User reviews

I watch this thing religiously no matter what time of year it is! Ask my friends..they'll roll their eyes and say, "Yes, she really does watch it ALL the time."

~*

The media has gathered to see groundhog Pardon-Me-Pete greet the arrival of spring. A magical shadow appears and he scurries back inside for six more weeks of winter. Pete reveals that the invisible Jack Frost created the shadow as a deal between them so he can have more sleep. He tells the story of the one time that Jack Frost appeared to the people. Jack fell in love with Elisa from January Junction and asked Father Winter to turn him into human. Father Winter agrees to turn him for a winter and permanently if certain milestones are achieved including getting a wife. In addition, Father Winter turns Snip the Snowflake Maker and Holly the Snow Gypsy into humans to look out for Jack. Elisa is kidnapped by the evil Cossack king, Kubla Kraus, on his iron horse. She is rescued by Sir Ravenal Rightfellow. Kubla Kraus vows to send his ironman army to destroy January Junction. Jack Frost gives up his humanity to snow in Kubla and his army but spring is coming. The only way to extend winter is to create the magic shadow.

The main drawback is Jack Frost's voice. It's too old. He needs a boyish voice to match the boyish features on the new design. This Rankin/Bass Production is a little later than the original classics. Even though I like Buddy Hackett's voice, much of the narration is unnecessary. I like the story and I like the designs. This is a very good romantic story considering it's a children's Christmas special.

I love the Rankin/Bass holiday specials so much. The story here, told by groundhog Pardon-Me-Pete, is about the time Jack Frost became human after falling in love with a peasant girl named Elisa. It's a cute tale with a bittersweet ending. Love the snow gypsies, the Keh-Nights, and all the other little creative touches. The Rankin/Bass specials were so imaginative. The voicework is solid, with Buddy Hackett as Pete and Robert Morse as Jack. Paul Frees, who previously did the voice of Jack Frost in Frosty's Winter Wonderland, does the voices for Father Winter and villain Kubla Klaus. The songs are pleasant and fun. The stop-motion animation is gorgeous. Charming, delightful, and sweet. It's not the best Rankin/Bass made but it's very good.

Among all the Rankin-Bass-Muller holiday treats, this one is an underappreciated gem. It's clearly not as well-known as several of the others, probably because it's only marginally a specifically Christmas story, is not associated with a popular Christmas carol, etc. However, in our family we like this one every bit as much as any of the others, if not more. The plot is more emotionally engrossing, the original songs are terrific, and there are some particularly appealing and fascinating characters developed. This story works successfully in different ways for different agegroups.

Of all the fairy tales and fictional stories that are made into children's books and movies for the Christmas holidays, none would be from a more ancient source than Jack Frost. For centuries, the name has been used interchangeably with the term, Old Man Winter. "The Christmas Song" has a line, "Jack Frost snipping at your nose."

The frostiness of window panes in winter, has not always been of the light and delightful aspect of children being able to trace pictures and write on the windows. More often than not, Jack Frost is not seen as something dear or welcome. And, most films about Jack Frost, or with the name in their title, have not been pleasant or amusing stories. Most have been dark films.

But this one, the animated short story of Jack Frost made for TV, is a positive film made for the 1979 Christmas season by Rankin-Bass Productions. As with others of their animated holiday specials, "Jack Frost" is a stop-motion film made with clay figures. And, the voices are as much a part of the stories, for the prominent actors of the day who usually do the voice over for the cartoon characters.

In this story, Jack is a sprite spirit who rescues a girl from an evil king in his castle. They fall in love, and Father Winter allows Jack to become human to live with Elisa. But after she is kidnapped by the nasty Kubla Klaus, Jack has to revert to a sprite and he whips up a huge winter blizzard to freeze Klaus and his minions.

Buddy Hackett is the voice for Pardon-Me-Pete, the groundhog who narrates the story. Robert Morse is the voice of Jack Frost, and Paul Frees is the voice of Kubla Krause. Frees is a film veteran, versatile with voices, who has performed for many of these year-end holiday animated films. Debra Clinger is Elisa, and Dave Garroway and others voice more characters

Kids of all ages should continue to enjoy this holiday cartoon feature well into the future.

This is my FAVORITE stop-motion/claymation/whatever holiday special of all time. My entire family groans at me because I get so excited when these come on every year, and I LOVE Jack Frost. Why? Dummy is hilarious. Holly and the groundhog make me squeal with happiness, they're just so darn cute. The fact that the old couple uses an adorable dog and a duck to plow their fields. And call me a nerd, but I think this little cartoon is incredibly romantic. Moreso than How To Lose A Guy In Ten Days or any other crappy romantic films out there. The story is truly one that tugs at your heartstrings and makes you really empathize for Jack Frost. And the twist ending is the best, though it's quite sad. It almost makes me want to sigh.

And Jack Frost is kinda hot. There. I said it.

Rather than review the plot I shall review the clothes the characters wear. The groundhog appears in a yellow hat with a brim, a bow tie and a waistcoat. Snip the snowflake maker's suit and hat is a glittery blue. Holly the keeper of the Christmas snowflakes is dressed in a glittery green with holly on her hat. Jack Frost is dressed in a glittery silver suit and hat. At the tip of his hat is a clear crystal (perhaps ice). His belt and boots are blue. The clothes of the regular mortal people are covered in patches to indicate their poverty. The villain is dressed in a red wool hat, hat pink shirt and silver waistcoat and green trousers. The Knight is dressed in gold armor with a red cape and a white plume in his helmet. Overall I think the costumes were well done. I think Jack Frost's is very nice because glittery silver and blue seem just right for him. It is interesting to imagine a person sitting down and designing clothes for these characters. I think sometimes details such costumes are overlooked by the general viewing audience.

I still cannot believe they do not play this movie on TV every year like they do Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. It is just as funny and even more beautiful. I love this movie to pieces and will treasure it forever.

I was thinking "This is odd" pretty much through the whole thing. But it kept my attention and I didn't want to turn it off.

Buddy Hackett plays the groundhog, which is a hoot. It's better than his Chinese waiter routine, I guess. The guy who plays the villain sounds like Boris from the old Rocky and Bullwinkle cartoon, but it isn't the same guy.

There are many questions here. Why did Jack Frost choose the name "Snip" if there already was a character named snip? Why is it nobody noticed that the villain is actually a genius with clockwork? How did Jack Frost learn how to tailor?

That doesn't really matter, though. It's about as believable as any of the other stop-motion Holiday specials.

Jack Frost is one of my favorite animation...it puts you in the Christmas spirit with its glitters and icy colors...without mentioning the beautiful snow...it is so magical and beautiful. It also is romantic since Jack Frost decides to become human to conquer a beautiful human girl... The characters are beautifully created, with tons of imagination, their costumes are amazing, the voices too really are charismatic; the scenes are unbelievably unique and creative; it is a moving and humorous fairy-tale... Even though I no longer am a child, I each year look forward to watching this beautiful animation during Christmas!

I have been interested in watching more on Jack Frost and this stop motion Jack Frost is the last one I had watched. I had already watched the slasher version, the Michael Keaton version, Santa Clause 3, and Rise of the Guardians. Having watched all of those I could compare all of them. Like in Santa Clause 3 and Rise of the Guardians, Jack Frost in this version depicted more of a legendary figure representing wintery fun who has cryokinesis powers. This is the only version that turns from legendary figure to human. The others seem to be human to a legendary figure/snowman. This is the only one to be stop motion and a TV film. It's not the only animated one with Rise of the Guardians being the only other animated one but both are different animation styles with Rise of the Guardians being computer animated. Jack Frost is definitely a big wintery character and I find it's good to watch everything relating to him when it's winter. January is the perfect month as December's Christmas (I find Santa is more Christmas and Jack Frost is winter as a whole) and February's black history month (I plan to watch more black led in February). I find each version of Jack Frost is unique in its own way and each version is worth a watch. I might not be a big fan of the slasher version but it's still worth to have a watch.

If you like "Rudolph" and "Frosty", then you'll love this film. The animation is amazing, as always. The story is a bit off, but it's pretty good. The voice acting is so-so. The characters are likable, especially Jack Frost himself. Find this online, get some McDonalds, and chill! (ha ha puns)

Rankin/Bass made so many great Christmas specials - but this one is actually a Winter tale. Though Christmas is covered, it's brief and the emphasis is really on Groundhog's Day. So rather than trying to cram it in in December, I watch it every year around that holiday (Feb. 2). The story is told by groundhog Pardon-Me-Pete and involves Jack Frost becoming human one year to win the heart of the girl he has fallen in love with. But hold your scarves, cuz this one's not a happily-ever-after tale (at least not for Jack Frost) and that just makes it all the more memorable. Another memorable part is the bad guy Kubla Kraus - a "King Of The Cossacks" and one of the all-time great R/B baddies - voiced by the wonderful Paul Frees. As usual with a Rankin/Bass Animagic production, the stop-motion puppet-animation is charming, creating a lovely immersive fantasy world you want to dive into and the songs are wonderful and plentiful. A frozen feast for the eyes, and an icy warmth for the heart of Winter.

The Rankin-Bass production company made some amazingly good and timeless television specials. However, after completing their Santa trilogy ("Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer", "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" and "The Year Without a Santa Claus"), the studio continued making stop-motion specials....but with diminishing returns. This was mostly because Santa was a compelling character and instead of continuing to make Santa films, they branched off to lesser holidays and characters...with mostly poor results. The trilogy were all classics...but the follow-ups were poor by comparison...and often featured bizarre characters. One of the stranger of these later characters was Jack Frost...and it's a show that really isn't all that good.

The plot is in many ways reminiscent of the Christmas trilogy...particularly "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" and "The Year Without a Santa Claus" but this time the lead is Jack Frost. He apparently has fallen in love with a girl who lives in a Russian version of Burgermeister Meisterburger's town...and the baddie is also voiced by Paul Frees. I could say more about it...but don't think it really matters.

The animation quality is very nice. The story and writing are derivative AND bizarre...and the pairing of Jack Frost with the Groundhog was pretty weird. A confusing and strange film...well made but terribly written....and featuring very forgettable characters.

I know Jack Frost was created to be viewed at Christmas time but it is one of Rankin and bass Christmas specials that isn't really a Christmas special. True they show it every year at Christmas time along with Rudolph the Red-Nosed reindeer and frosty the snowman but Jack Frost is a little different. it is the story of Jack Frost wanting to become human so father went to Grant him a wish and thus he becomes human but only for a short period Of time. I think this is my favorite Rankin and bass holiday special I really don't know why but it is I can look at this anytime of the year.

I've watched these Rankin-Bass Christmas stories more times than I care to remember, and when they are as lame as Jack Frost it is even worse. I do still get the nostalgic feeling from their particular brand of stop-motion animation, but I just wish the stories were better. This one is extremely weird as we watch some type of magical being fall in love with a human and then beg to become human himself to connect with her. But he's stymied by a strange villainous ruler who has a metal puppet that he talks to, as if he has some kind of insane mental disorder. The plot is insane, and every time I watch this TV special I cannot stand watching Jack get friend-zoned so hard. It's not that I have any particular affinity for the character, but it's a gut-punch of a story particularly when it's always aired around the Christmas season (which I typically associate with more happy stories and warm feelings.) There are still some cute elements to the plot in Jack Frost, and I think the animators found some creative new ways to execute visual effects, but by and large this is one of the Rankin-Bass classics that I dread my wife asking to watch every single year.

Don't let the cover picture lead you wrong. That is not a cute cartoon, it is an old puppet film. For personal reason, I have strong Pupaphobia, it is the fear of puppets and dolls. Pupaphobia has an uncanny valley theory, is a hypothesized relationship between the degree of an object's resemblance to a human being and the emotional response to such an object. To me, I couldn't sleep with my stuffed animal when I was a baby because I thought their eyes reflected light at night, looked like they are staring at me. So even I still love stuffed toys as an adult, I still put my favorite in the living room, not my bedroom.

I thought this movie is a kid version of Rise of the Guardians, but it turns out an old creepy puppet film, especially at night, can you imagine?

Rise Of the Guardians The last piece Dreamworks worked with Paramount, but its box office was quite low. I would say that was an underrated movie because I found it later after years and was fun to watch, and its CGI wasn't bad at all.