Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July (titled on-screen as Rudolph and Frosty: Christmas in July) is an American-Japanese Christmas/Independence Day film produced by Rankin/Bass Productions, featuring characters from the company's holiday specials Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (1964) and Frosty the Snowman (1969), among others.[1] It was filmed in Japan using the company's trademark "Animagic" stop-motion animation style. The film was originally a theatrical film released through Avco Embassy Pictures, where it ran for only 2–3 weeks and was considered a box-office flop. Later that year, on November 25, 1979, the film premiered on television in the US on ABC.[2]
This is the last Rankin/Bass special to star Billie Mae Richards as Rudolph and Jackie Vernon as Frosty. Mickey Rooney reprises his role as Santa Claus from Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town (1970) and The Year Without a Santa Claus (1974).[3] Additional voices are provided by Red Buttons, Ethel Merman, Alan Sues and Paul Frees. Shelley Winters and Frees reprise their roles as Frosty's wife Crystal and Jack Frost, respectively, from Frosty's Winter Wonderland, and Hal Peary reprised his role as Big Ben the Clockwork Whale from Rudolph's Shiny New Year.
This is the final Rankin/Bass special to use Rudolph and Frosty. All other specials and films starring the characters are produced by other companies.
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- ^ Lenburg, Jeff (1999). The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons. Checkmark Books. p. 319. ISBN 0-8160-3831-7. Retrieved 6 June 2020.
- ^ Woolery, George W. (1989). Animated TV Specials: The Complete Directory to the First Twenty-Five Years, 1962-1987. Scarecrow Press. pp. 352–353. ISBN 0-8108-2198-2. Retrieved 27 March 2020.
- ^ Crump, William D. (2019). Happy Holidays—Animated! A Worldwide Encyclopedia of Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and New Year's Cartoons on Television and Film. McFarland & Co. pp. 258–259. ISBN 9781476672939.