| “ | You don't frighten me. Begone! | „ |
| ~ King Winterbolt |
| “ | No. No! My- My powers are gone! When the scepter dies, I go too! I turn- I turn- Turn! I turn... into a... tree! | „ |
| ~ Winterbolt's last words. |
Winterbolt is the main antagonist in the 1979 Christmas television special Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July. He’s an evil snow sorcerer who creates blizzards and snowstorms.
He was voiced by the late Paul Frees, who also played Evil Star in The Superman/Aquaman Hour of Adventure, Aeon the Terrible in Rudolph's Shiny New Year, Burgermeister Meisterburger and Grimsley in Santa Claus is Comin' to Town, Jack Frost in Frosty's Winter Wonderland, Quizzler in Mouse on the Mayflower and Boris Badenov in the Rocky and Bullwinkle series.
Personality[]
Winterbolt is among the evilest Rankin/Bass villains. From his first moments on screen, he’s presented as a tyrannical, ruthless, wrathful, heartless and villainous wizard who shows the innocent residents of the North Pole no mercy, as seen when he strikes them with a blast from his ice scepter and his monstrous snow dragons send them running away in fear. When his reign of terror is temporarily halted by Lady Boreal, after he awakens from the sleep she put him under and discovers that Santa Claus is now the new ruler of the North Pole, he becomes determined to overthrow him and reclaim his territory. Because of this, he is also greedy, power-hungry and rather conceited, as he believes that there can be no other “king of the north” except for himself.
Winterbolt is quite crafty, clever, intelligent and calculating. While some could argue how pointlessly elaborate his entire plot is, he is shown to be very good at planning. This is prominently illustrated by how the heroes are completely unaware that he is manipulating them and using in in his grand scheme, and they never realize until near the end of the film that he is behind everything that is going on. When he first reveals himself to Rudolph, Frosty and the latter’s family, he puts on a seemingly kindly façade, to lead the heroes into a false sense of security and make them believe that he can be trusted.
However, Winterbolt’s greed and hunger for power proved to be his downfall. Despite having achieved his ultimate goal to permanently extinguish Rudolph’s nose in order to defeat his arch-rival Santa, after learning of Frosty’s magical top hat, he makes it his new goal to steal the hat in order to create an army of evil snowmen to do his bidding, thus ensuring his permanent rule over the North Pole. When Rudolph later finds Winterbolt in possession of the now-lifeless Frosty’s hat, he attempts to stop him, only for the wizard to counter-attack by siccing his pet “rein-snakes” on the reindeer, showing that he’s even willing to commit murder if necessary. However, he was inevitably foiled by the efforts of both Rudolph and Lilly Lorraine, with the latter ultimately putting an end to his villainy for good.
Appearance[]
Winterbolt is an elderly wizard who appears quite tall in stature, with pure white skin, small black eyes (which sometimes glow in a creepy fashion in some scenes), a long white handlebar mustache and big white beard, a large circular hairdo with a widow’s peak, bony fingers, and a hooked nose. He wears a long-sleeved, light blue robe, with a like-colored rope-like sash around his narrow waist, large dark blue cuffs with silver zigzag-like decals (with the same trim at the bottom of his robe and cape, a like-colored cape with silver lining and a zigzag-shaped collar, with similar cuffs on his shoulders, and dark blue shoes with pointed shoes. He is often seen carrying his magical ice scepter.
Powers and ablities[]
Throughout the film, Winterbolt is shown to be a powerful wizard whose power no one should ever underestimate. Examples of his magical prowess include:
- Ice Scepter: As revealed in the film, Winterbolt’s main source of power is his magical scepter made of solid ice. The scepter’s capacities are quite limited, as it mostly emits icy blasts. However, at one point, when Scratcher refuses to come out of his cave, Winterbolt shoots a beam from his scepeter, which grabs the reluctant reindeer and pulls him towards the wizard.
- Hypnotic snow: Throughout the film, Winterbolt is shown to have the ability to control one’s thoughts. To do so, he picks up a handful of snow, whispers an idea into it, and blows it into the Eye of Snow, which then plants his ideas into one’s mind.
- Eye of Snow: Winterbolt uses a crystal ball, which he calls his “Eye of Snow,” to spy on others in order to plan his next move.
- Snow dragons: As shown in a few instances, Winterbolt has his two pet snow dragons at his disposal. He can command them to conjure up blizzards so fierce that no one can find their way anywhere, hence the storm Rudolph foiled on Christmas Eve with his nose’s light.
- Magical amulets: As part of his master plan, when Frosty and his family consider joining Rudolph at the circus, Winterbolt provides them with special amulets that will allow them to survive in hot weather. But their power, he explains, will only last until the last firework on the 4th of July fades away. When that happens, the amulets’ power will wear off and Frosty and his family will melt.
- The Snow Genie: The Snow Genie serves as a soothsayer of sorts to Winterbolt, whom he can summon with his scepter in one shot. He gives his master advice and informs him on important pieces of information that can aid him in his diabolical plan.
- Flight: After Rudolph has discovered that Winterbolt had tricked Frosty into handing over his magic, life-giving top hat, he angrily prepares to charge at the wizard, only for him to fly away with the hat, cackling wickedly.
Weakness[]
Winterbolt, despite being the most powerful wizard, can only survive as long as he has his Ice Scepter. Without it, he will be powerless and become a lifeless tree if the scepter is destroyed.
Role in the film[]
Centuries before Santa Claus came to be, Winterbolt ruled over the North Pole with an icy iron fist. His magic came from his Ice Scepter, and he had two powerful ice dragons who cause the storms. Lady Boreal of the aurora borealis confronted him and used her powers to put him in a deep sleep. Unfortunately, he could arise again when Lady Boreal's powers would begin to die and so he vowed to return with a vengeance.
When he awoke, he discovers Santa Claus as the new ruler of the North Pole and tries to overthrow him. Through the knowledge of the Genie of the Ice Scepter, Winterbolt learns that if Santa fails to deliver the toys on Christmas Eve, then he could take his place and give out toys of evil. He then commands his ice dragons to brew up the blizzard of the century. Lady Boreal discovered this treacherous act and used the last of her powers to give Rudolph his shining nose. Winterbolt and Lady Boreal were both the reasons behind the events of Rudolph, the Red Nosed Reindeer.
With Rudolph saving Christmas, Winterbolt had to get rid of the reindeer first, but because Lady Boreal spread her magic everywhere in the North Pole, his powers had no effect on Rudolph. He had to get Rudolph away from the North Pole and make him do something evil to make his nose stop glowing. When Rudolph's friend Milton arrived to pick up ice cream for a circus, Winterbolt used this as an advantage. He also has the power to control one's thoughts and he "hypnotized" Milton to convince Rudolph to perform in the circus, which he agrees. Winterbolt then appears to Rudolph and Frosty, telling them he’s a gentle snow wizard and he gives Frosty and his family snow amulets which will prevent them from melting in the summer heat. However, the amulets would only work until the end of the circus finale, so he also convinces Santa to pick up the snow family.
Winterbolt's plan was working; while Rudolph was working in the circus, Winterbolt recruits a reindeer reject named Scratcher to get Rudolph to do something evil. He then traps Santa and Mrs. Claus in a storm which would severly delay them of getting Frosty. Scratcher tricks Rudolph into giving Sam Spangles, disguised as a cop, the circus money behind everyone's backs. Winterbolt then went down to the circus on his own sleigh, mushed by snakes, and double-crosses Rudolph. He tells Rudolph his diabolical plan and how it worked as Rudolph could no longer make his nose glow. He then forbade Rudolph from telling everyone the truth because by doing so, Frosty and his family would melt.
As Frosty was the only one who witnessed what happened, he tries to negotiate with Winterbolt. Winterbolt learns, through the genie, of Frosty's origin and how his hat keeps him alive. Winterbolt now wants the hat, so he can make an army of evil snowmen. He tricks Frosty into giving his hat in exchange of Winterbolt curing Rudolph's nose. Rudolph discovered what had happened and chased Winterbolt to get the hat back. Winterbolt unleashes his snakes but Rudolph outmaneuvers them. He then charges at the wizard, making him drop the hat. Rudolph grabbed the hat and his courageous act brought his nose back to life and he ran off to fix everything. With Frosty saved and the circus money given back, everyone forgives Rudolph but Winterbolt appears for one final standoff. The circus ringmaster named Lady Lorraine throws her iron-made guns at his scepter, breaking it. After all, the scepter was the source of Winterbolt's power and without it, he was powerless. His final words were: "No! My- My powers are gone! When the scepter dies, I go too! I turn- I turn- Turn! I turn... into a... tree!". With his being reduced to a lifeless tree forever, Lilly concludes, "What an exit," indicating that Winterbolt was too dangerous to be left alive. His storm cleared up for Santa and his wife to get to the circus.
Quotes[]
| “ | No, you won't! I warn you! If clear your name to save your nose, the Frostys all will melt! Admit your guilt, and I will allow them to remain frozen. | „ |
| ~ Winterbolt to Rudolph. |
| “ | So you want to give me your hat, eh? (Frosty: Only if you can turn Rudolph's nose back on.) Why, of course I can! (Frosty: What did you say?) Oh, It's hardly worth it. (Frosty: It is to me. This hat is what keeps me all living! Without it.) Oh, very well. I'll make the trade. | „ |
| ~ Winterbolt to Frosty. |
| “ | (Rudolph: What's going on here?) The poor frozen fool gave me his hat when I promised to return your nose. (Rudolph: You know you can't do that!) Yes, I know. But he didn't! (Laughing) (Rudolph: Okay, Winterbolt. You asked for it!) You've got to catch me first! | „ |
| ~ Winterbolt to Rudolph. |
| “ | Not so fast! I still have my scepter. Destruction TO YOU ALL! | „ |
| ~ King Winterbolt |
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- The special that he appears in, Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July, is unique among Rankin/Bass' holiday offerings. It features the Mickey Rooney-voiced Santa Claus, as opposed to the version that appeared in prior Rudolph specials. It was nearly of feature film length, as opposed to the half-hour or hour most R/B holiday events were. It also featured nearly every last R/B Holiday character ever, at least in a cameo or walk-on. It was also almost a series finale, as R/B's next stop-motion Holiday special featured the version of Santa from L. Frank Baum's The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus, and was unconnected to the world of the 1960s and 1970s classic characters.
- Winterbolt is among the very few R/B holiday special villains to actually be killed/destroyed rather than reformed. However, he is the only villain in the Frosty franchise to die. Lorraine's use of iron against magic is actually traditional.
- Winterbolt bears a resemblance to the Winter Warlock, once the enemy of Kris Kringle (Santa) in the original Santa Claus is Comin' to Town. However, while the mortal-leaning Winter Warlock became a friend once Kris touched his heart with a small gesture of friendship, Winterbolt was an ancient long-lived entity bearing no good in his heart.
- Winterbolt also bears a resemblance to Saruman from The Lord of the Rings, as both are evil Wizards, as well as virtually ageless beings, and both rely on magic staffs which leaves their masters either powerless or weakened if destroyed.