People first came to know about the legend of Frosty the Snowman during the Christmas season of 1950. It was that year when Steve Nelson and Jack Rollins wrote a new holiday song, called "Frosty the Snowman," that told people the tale behind Frosty and how a little Christmas magic brought him to life to spread joy among children.

The Story Behind Frosty the Snowman

On the afternoon of Christmas Eve many years ago, a teacher hired a not-so-good magician named Professor Hinkle to perform magic tricks for her students during their annual Christmas party. After failing and fumbling on several tricks, Professor Hinkle tossed away his magic hat in anger. The hat flew and bounced off the trash can and moments later, a white rabbit named Hocus-Pocus suddenly appeared from the cap. Hocus-Pocus was frustrated at how his ungrateful master had thrown away the hat so the rabbit wore the hat and started running around the room to embarrass Professor Hinkle, causing an outburst of laughter among the otherwise bored and impatient children.

Bringing Frosty to Life

Later, after the class was dismissed, the children went out in the snow to play. They built a snowman, but couldn’t agree on what name to give him. After suggesting a few names, a girl named Karen decided on "Frosty." All of a sudden, Hocus-Pocus came running out of the school with the hat, and a gust of wind swept it off his head and blew it toward Karen. She placed the hat on the snowman's head and something no one could have expected happened. The hat magically made Frosty come to life and said “Happy Birthday!” When Professor Hinkle realized that his old hat was magic, he forcefully took it and Frosty became still again. Hoping to use it to become a rich and famous magician, Professor Hinkle refused to give the hat back.

Moments later, Hocus Pocus was able to steal the hat back and gave it to the children. When they put it back on Frosty’s head he came back to life. Unfortunately for their new friend, the temperature began to rise, and Frosty started to melt away. Karen and the other children knew that if they didn’t get Frosty somewhere cold soon that he wouldn’t make it until Christmas. Eventually, they decided on taking Frosty to the North Pole by train.

So Frosty and the children had a parade through town on their way to the train station, much to the shock of all the adults in town. The children didn’t have enough to buy Frosty a ticket, so Karen, Frosty, and Hocus Pocus decided to climb aboard a frozen boxcar on the train in secret. What they didn’t know was that Professor Hinkle was following them and when no one was looking, he clung to the underside of the train to steal back the hat.

As the train headed north, Karen began feeling very cold. Frosty and Hocus Pocus knew that if they didn’t help Karen get warm soon, she could get very sick. So at the next stop, the three friends hopped off the train and headed into the woods to find help. Professor Hinkle followed them closely behind. After traveling for hours in the woods, Hocus Pocus met some animals and convinced them to make a fire for Karen.

Even with the fire, Karen was still shivering and her teeth couldn’t stop chattering. Frosty and Hocus Pocus started looking for another way to help Karen get warm until they finally remembered that Santa lives at the North Pole. While Hocus Pocus went out in search of Santa, Professor Hinkle caught up with Frosty and Karen. When he reached for the hat on Frosty's head, the snowman grabbed Karen and belly-whopped down a nearby slope.

When Frosty and Karen reached the bottom of the hill, they saw a beautiful garden full of Christmas flowers. The garden was enclosed in a warm room, called a greenhouse. Frosty knew this would be a safe place for Karen to get warm, but Karen was afraid the warmth meant that Frosty could melt away. Knowing he needed to save his friend, Frosty decided to take Karen into the greenhouse even if he could melt away. Professor Hinkle caught up to them, and locked them inside the greenhouse. Before long, poor Frosty melted.

Here Comes Santa for the Rescue

Hocus Pocus led Santa to the greenhouse, where they found Karen crying over the puddle of snow that had once been Frosty. Santa felt sad to see Karen cry over Frosty, but even so he told her that even though Frosty could melt, he would come back every winter because of the magic of Christmas snow. Santa opened the door to the greenhouse and in seconds a gust of wind rebuilt Frosty, but he still wasn’t alive again. Just as they were about to put the hat on his head, Professor Hinkle started demanding his hat be returned. Santa warned him that if he dared to touch the hat, Professor Hinkle would never receive another Christmas present again! Father Christmas also requested Professor Hinkle to apologize to Frosty’s friends, and said that if he promised to be good, he would get a new one on Christmas. Santa put the hat on Frosty, and the snowman came back to life. They then celebrated and sang happy songs. Later, Santa took Karen back home and took Frosty to live with Santa and friends at the North Pole. They promised to come back every Christmas.

So what brought Frosty the Snowman to Life?

What Brought Frosty the Snowman to Life?

Frosty was brought to life with a combination of the magic in Professor Hinkle’s old top hat and magical Christmas snow.