Machiavelli84
In the town of Evergreen, Mayor Tinkerton, who has a gold statue of himself in front of city hall and thinks he controls the sun, enforces tight rules and regulations upon his town, with everything from the street being clean to all children walking with their backs straight. (Pretty sure that's not how most American towns operate, but we'll roll with it). Enter this picture the disembodied magical hat of Frosty, which begins to go around town stalking certain kids. He waits until they're alone, then leads them away from their parents and compels them to break rules with the promise of having fun together.Did that last part sound a little creepy? Yeah...Parents, unable to notice Frosty (even though he's BLATANTLY RUNNING AROUND THE CITY IN BROAD DAYLIGHT), are curious why their children now disobey them, sneaking out at night, and spending time with this Frosty fellow. While Charlie Tinkerton investigates the story of Frosty, the kids begin to love Frosty so much that they are practically worshiping him, getting mad at one another when Frosty shows special attention.Did that last part also sound a little creepy? I seriously thought they were going to head down a "Children of the Corn" route. I was half expecting the kids to start talking about "He Who Walks Between the Snow Banks".Things worsen when Principal Pankley (whom the mayor disturbingly refers to as "Hanky Panky") melts Frosty by dropping him in ice water (not making this up), then proceeds to suspend habeas corpus and install himself as a tyrannical parent state over the children (again, I'm NOT making this up!). It's up to the kids to resolve things in the predictable conclusion.A lot of holiday specials nowadays have the feeling of being rushed in order to cash in on the holiday season, and this is no exception. As hinted at from my plot description, the storyline is extremely convoluted, introducing elements that are either never fully explained, or never resolved. For example, the magical comic Charlie comes across is never fully explained; you never know how it came into existence, why it exists, or why it acts the way it does. It solely exists as a plot convenience to explain things to the viewer.Another big problem lies in the inconsistencies in the story, as well as plot holes that you could drive a semi through. Frosty's Hat is perfectly capable of breaking out of the chained box, but for some reason he just now decides to break out? Why? Never explained. Furthermore, they establish that Frosty's power rests in his hat, not in his body, and yet after Frosty "melts", nothing remains but his hat, as if he's been defeated. There's also a scene where Frosty's hat leads Charlie into the library...while, at the same time, Frosty appears to two boys at the school. Huh? Is Frosty omnipresent? Are we supposed to assume Frosty is some kind of winter demiurge? There are other problems. For example, Frosty and a kid go to a lake of thin ice, and Pankly removes the sign which says "DANGER: THIN ICE"...though he does it AFTER they've already been skating on the ice. What, they didn't notice it? Then the kid asks Frosty to do a figure eight, in order for the ice to crack under him. You know how this works? Because instead of doing a figure eight, Frosty just goes into the middle of the lake and spins around like a top. What? And apparently, Frosty has control over the elements of snow, winter, and ice, but ice water melts him. Makes sense, sure. Then later on, even though Mr. Pankly KNOWS Frosty is gone, the kids made a Frosty similitude that just looks like a tall pile of snow, and Pankly thinks it's Frosty come back. Again, what? Then when Charlie finds the comic in the library, he reads the title as "The Secret and Neverending Adventures of Frosty the Snowman"...even though the comic on the screen simply says "Frosty the Snowman". Did no one in the animation department notice that? Perhaps one of the strangest parts of this special is how it supports breaking the rules. Now, I get the whole "let kids just be kids" shtick a lot of these specials try to get across, but they go well beyond in this. In one scene, Frosty vandalizes someone's car and gets a girl involved, and it's treated as a GOOD thing. What's more, one of the charges lodged against Frosty is that the kids are being disobedient to their parents - and again, this is treated as a GOOD thing. I have children, and I fully support them expressing themselves, having imagination, etc...but sorry, I'm still their father. I still have authority over them until they're adults.Yet another major problem (I could probably write a book) is the length of the special. It's literally just over an hour, but the story feels like something that could have been resolved in thirty minutes. A lot of it is just corny visual gags or fluff that does nothing to the story. It doesn't offer any laughs. It doesn't offer anything groundbreaking to the plot. It's just there.Let me make it clear that I realize this is meant for little kids. Sometimes you have to give leeway in regards to suspension of disbelief. However, I think children deserve at least a decent story, and shouldn't be treated like idiots. I also think they deserve a better Christmas moral than "car vandalism is cool so long as you're stickin' it to the man". As a parent, I ask other parents to just avoid this, and not subject your kids to this. Not only will your mind hurt, but they won't get anything from this. If you want a Frosty cartoon, stick with the two Rankin/Bass specials. I'm not going to say they're perfect, but they still hold up.
gavin6942
Frosty the Snowman goes where he is needed most, and the town of Evergreen sure needs a visit. Mr. Tinkerton, the mayor (Tim Kenny), runs a tight ship, and there is no room for talk of magic or any other such nonsense.What brought my attention to this film was the casting of Burt Reynolds. Now, I figure if the film has a big enough budget to have a known entity narrate (and sing), it can't be too bad. But I would be wrong. Reynolds was alright, but his presence did not make up for this disgrace.Most of the characters are annoying, the special runs too long, the plot seems to flatly contradict earlier Frosty stories (all of which are better). Even the jokes, which could be funny, are delivered in such a way they just fall flat. How did this happen? Something went horribly wrong and this never should have made it to completion.
rwillems-2
Barring a few exceptions, children's cartoons, especially sequels, seem to have been made by people who believe kids to be incapable of appreciating anything other than a simple joke. As a result, they fill their programs with noise and pretty lame humor. I tuned in to watch Legend simply because it aired after the original special and I couldn't find anything else to watch. As I watched, I was impressed with the storyline (a somewhat anti-establishment tale with a love story subplot) and the jokes, which actually made me laugh audibly several times (BROTHER: Santa Claus isn't real WALTER: Just like magical snowmen aren't, right? FROSTY WALKS BY WINDOW, HUMMING: Hey, Walter! Give me a call sometime! BROTHER, GAPING: … WALTER: Hmm, I didn't know he had a phone). My only real complaints are a) the choice of voice actor for Frosty (another reviewer said he was the voice actor for Patrick from Spongebob Squarepants) who doesn't really fit the Frosty we all know and love and b) the one or two liberties the special takes with the original plot (although there are some nice references and nods made to it).While it doesn't have the same "heart-warming" feel of the original, The Legend of Frosty the Snowman is a surprisingly well-scripted holiday special that parents will be able to enjoy almost as much as their kids and it won't put them to sleep to boot!
