People are interested in a strange new holiday movie on Netflix, showing that unusual stories can connect with viewers. In “Hot Frosty,” starring Lacey Chabert and Dustin Milligan, a snowman becomes a person, a surprising twist on the traditional holiday story.
Author Russell Hainline’s silly idea for the movie started out as a joke between friends. He told The Hollywood Reporter, “Sometimes you come up with pitches that make people laugh.” His first thought was simple: What if Frosty the Snowman turned into a real person instead of a snowman?
Hainline wrote the screenplay during the pandemic because she wanted to make a unique Christmas story. He tried to make a figure that was both funny and interesting. “I wanted my snowman to have the innocence of someone born yesterday, but with a slightly more adult edge,” he said.
The road to making the movie wasn’t easy. Its provocative title turned off some possible buyers at first. Still, the production company Muse thought the idea had a lot of potential. Netflix finally backed the project because they saw how it could be used to tell new stories.
“Hot Frosty” is mostly funny but touches on more serious emotional topics. Kathy (Chabert), a widow, helps Jack (Milligan), a snowman who has turned into a person, get used to his new life. Grief, adapting, and personal change are some of the themes that run through the story.
Hainline, who used to write for Hallmark Channel, thinks that honest stories can move people. “These movies should exist without an irony safety net,” he says. During the pandemic, he switched from writing thrillers to Christmas movies in an effort to make the stories more positive.
The movie is Netflix’s latest entry into the holiday movie genre, which Hallmark Channel has ruled in the past. Hainline praised Hallmark’s constant approach to making low-budget movies with strong characters at a time when movies are getting more and more expensive.
“Hot Frosty” shows that new ways of telling stories can work if they are based on real feelings and honest charm. Its success shows that people are still looking for new, heartwarming stories that don’t follow the usual genre rules.
