Jack Frost

Reviewer: Alyice Edrich

The Cartoon

Jack Frost, 1979

The Plot

Jack Frost has grown tired of his supernatural abilities to control winter and longs to be among people, but will giving up his role in helping nature move along jeopardize mankind?

Starring

Robert Morse, Debra Clinger, Don Messick, Buddy Hackett, Paul Frees, Larry Storch, and more.

The Review

When I was a little girl, I loved Rankin and Bass’ renditions of holiday myths—from Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer to The Easter Bunny Is Coming To Town. But I was never particularly fond of Jack Frost. I suppose I enjoyed the notion that holiday films should have happy, joyous, magical endings and that just wasn’t the case for Jack Frost. And yet, it’s a classic that I feel needs to be on every child’s shelf—if only for the fact that it slaps a little bit of cold, hard reality in our faces.

You see, Jack Frost has a very important talent. He helps bring winter to the land and without him, things can get a little crazy. But his is a lonely job and after being among the humans, but not being a part of the human race, he finds himself longing for companionship, longing to be ordinary, and longing to live a simple life.

One day, he can take it no longer and he begs Father Winter to make him human. Father Winter believes Jack will not be happy as a human and that mankind cannot survive without Jack’s talents, but reluctantly agrees to give Jack’s wish a trial run. For one winter he’s allowed to be mortal, to be human. And if, within that timeframe, he can secure a house for shelter, a horse for carriage, gold to sustain himself, and the love of a wife, Father Winter will grant his wish and make him human, permanently.

Excited, Jack changes his name to Jack Snip and begins to set up residency in January Junction—a town overrun by a mean ruler named Kubla Kraus. Kraus oppresses the people of January Junction and keeps them in line with his robot-like guards, known as the Ka-Nights.

Jack chooses the town because he repeatedly overheard Elisa, a young woman in the town, comment on how much she loved Jack Frost. When she made the statement, she was referring to the winter season, and not Jack Frost the man, but Jack didn’t understand. He was lonely and wanted desperately to connect with someone that he believed Elisa meant him. Once arriving in January Junction, Jack quickly befriends Elisa.

He had high hopes that their friendship would turn into courtship and by the end of winter and beginning of Spring, the two would be married and living happily ever-after. But Jack is hit with a real dose of reality when Kraus kidnaps Elisa and plans to wreck havoc on the townspeople of January Junction. Realizing the only way to save Elisa and the townspeople is to become Jack Frost again, Jack gives up his dreams of becoming human and uses his magical powers to save the day.

Once everything is settled, Jack returns to January Junction as Jack Snip in hopes of asking Elisa’s hand in marriage but he quickly discovers she’s to be married to someone else and that she only thought of Jack Snip as a lifelong friend.

Your Task

After watching Jack Frost, sit down with your kids and ask them how they felt about Jack’s loneliness and about times when they’ve felt lonely or rejected. Then make a date to visit your local homeless shelter. Let your kids give back to the community—show them that they can make a difference in the lives of others, even if it is one person at a time.

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