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| Jack Frost - 1998 |
Coming up next is 1998's "Jack Frost", a film that sees a man return from the dead as a snowman to help his son through his loss and subsequent depression.
The film's cast includes Michael Keaton, Kelly Preston, Joseph Cross, Mark Addy, Andrew Lawrence, Taylor Handley, Mika Boorem, and Pat Crawford Brown.
In the town of Medford, Colorado, Charlie Frost heads home after a pretty successful day. He's just defeated the school bully, Rory Buck, in a snowball fight.
At home, Charlie is thrilled to see his musician dad, Jack, who has just returned home from a concert. The two build a snowman before bed.
Jack gives Charlie one of his harmonicas as a gift. Jack tells his son that whenever he plays it, he will hear it. That gift comes to have special meaning for Charlie. A couple of days later, Jack is killed in a car accident on a snowy road.
One year later, Charlie is struggling with his emotions. Still grieving, Charlie has withdrawn from his friends and is now dealing with depression.
Neither his father's best friend, Mac, nor his mother, Gabby, can help him, though each try and make sure that Charlie is alright.
One night, watched by his dog Chester, Charlie builds a snowman just like he and Jack built. He uses the same scarf and Jack's hat to provide the finishing touches.
Before going to bed that night, Charlie blows on the harmonica that Jack gave him the year before. After blowing on it, Charlie goes to sleep.
However, the harmonica awakens some sort of magic which causes Jack's spirit to come into the snowman outside. Jack is shocked at being back home, and he's even more shocked when he realizes he's a snowman. Chester takes no notice and uses him as a fire hydrant.
Initially, Charlie is skeptical of Jack's newfound form. He threatens to melt him with a hair dryer, but eventually Charlie comes to accept Jack as a snowman.
They spend a lot of bonding time together. Jack even helps Charlie in a snowball fight against school bully Rory Buck. As he's hurling snowballs, Jack exclaims, "Three balls, two
sticks, one corked nose. Snowman? No.
Much, much more. I am the Wizard of Blizzard!"
When Charlie starts carting Jack around town, his sanity is questioned by his mother and his school friends.
Warmer weather eventually causes Jack to begin to melt. Charlie needs to get him somewhere cold. So, after enlisting the help of former archrival Rory, Charlie gets Jack onto a truck bound for the mountains. "A snow dad is better than no dad," says Rory.
After getting to a cabin that they used to go to as a family, Jack calls Gabby and tells her where Charlie is. Gabby is shocked to hear Jack's voice and hurries to get to the cabin.
When Charlie's had a good rest, Jack tells him that it's time to let him go. Father and son hug it out and Charlie prepares to say goodbye.
When Gabby arrives, she sees the living snowman and apologizes to Charlie for not believing him. Then she turns to Jack.
By this time, Jack has turned from a snowman back into a vision of his former self. They say their final goodbyes before Jack disappears. As a flurry of snow drifts over the mountains, Jack's voice tells them, "I will always hear you."
Cast rundown:
Michael Keaton...............................Jack Frost
Kelly Preston..................................Gabby Frost
Joseph Cross..................................Charlie Frost
Mark Addy......................................Mac MacArthur
Andrew Lawrence............................Tuck Gronic
Taylor Handley................................Rory Buck
Mika Boorem..................................Natalie
Pat Crawford Brown.........................Scorekeeper
And that's all for Jack Frost. Originally, George Clooney was supposed to play Jack Frost. The snowman puppeteers had designed the snowman puppet to Clooney's exact specifications and had to start all over again when he left the project. Jake Lloyd was originally considered for the role of Charlie, and Renee Zellweger was considered for the role of Gabby.
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