby freezing Kubla in his castle. While Jack is spending his time keeping Kubla away, Elisa and Raveneau are falling in love and planning their wedding. Jack doesnt get the girl in the end. Instead, he attends their wedding, blowing on her wedding flowers to turn them white.
Maybe if I had grown up watching this, Id like it much more now. It might have even had a place in our holiday movie rotation. But seeing it now that I’m all grown up, its just really silly. Jack turning back and forth, the whole Winter world in the clouds, the sprites, Kubla Kraus and his sidekick (a ventriloquist dummy named Dummy), the ice coins its all just too much. Even my kids (8 yrs and 6 yrs) would exchange glances like, What in the world is this? We ended up laughing through the whole thing at how ridiculous it is. Sometimes these Rankin Bass specials are able to create a world and a story to explain things, but this just doesnt work at all.
Even though this latest release boasts to be remastered, I didn’t notice any difference between the visual or audio quality of this and my old VHS-taped-off-of-TV copy of Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. 1.33:1 ratio.
Totally Cool Crafty Creations – This was my favorite part. An overly enthusiastic lady who says her name is “Flakey,” teaches kids how to make snow, a snowglobe, and snowflakes. 8:32
Snip’s Snowy Sing-A-Long – Follow the bouncing ball along with the songs in the special, “Jack Frost”, “Just What I Always Wanted”, and “The Groundhog Song”.
Previews: Charlie Brown Thanksgiving, Charlie Brown Christmas, It’s the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown, You’re Not Elected Charlie Brown, and a commercial for Warner Bros. Blu-Ray.
These Rankin/Bass specials are all about the nostalgia factor. If you don’t have that, then you won’t enjoy them. Any of them. This one, for me, doesn’t do anything since I didn’t grow up with it. If you did, then you’ll love this DVD release.
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Warner Home Video presents Jack Frost. Directed by Arthur Rankin, Jr, Jules Bass. Starring Buddy Hackett. Written by Romeo Muller. Running time: 48 minutes. Rated Not Rated. Released on DVD: October 7, 2008. Available at Amazon.
