The defence The Sentimental Softie
“Sincerity is not manipulation.”
The film risks embarrassment to make emotion communal, and that openness is harder than fashionable detachment.
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Jack Frost
Family · Animation · Fantasy · 1979
Pardon-me Pete, the official groundhog of Groundhog Day, tells the story of Jack Frost, who falls in love with a beautiful young woman and begs Father Winter to make him human so that she can see him. His request is granted, but only on the condition that by the Spring he has a house, a bag of gold, a horse and a wife. But Jack finds that life as a human is more complicated than he thought.
Movie details
Jack Frost
1979 Family · Animation · Fantasy 48m
Critical arithmetic
The consensus, allegedly.
Scores change. Arguments endure.
IMDb
6.8 / 10
5.2K votes
Rotten Tomatoes
67 %
Tomatometer
TMDB
6.5 / 10
Community rating
External scores via OMDb · CC BY-NC 4.0. Values normalized for display; availability varies by title.
Pardon-me Pete, the official groundhog of Groundhog Day, tells the story of Jack Frost, who falls in love with a beautiful young woman and begs Father Winter to make him human so that she can see him. His request is granted, but only on the condition that by the Spring he has a house, a bag of gold, a horse and a wife. But Jack finds that life as a human is more complicated than he thought.
CriticWise case file
What this film says about your taste.
Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.
The archetype split
Who fights over Jack Frost?
For the defence
The Sentimental Softie
“You came to feel something, and you will.”
Read their case For the prosecution
The Cool Ironist
“Feeling things is a little embarrassing.”
Read their objectionThe split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.
Taste neighbourhood
Nearby on the taste map.
TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.
Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July
Animation · 1979
Winterbolt is trying to make the North Pole his evil wonderland, and it is up to Frosty the Snowman, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and others to stop him.
Prep & Landing
Animation · 2009
Wayne gets a new rookie partner, Lanny, after his previous partner got the promotion he wanted. Lanny has to remind Wayne of the Spirit of Christmas and the importance of being an elf in Santa's Prep and Landing elite unit.
Olive, the Other Reindeer
Animation · 1999
After mis-hearing a radio broadcast about Santa canceling his Christmas trip due to an injured reindeer, Olive the dog decides to travel to the North Pole and volunteer to be a replacement. Unfortunately, Olive must deal with an evil postman who's tired of handling all the extra Christmas mail. Will Martini the penguin be able to help Olive realize her dream?
Trolls Holiday
Adventure · 2017
When the eternally optimistic Poppy, queen of the Trolls, learns that the Bergens no longer have any holidays on their calendar, she enlists the help of Branch and the rest of the gang on a delightfully quirky mission to fix something that the Bergens don't think is broken.
The Smurfs: A Christmas Carol
Animation · 2011
When Grouchy Smurf behaves badly to everyone and refuses to celebrate Christmas, the Smurfs of Christmas Past, Present and Future teach him to appreciate Christmas.
The Year Without a Santa Claus
Animation · 1974
Feeling forgotten by the children of the world, old St. Nick decides to skip his gift-giving journey and take a vacation. Mrs. Claus and two spunky little elves, Jingle and Jangle, set out to see to where all the season's cheer has disappeared. Aided by a magical snowfall, they reawaken the spirit of Christmas in children's hearts and put Santa back in action.
Ice Age: A Mammoth Christmas
Animation · 2011
When Sid accidentally destroys Manny's heirloom Christmas rock and ends up on Santa's naughty list, he leads a hilarious quest to the North Pole to make things right and ends up making things much worse. Now it's up to Manny and his prehistoric posse to band together and save Christmas for the entire world!
Mickey's Magical Christmas: Snowed in at the House of Mouse
Animation · 2001
When a huge snowstorm leaves everyone stranded, Mickey and all of his guests at the House of Mouse, including Pooh, Belle, Snow White, Cinderella, Ariel and many more of his old and new friends, break out the cookies and hot chocolate to help Donald mend his tattered Christmas spirit.
Stick Man
Animation · 2015
Stick Man lives in the family tree with his Stick Lady Love and their stick children three, and he's heading on an epic adventure across the seasons. Will he get back to his family in time for Christmas?
Olaf's Frozen Adventure
Animation · 2017
Olaf is on a mission to harness the best holiday traditions for Anna, Elsa, and Kristoff.
Where it lives
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Names above the title
The people responsible.
Cast & crew
Directed by
Jules Bass · Arthur Rankin, Jr.
Written by
Romeo Muller
Buddy Hackett
Pardon-Me-Pete (voice)
Robert Morse
Jack Frost (voice)
Paul Frees
Kubla Kraus / Father Winter (voices)
Larry Storch
Papa (voice)
Dave Garroway
Groundhog Day Television Reporter (voice)
Debra Clinger
Elisa (voice)
Don Messick
Snip (voice)
Court is in session
Put Jack Frost on trial.
Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.
The prosecution The Cool Ironist
“The strings are showing.”
Every cue tells you exactly what to feel and when, leaving sentiment to do the work character should have done.