Frosty's Winter Wonderland/Twas the Night Before Christmas

Starring:Andy Griffith, Shelley Winters, Dennis Day, Paul Frees, Jackie Vernon (II), Shelly Hines, Eric Stern, Manfreed Olea, Barbara Jo Ewing, Patricia Bright, Tammy Grimes, John McGiver, Bob McFadden, Scott Firestone, Joel Grey, Allen Swift, Christine Winter, George Gobel
Director: Arthur Rankin Jr., Jules Bass
Studio: Warner Home Video
Product Type: DVD

Editorial Review:
Amazon.com
Frosty's Winter Wonderland
It's no secret that sequels to classic TV specials rarely stack up--they're usually guilty of getting too fancy with characters and story lines, causing irritating fissures to form in our perceptions of the originals. Lucky for a new generation of holiday viewers, that's not the case with Frosty's Winter Wonderland. In fact, lining up a Frosty double feature at home in which the original is directly followed by the new title is a fully cringe-free proposition, thanks mostly to the down-homey, pleasant narration of Andy Griffith and the near-perfect portrayal of the Frosty we all know and love by Jackie Vernon. The Wonderland dialogue doesn't trouble itself with tiresome throwbacks, and even the plot isn't overly ambitious: Frosty, lonely at the North Pole, is bent on keeping his famous promise to the kids that he'll be back again someday, so when the news of a snowstorm in their town reaches him, he waddles off. But once the belly-whopping's run its course, he's lonely again. The children, hoping to salvage Frosty's stay with them, hit upon a solution: they'll build Frosty a wife. Crystal fits every snowman's fantasy of a dream bride, but will jealous Jack Frost sabotage their wintry wedding? For all classic Christmas special fans who harbor hopes that the fun can continue, it's worth finding out. Kids 2 and older will love the songs and the still-intact dribbles of silliness. --Tammy La Gorce

Amazon.com

Frosty's Winter Wonderland
It's no secret that sequels to classic TV specials rarely stack up--they're usually guilty of getting too fancy with characters and story lines, causing irritating fissures to form in our perceptions of the originals. Lucky for a new generation of holiday viewers, that's not the case with Frosty's Winter Wonderland. In fact, lining up a Frosty double feature at home in which the original is directly followed by the new title is a fully cringe-free proposition, thanks mostly to the down-homey, pleasant narration of Andy Griffith and the near-perfect portrayal of the Frosty we all know and love by Jackie Vernon. The Wonderland dialogue doesn't trouble itself with tiresome throwbacks, and even the plot isn't overly ambitious: Frosty, lonely at the North Pole, is bent on keeping his famous promise to the kids that he'll be back again someday, so when the news of a snowstorm in their town reaches him, he waddles off. But once the belly-whopping's run its course, he's lonely again. The children, hoping to salvage Frosty's stay with them, hit upon a solution: they'll build Frosty a wife. Crystal fits every snowman's fantasy of a dream bride, but will jealous Jack Frost sabotage their wintry wedding? For all classic Christmas special fans who harbor hopes that the fun can continue, it's worth finding out. Kids 2 and older will love the songs and the still-intact dribbles of silliness. --Tammy La Gorce

Twas the Night Before Christmas
Animators of all things Christmas, Arthur Rankin Jr. and Jules Bass (Frosty the Snowman) take on the famous poem by Clement Moore. Narrated by Joel Grey, the story opens on the night before Christmas, but the reading of the poem must be stopped when two creatures in the house begin to stir: family men Mr. Trundle and Father Mouse. Their restlessness stems from the fact that Santa is angry at the residents of Junctionville, returning all their letters without even opening them. The reason? Somebody wrote a letter to the editor of the paper saying that he doesn't exist. In an attempt to fix the situation, Mr. Trundle, a clockmaker, comes up with a plan to lure Santa into town with a clock that will sing an enchanting song at midnight. When the clock doesn't work on its first test, the townsfolk lose all faith in him. Turns out the cause of all the trouble is Albert, a book-smart young mouse who thinks he knows the truth about Santa Claus. There are a few good songs in the 23-minute program, whose the moral is: don't believe the kids on the playground if they say that Santa doesn't exist. --Andy Spletzer

Customer Reviews:

Favorite childhood memory.......2007-03-09

I bought it because it is the only way to get Twas the night before Christmas TV cartoon special that I watched as a kid and my kids now get to enjoy it too.

So glad we found it!.......2007-01-22

We were so please to finally find the Night Before Christmas! It is not a popular Christmas show but it is one of our favorites and now we don't have to worry about missing it for the season.

Finally found it........2007-01-20

After 3 years of searching I finally found this. They don't play it on the TV anymore and my children ddn't think that it existed, now they can't watch it enough.

Wonderful memories of the past.......2007-01-19

I remember watching Twas the Night Before Christmas when I was little. It was great. This DVD has a good clean, clear, picture, something I was a little worried about.

The Frosty movie was good too. I plan to watch these movies during the holiday season for many more years to come.

Bumpity Bump Bump.......2007-01-10

Look at Frosty go, and taking every child's heart with him. Excellent story, glad to add it to my collection.

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