Rudolph & Frosty's Christmas in July | 
 enlarge | Directors: Arthur Rankin Jr., Jules Bass
Actors: Red Buttons, Ethel Merman, Mickey Rooney, Alan Sues, Jackie Vernon
Studio: Warner Home Video
Category: DVD
List Price: $14.98
Buy New: $6.48
You Save: $8.50 (57%)
New (35) Used (10) Collectible (4) from $4.77
Rating:  25 reviews
Sales Rank: 22571
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Full Screen, Ntsc, Subtitled
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Subtitled)
Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Number Of Items: 1
Running Time: 90
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.1 x 5.4 x 0.6
MPN: WARD4201D
ISBN: 0790798069
UPC: 012569420120
EAN: 9780790798066
ASIN: B0002M5U6A
Theatrical Release Date: July 1, 1979
Release Date: October 5, 2004
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Positively brand new, sealed with white strip intact
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Product Description
Rudolph and frosty are called on to save a needy circus at a 4th of july benefit. Studio: Warner Home Video Release Date: 10/03/2006 Starring: Voice Of Shelly Winters Voice Of Red Buttons Run time: 97 minutes Rating: Nr
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| Customer Reviews: Read 20 more reviews...
 Ugh! December 25, 2008
The first 15 minutes of this was enough. Yes I have seen the whole thing, eventually. I was and am still shocked at how the Rudolph and Frosty storylines were allowed to be butchered in such a way. With Winterbolt, the origin of Rudolph's nose, and all the other sci-fi characters, you'd think the writers were on acid while putting this abominable script together. There is zero holiday spirit here. It's just terrible. Unwatchable. And once and for all, as with all of the Rudolph sequels...can we establish the fact that Rudolph was GROWN UP by the time he was pulling Santa's sleigh?? Yet all of the sequels star a BABY Rudolph. I hate to get fired up about a kids special, but there is just so much wrong with this thing. Thank God its not on network TV, or there'd be way more outrage than what I'm expressing. I can't believe ABC Family even bothers themselves. It is really that bad. Trust me!
 Another Rankin/Bass Christmas Classic July 1, 2007
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
Many used to recall ABC originally aired most of the Rankin/Bass Ani-Magic stop-motion specials while CBS aired Rudolph and the animated Frosty (of course, the Frosty spin-off, Frosty's Winter Wonderland was aired on ABC).
So witnessing the original special on ABC was definitely a treat and the fact both were actually put into Ani-Magic rather than just animation. The clever thing I loved about Rankin/Bass was how they could take something and give it a unique spin.
'Christmas in July,' was originally a name of a film, and later used by retailers as sort of a connotation of Summer Sales. But here, Rankin/Bass put a whole new unique origin behind Rudolph's red nose. Apparently before St. Nick wound up at the North Pole (with great allusions to the other Rankin/Bass specials, by the way), there was a wicked wizard known as Winterbolt.
After centuries of observing his ruthless, and apathetic ways, the Lady Borealis decided on taking action and sealing the wizard into a deep sleep with her magic. Regrettably, as Time marched on, Lady Borealis realized she could no longer contain the vile wizard. So with the remaining bit of her magic, she placed a spell upon a young reindeer, and as a result, he inherited a glowing red nose.
Ironically, Winterbolt discovers things have changed at the North Pole, and decides to spoil Santa's reputation with the children of the world. Inspired by his infamous genie of the staff (which obviously the Genie was getting his schemes from the Brain), Winterbolt uses his Ice Dragons to whip up a horrible winter storm on Christmas Eve. But as the story goes, Rudolph saved the day (note, no mention of Yukon, Hermie or the Snow Beast is mentioned here, which makes one wonder if the Snow Beast was once in the employ of Winterbolt, but let's not start analyzing here).
Naturally, Winterbolt isn't thrilled with this outcome, until he discovers if Rudolph dares use his nose for a selfish and wicked purpose, the reindeer's nose will be extinguished. After a brief futile attempt in doing so with the direct approach, Winterbolt retreats to his castle and learns about Milton, the Ice Cream man.
Every July, Milton comes and picks up a batch of ice cream for the Sea Side Circus at the Beach from the storehouse Santa lets him use. Except this time, Milton has his own problems. Milton's in love with the circus' tightrope walker, and naturally proposed to her. But on the day of their wedding, an evil carney has come to foreclose on the circus. (Here Ethyl Merman plays not only as the tightrope walker's mother, but owner and ringmaster of the circus.) And unless the circus can raise the money in time, there will be no more circus.
Mind you, this show was done in the Eighties, so you have to suspend some disbelief, since Winterbolt jumps at the chance for a scheme. Here, Milton suggests if Rudolph and Frosty come back with him, people from miles around would pay to see them. Though Frosty's kids and Crystal would love to go to the circus, Frosty reminds them if they went to the beach in July, they'd instantly melt.
Enter Winterbolt, who kindly pretends to help the Snow Family with special amulets to protect them from the heat. The catch, the amulets' powers cease when the final firework on the Fourth fades away. Naturally, it doesn't take Columbo to see what ol' Winterbolt has in store.
Anyway, rather than spoil the rest of the plot for you. This was one of Rankin/Bass' better holiday excursions because it was the first one to use several past Rudolph and Santa Claus specials to tie-in some of the backstories as well as provide a means for moving the plot along.
Now the interesting thing I note about 'Christmas In July,' was the writers currently were using specials which were aired more frequently on the networks. Because you'll notice a lot of cameos from characters from the current past specials, but at the same time, you wonder what happened to certain characters from the original specials of both Rudolph and Frosty. But the good thing here is, the story is rather well-conceived, you don't really care too much about continuity here.
And the real funny thing most people don't remember, before ABC Family started airing this special in July. I can recall when local cable channels started doing 'Christmas in July,' gimmicks for Summers sweeps, and the first thing they'd air was this special. However unlike this DVD version, the syndicated version had been edited for time constraints, so sometimes the altered one made no sense in several spots.
Overall, 'Christmas in July,' was one of those great specials you'd see in a blue moon, and was one of the rare ones which wasn't marred by commericalism you now see in most Holiday specials, or contain preachy morals as well. It was just fun to watch. Whether you're watching this during the Holidays, or on the Fourth, 'Christmas in July,' is definitely a purchase worth getting.
 love the chrisi cartoons January 15, 2007
I always loved these cartoons growing up, i always looked forward to christmas because of all the cartoons, but unfortunatly they dont play them on the tv anymore. i have 3 little kids any they watched them every single day.i think these cartoons are the best, and im an adult and i still look forward to watching them.
Rudolph & Frosty February 24, 2006
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
Thank you so much. Amazon was the first time I have ordered anything on line. My 3 year old Granddaughter was thrilled with her new (hard to find) DVD.I will be back to your site. You made ordering so easy and delivery was great..A satisfied customer..
Barb
 Weird Rankin/Bass Film - Poor DVD Release December 29, 2005
6 out of 8 found this review helpful
I guess the highlight of this feature film is that we finally get to see Frosty the Snowman in Rankin/Bass's trademark stop-motion puppet-animation process, Animagic! Now, don't get me wrong, the original TV specials "Frosty the Snowman" and the sequel "Frosty's Winter Wonderland" were great but I think we all wish that they were done in puppet-animation like Rudolph, Jack Frost and Santa Claus. Unfortunately, that may be one of the only highlights of this film.
At a running time of over 95 minutes, there is very little to keep the story rolling. There is also an over abundance of non-sensical plot twists and flashbacks that even I found confusing, let alone the children this movie was targeted for. And unless your child is a fan of showtunes (and c'mon what child isn't?), then the songs which appear every few minutes will most likely bore them.
The plot concerns the evil King Winterbolt who was put into a long deep sleep by the magical Lady Boreal. Upon awakening, he finds there is a new king of the North Pole named Santa Claus, and decides to make him get lost in a blizzard courtesy of his snow-breathing dragons so that he may once again rule the North Pole with his evil ways. The only problem is Rudolph's nose, which he decides must be extinguished for his plans to be carried out. In one of the many flashback sequences we learn that Rudolph's shiny red nose which came from the magic of Lady Boreal, will go out if it is ever used for bad purposes, even once.
King Winterbolt decides to offer Frosty and his family magic emulets that will allow them to visit the great 4th of July Circus by the Sea without melting, but only until the "Final Fireworks Fade on the Fourth". Santa Claus agrees to pick them all up when the fireworks end and whisk them back to the North Pole before the Frosty and his wife and two children are turned into puddles of water.
But, Winterbolt's snow breathing dragons whisk up a storm to keep Santa and Mrs. Claus from reaching the circus in time. Meanwhile, Winterbolt gets some help from a mean-spirited reindeer named Scratcher, and the two decide to use their sneaky ways to blackmail Rudolph into using his nose for bad.
If this seems confusing, imagine actually watching this film or better yet, imagine a child watching this film! Like many of R/B's later efforts, this one is rooted more in the magic and mystical style of "Life and Adventures of Santa Claus" than the fairytale-ish style of "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer".
There are some crazy songs which I found very amusing, like "Don't Let The Parade Pass You By" which is sung by Ethel Merman in her crazy style. There are also some special guest stars including Jack Frost from "Jack Frost" and Big Ben the whale from "Rudolph's Shiny New Year". In fact, there are a lot of nice touches and this film with the three biggest stars of Christmas could have been really good, if only the writing were better, some of the songs were scrapped and the running time was shortened.
If you are a fan of Rankin/Bass's work, you will not want to miss this one although you most likely will have trouble getting your kids to sit through the whole thing with you.
**Warning!!** The DVD release of this film has the sound very badly out-of-sync which annoys one throughout the movie! Because of this I lowered my rating for this film from 3 to 2 stars. I'm surprised that Warner Bros would allow a DVD to be released like this, and what's worse is that the former VHS release did not have this problem!! Shame on you, Warner Brothers!
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