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 the Snowman (film) people to record the song when it was released in 1950 (at the time the song had slightly different lyrics); he re-recorded the song for the special. Rankin/Bass veteran writer Romeo Muller adapted and expanded the story for television as he had done with "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer". "TV Guide" ranked the special number 4 on its 10 Best Family Holiday Specials list. In a school on Christmas Eve, a teacher hires Professor Hinkle, an inept magician, to entertain the children for their class Christmas party. After failing his first trick, he throws his hat away. Class is dismissed and