Road to the North Pole comedy films which were released from 1940 to 1962, starring actors Bing Crosby, Bob Hope and actress Dorothy Lamour. The opening credits show images with Brian and Stewie referencing other Christmas specials such as "The Nutcracker", "A Christmas Carol", "How the Grinch Stole Christmas", "Frosty the Snowman" and "Home Alone". The credits also show Brian and Stewie performing winter activities, such as snowball fights, making snow angels and putting coal in the (Meg's) Christmas socks instead of gifts. Ron MacFarlane, who narrated part of the episode, mentioned that Kenny Rogers was supposed to be there. The episode opens with a
Frosty Returns Live" (a show where John Goodman had made frequent guest appearances). Since Broadway Video produced this special and owned the 1969 original prior to Golden Books' acquisition of the Videocraft International catalog in 1996, "Frosty Returns" follows the CBS showings of the original and is coupled with the original on all DVD releases. Although Rankin/Bass had produced a sequel to "Frosty" with most of the original cast and in the original style, the rights to the original and the sequel were broken up when the company dissolved in 1987. The original, having been produced prior to the 1974 dividing line,