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Ask any child and he’ll tell you:  the secular Christmas trinity is Santa Claus, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, and Frosty the Snowman.  And why not?  Without Santa Claus, there would be no Rudolph, and without Rudolph, there would never have been a Frosty.  They now exist as an inseparable trio in the minds of children, thanks to some savvy songwriters, some marketing, and a string of television holiday specials. 

Santa Claus had been around for centuries before the other two first appeared, but if not for Gene Autry, Rudolph and Frosty might be minor characters in the holiday pantheon, instead of the stars they are today.

When Autry was approached by Johnny Marks in 1949 to sing his song "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer", Autry thought it was a silly song and refused to even consider singing it.  He had already had a holiday hit with "Here Comes Santa Claus" in 1947 (by 1950, one million copies would be sold) and was looking for a follow-up.  Autry’s wife May disagreed with his assessment of the song, thinking it a charming tune that every child would love.  Reluctantly, Autry recorded the song in one take in the last 10 minutes of the recording session for "If It Doesn’t Snow on Christmas," which he was convinced would be his next Christmas hit.  It wasn’t.  The B-side to "If It Doesn’t Snow", "Rudolph" went on to sell 2 million copies in 1949.

The song writing duo of Walter E. "Jack" Rollins (1906-1973) and Steve Edward Nelson (1907- ) saw an opportunity to capitalize on the success of "Rudolph", and set out to write their own children’s Christmas song.  The songwriters, who had penned the hit song "Here Comes Peter Cottontail" that same year, after months of trying came up with the idea of a walking, talking snowman who comes to life thanks to a magic hat.  Rather than try to duplicate the success of "Rudolph" with another animal character (it has been tried many times but nothing has had anything near the impact of Rudolph), Rollins and Nelson were no doubt inspired by memories of the innocent seasonal pastime of building a snowman – a task that requires some imagination and that is typically done by children.

In the song, it is the children who believe that Frosty actually "came to life one day", and that he could run "here and there" with them, despite the general belief that Frosty is a "fairy tale".  In this respect, Frosty is a close cousin to Santa Claus, because children actually believe in his existence, even though parents know otherwise.  Like Santa Claus, he only appears in those who truly believe in him.  The song’s simple lyrics draw on the emotions of joy ("And the children say / He could laugh and play / Just the same as you and me"), sadness ("So he said let’s run / And we’ll have some fun / Now before I melt away"), and hope ("But he waved goodbye / Saying don’t you cry / I’ll be back again some day") – all of the things that Christmas represents to children.  After all, children experiencing the joys of the holiday season know that the end is inevitable, but they always have next year’s Christmas to look forward to.  And of course Frosty will come back – just as soon as it snows again next year.

After Rollins completed the lyrics and Nelson wrote the music to "Frosty", the duo sent the song to Gene Autry.  Unlike his response to "Rudolph", Autry must have also seen some magic in the song, recording it on June 12, 1950 (just three months after recording "Peter Cottontail"), with The Cass County Boys Orchestra in Hollywood, California.  The single would reach #7 on the Pop charts and #4 on the Country charts that year and was another million-copy seller.

Western Printing and Publishing was quick to market the image of Frosty the Snowman in two forms.  In 1951, it published the Little Golden Book, adapted by Annie North Bedford and illustrated by Corine Malverne, and in Dell Comics’ issue #359 of Four Color Comics (which was the beginning of annual adventures for Frosty in Dell Comics until the winter of 1961-62).

In 1954, UPA produced the first animated version of Frosty in a cartoon short that aired on WGN TV. 

At this point, Frosty was still just another character created for the benefit of entertaining children at Christmas.  But when CBS premiered the now-familiar half-hour Rankin/Bass television special on December 7, 1969, Frosty’s place in Christmas lore became secure.  "Frosty" was the first Rankin/Bass production to use traditional cel animation, because the producers wanted to give it the feel of a Christmas card.  Future MAD Magazine artist Paul Coker, Jr., who was a greeting card illustrator at the time, was hired to animate, and writer Romeo Muller was hired to expand the story line as he did for "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" five years prior.  Muller in fact took a few liberties with Rollins’ original story line, adding a nasty Professor Hinkle, who pursues Frosty when his magic hat turns out to have powers after all; a rabbit named Hocus, who abandons Hinkle and accompanies Frosty and young Karen to the North Pole; and Santa Claus, whom Hocus seeks out to help Frosty and Karen.  The special was narrated by an animated caricature of Jimmy Durante, and his rendition of the title song has since become one of the standards.  The popularity of this television special has not diminished in the 37 years since the original airing, and millions of children watch it every year, keeping Frosty true to his promise to return.

He has since returned in Rankin/Bass’ follow-up specials "Frosty’s Winter Wonderland" (1976) and "Rudolph and Frosty’s Christmas in July" (1979), in Bill Melendez Production’s "Frosty Returns" (1992), and, most recently, to the straight-to-video "Legend of Frosty the Snowman", narrated by Burt Reynolds.

"Frosty the Snowman" remains on ASCAP’s list of Top 25 most performed holiday songs.

Here is a collection of 13 different versions of
Frosty the Snowman, mostly made available by generous members of FaLaLaLaLa.com.