Frosty the Snowman
Frosty the snowman was a jolly happy soul, With a corncob pipe and a button nose and two eyes made out of coal,
Frosty the snowman is a fairy tale they say, He was made of snow but the children know how he came to life one day.
There must have been some magic in that old silk hat they found, For when they placed it on his head he began to dance around.
Frosty the snowman was alive as he could be And the children say he could laugh and play just the same as you and me
Frosty – the – snowman knew the sun was hot that day, So he said “Let’s run and we’ll have some fun now before I melt away “
Down to the village with a broomstick in his hand. Running here and there all around the square saying Catch me if you can
He led them down the streets of town right to the traffic cop.
And he only paused a moment when he heard him holler
“Stop!”
Thumpetty thump thump – thumpety thump thump
Look at Frosty go
Thumpetty thump thump – thumpety thump thump
Over the hills of snow
Frosty the snowman was a jolly happy soul, With a corncob pipe and a button nose and two eyes made out of coal,
Frosty the snow man had to hurry on his way
But he waved goodbye saying “Don’t you cry
I’ll be back on Christmas day
History
“Frosty the Snowman” is a popular Christmas song written by Jack Rollins and Steve Nelson, and first recorded by Gene Autry and the Cass County Boys in 1950. It was written after the success of Autry’s recording of “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” the previous year and was subsequently adapted to other media including a popular television special by Rankin/Bass Productions, Frosty the Snowman. The ancillary rights to the Frosty the Snowman character are owned by Warner Bros., but due to the prominence of the TV special, merchandising of the character is generally licensed in tandem with that special’s current owners, DreamWorks Classics.
The song recounts the fictional tale of Frosty, a snowman who is brought to life by a magical silk hat that a group of children find and place on his head. Although Frosty enjoys roaming throughout town with the children who constructed him, he runs afoul of a traffic cop and leaves town, promising he will be back again someday.
Although it is generally regarded as a Christmas song, the original lyrics make no mention of the holiday (some renditions, like that in the Rankin/Bass TV special, change the lyric “I’ll be back again someday” to “I’ll be back on Christmas Day”).
In 1950, Little Golden Books published Frosty the Snow Man as a children’s book, adapted by Annie North Bedford and illustrated by Corinne Malvern.
In 1969, Rankin/Bass produced a twenty-five-minute television special, Frosty the Snowman, featuring animation by Japanese studio Mushi Production, and the voices of comedians Jimmy Durante as the narrator, Billy De Wolfe as Professor Hinkle and Jackie Vernon as Frosty. Paul Frees and June Foray both also voice characters including Karen and Santa Claus in this animated special produced and directed by Arthur Rankin Jr. and Jules Bass. This was a story based on the discovery of Frosty the Snowman. Three sequels were produced, Frosty’s Winter Wonderland (based upon the song “Winter Wonderland”) in 1976, in which Frosty got married, and Rudolph and Frosty’s Christmas in July in 1979, followed by The Legend of Frosty the Snowman in 2005. CBS’ own spiritual sequel, Frosty Returns, was broadcast in 1992.