Eric Winter

Winter of Frozen Dreams
$26.95
The acting in this movie was good. Keith Carradine and Thora Birch are experienced actors and did an admirable job despite a deplorable screenplay. I was in Madison when the "drama" for this play was unfolding. I have read the book. There is so much that could have been done with this story, but the movie never focuses on anything. It is like a movie version of Cliff's Notes." It "covers the bases," but never gets into the character's heads much, especially Birch's character, Barbara Hoffman. That is where the interest of this story lies. But again, all we see is a flat portrayl of a complex character. Again, the fault is in the screenplay and directing, not the acting.

Frosty's Winter Wonderland [VHS]
$6.93
BACKGROUND: The 1976 cel animated real sequel to Frosty the Snowman, it is shorter than the original Frosty at half an hour format. Made 7 years after the original Frosty which was an hour long format. The character design was by Paul Coker Jr, who did the same work for the first special, so the visual continuity works very well. Frosty gets a wife named Crystal (Played by Shelley Winters). While the first show was narrated and sung by Jimmy Durante, this time we have the voice talents of Andy Griffith. The famous voice actor Paul Frees stars as Jack Frost, and the policeman. Frees was a regular at the studio and had voiced the policeman, ticket seller, and Santa in the original. Dennis Day voiced the Parson, and Jackie Vernon voiced Frosty just like he did in the original. The writer is Romeo Muller, just like the original and Maury Laws returned as the musical director. There are no original songs this time out, as Christmas standards are used instead. Oh, there is another film out there called "Frosty Returns" that is marketed as a sequel to the original Frosty, but it is made by another studio. It features the voices of Johnathon Winters and John Goodman, it's fun but not up to the quality of this show.

PLOT: Just like the song says, Frosty comes back again someday. Frosty returns to play with the children, but Jack Frost is envious of him. He tries to steal Frosty's magic hat. The children build Frosty a wife named Crystal according to magic instructions from Frosty. When Jack Frost finally gets Frosty, its his wife that must save him with love. They finally make friends and work together to have a long happy winter.

Very well done by Rankin/Bass Studio. Their studio has brought us such memorable holiday classics such as Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer, Year without a Santa Claus, Nestor the Long-Eared Christmas Donkey, Mad Monster Party, The Little Drummer Boy, Frosty the Snowman, Santa Claus is Coming to Town, Mouse on the Mayflower, Here Comes Peter Cottontail, Cricket on the Hearth, the Stingiest Man in Town, Jack Frost, Pinnochio's Christmas, Rudolph's Shiny New Year, the First Easter Bunny. They also made non-holiday films such as the Hobbit, Flight of Dragons, the Last Unicorn. It is incredible that one company is responsible for all those TV specials, 95% of the ones we see every year. Their work includes standard animation, stop-motion animagic, and live action. I hope this comes out on a restored DVD soon, I have bought all the other Rankin/Bass that have been released on DVD.

Pilot - Part 2
$0.99

The Girl with the Curl
$1.99