| “ | I invented chill! | ” |
— Jack Frost, The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause | ||
Jack Frost is a sprite-like character with roots in Viking lore, where he is known as Jokul Frosti ("icicle frost"). In Britain and the United States, he is a variant of Old Man Winter who is responsible for frosty weather, for nipping the nose and toes in such weather, coloring the foliage in autumn, and leaving fernlike patterns on cold windows in winter. He sometimes appears in literature, film, television, songs, and video games as a sinister mischief maker.
Appearances in Christmas specials
Rankin/Bass
Rankin/Bass had two different, yet slightly similar depictions of Jack Frost in their animated specials; one was introduced in Frosty's Winter Wonderland, while the other was featured in his own self-titled special, Jack Frost.
Jack meets Frosty in Frosty's Winter Wonderland.
Jack Frost as he appears in Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July.
In Frosty's Winter Wonderland, Jack was a mischievous sprite who was jealous of Frosty because he didn't get the attention he wanted like Frosty does, though Frosty bares no ill will toward him. He twice tries to get rid of Frosty by stealing his magic hat. After this fails, he then tries to ruin Frosty and Crystal's wedding, but then has a change of heart when he is asked to be their best man. This version of him was later seen again, this time in stop-motion animation, at the end of Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July; here, Big Ben brings him in from South America to revive Frosty, Crystal, and their kids, Chilly and Milly, after they are melted by the July heat.
In Jack Frost, Jack is an invisible sprite that nobody can see or hear. A girl named Elisa claims she loves him, causing him to fall for her. After he works his magic to save her from going a waterfall, she exclaims, "Jack Frost, not only are you a magician--you're a hero!" He decides he'd like to become human. When he asks Father Winter to grant his wish, Father Winter tells him that he can become human permanently if he acquires the following: a house, horse, bags of gold, and a wife. As a human in January Junction, he adopts the last name "Snip" (inspired by his friend, the snowflake maker) and stays with Elisa and her family, running a tailor shop out of their home. He is later joined by his friends, Snip and Holly, who Father Winter has sent down to keep an eye on him. Later on, Jack defeats the village's evil Cossack king, Kubla Kraus, and is able to take his castle, a robotic horse, and bags of gold for himself. Unfortunately, just as he goes to ask for Elisa's hand in marriage, he learns that he's too late—she is just about to marry Sir Ravenal. Jack is heartbroken, but knows life must go on: he returns home to his friends in the Kingdom of the Winter Clouds, who are delighted to see him back.
Disney
Under Disney, Jack appeared as the main antagonist of The Santa Clause 3, portrayed by Martin Short. In this film, he is jealous of the attention that Santa Claus receives and schemes to replace him. To do so, he manages to avoid severe punishment from the Council of Legendary Figures for his actions against Scott by suggesting he be put in community service and help out around the North Pole for an impending visit by Bud and Sylvia. The Council agrees, but during his tenure, he sabotages the workshop, causing problems that could possibly delay Scott from making his annual journey. When he discovers the Hall of Snow Globes, and having learned of the Escape Clause, he steals Scott's, freezes Neil and Laura when they catch him, and threatens to do the same to their daughter, Lucy, if she rats him out to Scott, before locking her in a closet. After his sabotage ends up enraging Bud and Sylvia, he consoles Scott, and gives him his snow globe as a gift, while also convincing Scott to invoke the Escape Clause by speaking the phrase to activate it. This sends Jack and Scott back 12 years to the night when Scott first invoked the Santa Clause and became Santa. Before his past self can come out and fulfill past events, Jack intentionally causes the previous Santa to fall off the roof, and when Scott tries to intervene, Jack knocks him out with a shovel, allowing him to reach the coat first and become the new Santa, creating an alternate timeline as a result.
When Scott confronts him over his actions, Jack taunts him by reminding him of having said the phrase that invoked the Escape Clause to begin with. However, with the support of that timeline's Lucy, Scott retrieves Jack's snow globe, interrupting one of his performances, and when he catches the snow globe, he immediately realizes Scott's plan and tries to taunt him again over trying to get him to invoke the Escape Clause, but there was no need. Scott had recorded Jack saying the phrase earlier, and chooses that moment to play it back, to a horrified Jack's shock. The clause having been invoked once more, Jack screams in fury as he and Scott are whisked back in time once more to the night Scott originally became the new Santa. This time, Scott is able to hold Jack down long enough for his past self to come out and allow past events to play out as they were supposed to as his past self puts on the coat and thus becomes the new Santa, restoring the original timeline. Jack screams in anguish as his alternate timeline is erased from existence, and he and Scott find themselves back in the present, moments before Scott had been encouraged to invoke the Escape Clause originally. As Scott rushes to make amends with Bud and Sylvia, Jack is disappointed in his plan having failed so spectacularly.
Later, Jack is brought before Scott and the Council when his actions against Neil, Laura, and Lucy are exposed. Faced with his crimes, Scott demands that he thaw Neil and Laura, but he snidely refuses, saying that to do so would require him be thawed as well, and he refuses to do so, leaving Scott to face facts of having Neil and Laura frozen permanently. As Jack thinks he's still won one over Scott with freezing Neil and Laura for eternity, Scott has Lucy approach him to give him one of her heart-warming hugs. It is so full of warmth that it begins to thaw him and his icy heart, causing him to assume a more normal-looking appearance, which he takes a positive liking to. His thawing frees Neil and Laura from their frozen states, and he joins everyone in a big group hug before Scott has to rush Carol to the hospital to give birth to Buddy Claus before making his annual journey.
Mentions in other Christmas specials
In the TaleSpin episode "Jolly Molly Christmas", after Molly Cunningham tells "Santa" (actually a disguised King Louie) that all she wants for Christmas is to grant her mother's wish for snow, Louie says to Baloo, "You said I had to be Santa Claus, not Jack Frost!"