In 1979, Rankin and Bass’s productions produced one of the greatest Christmas movies of all time, Jack Frost. For those of you not familiar with Rankin and Bass’s productions they produced many classic movies like Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer, Santa Claus is Coming to Town, and the Year without a Santa Claus.
The film begins with the groundhog, Pardon Me Pete telling us the story of the one winter Jack Frost became human. In the film, Father Winter oversees the winter season with his many helpers. Father Winter sends the invisible Jack Frost to January Junction to ensure that the townsfolk enjoy the winter season. Secretly, Jack Frost yearns to be human and wants to join in the townsfolk winter cheer.
Kubla Kraus the cruel Cossack King conquered January Junction and rules it as a tyrant. Kubla Kraus stole the people’s money in taxes, timber, and horse. Kraus lives on Miserable Mouth with his iron horse Clankstompter, his iron butler Fetch-Kvetch, and his army of iron Keh-Nights. No living person or thing lives with Kubla Kraus’s greed and arrogance.
January Junction loves Jack Frost and Winter because they cut the icicles he creates into coins, which they use as currency. Jack Frost is smitten with Elisa the daughter of a peasant couple. The romantic Elisa longs for her ” Golden Knight” Sir Ravenal Rightfellow to return and marry her. Being a romantic Elisa says things like the only people I love are my Golden Knight and Jack Frost unaware that Jack Frost is listening.
Kubla Kraus nearly kills Elisa by trampling across the Frozen lake she is standing on with Clankstomper. This causes the ice to crack sending Elisa over a waterfall, but Jack Frost saves her by freezing the waterfall and the lake. Elisa thanks him, and calls him a hero, which convinces Jack Frost that she truly loves him.
Jack Frost asks Father Winter to make him so that he can be with Elisa. Father Winter allows Jack to be human for one winter with the promise of turning him human permanently if he can find a wife, a horse, a bag of gold, and a house. He returns to January Junctions as ” Jack Snipe” to woo Elisa.
Elisa and her family offer Jack snipe the attic for the winter and allow him to set up a tailor shop. Father Winter concerned for Jack sends Snipe and Holly to assist him as humans. Sir Ravenal Rightfellow returns to January Junction with the intention to marry Elisa and immediately begins courting her.
Kubal Kraus kidnaps Elisa to force her to marry him and Sir Ravenal, Jack Frost and the gang go to rescue her. Jack Frost is unable to rescue her while Sir Ravenal storms the castle and rescues Elisa. The injured Sir Ravenal propose to Elisa and they promise to marry each other on the first day of Spring.
Jack Frost gets captured and realizes that he cannot save Elisa, or the town from Kubal Kraus’s army as long as he is human. He asks Father Winter to change him back. Now with his powers back Jack Frost whistles up the greatest winter storm ever and freezes Kraus’s castle solid.
As winter begins to end Kraus’s army unfreezes but Jack now a human defeats Kubal Kraus and his army. Jack seizes the castle, Clankstomper, and the bag of money. He takes the extra money to a town where he is informed by her father she is engaged to be married to the Golden knight at 12 pm. Jack now out of time transforms back into a winter sprite and frosts Elisa’s bouquet ” kissing” the bride goodbye.
Jack Frost 1979, is a great Christmas classic about a winter sprite who is lonely and tries to become something that he is not finding strength in who he is and becoming a true hero. Please check out this great Christmas classic on Amazon Prime Video this winter season.
