| “ | I must get that hat back! | ” |
— Hinkle sliding into villainy | ||
Professor Hinkle is the antagonist of the Rankin/Bass animated special Frosty the Snowman. He is a magician hired to perform at the school's Christmas party. The narrator describes him as the worst magician in the world, as shown when his equipment falls and his tricks go awry; he puts eggs into his magic hat, which all fall on the floor, and he fails to pull his rebellious pet rabbit, Hocus Pocus, out of the hat. He has a tendency to repeat adjectives or phrases three times in a row when he is excited and/or stressed.
After Hinkle's failed attempt at a magic show, the students to whom he was performing put his magic hat on Frosty the Snowman, whom they had just created, and the hat brings the snowman to life. Seeing its magical properties, Hinkle takes the hat back along with the rabbit, hoping to use the hat to become rich. When the children plea for Hinkle to return the hat to Frosty, the magician tells them that they were only imagining things, and heads off. However, Hocus later escapes with the hat by swapping it with a Christmas wreath and takes it back to the children, who revive Frosty. When Frosty boards a train headed for the North Pole with Hocus and Karen, one of his friends, the Professor pursues them, vowing to get the hat back.
When Karen is unable to withstand riding in the freezing boxcar, the trio disembarks, and Hinkle desperately jumps off, but ends up falling into a heap of snow. Later, he finds Karen sitting beside a campfire and blows the flames out. When Frosty arrives asking Hinkle to stop, the magician demands the hat back, only to watch the two run off so fast he cannot catch them. However, after Frosty brings Karen into a nearby greenhouse to warm her up, he eventually catches up to them and holds the door shut, leaving Frosty to melt inside.
Fortunately, Santa Claus arrives and is able to magically reassemble Frosty, but before the group can place the hat on Frosty's head, Hinkle appears and again demands to have the hat back. However, Santa refuses to let him touch it and warns Hinkle that he will receive no more Christmas gifts if he keeps on pursuing the hat. However, Santa, noticing his disappointment, tells Hinkle that if he writes apologies to Frosty "a hundred zillion times", he might still receive a present of forgiveness. Realizing that this could mean a new magic hat he could actually use, Hinkle eagerly agrees, apologizes for all trouble he has caused to Karen and Hocus, and runs off to get busy writing.
Hinkle appears during the end credits marching along with Frosty's friends, donning a brand new hat, which implies that he has already written up his apologies and Santa has kept his word. Hocus Pocus is also seen at his side, which implies the two have reconciled. Hinkle is last seen tipping his new hat as he and the others bid farewell to Frosty, who is leaving with Santa, promising to be back on Christmas Day.
Although Hinkle did not reappear in Frosty's Winter Wonderland or Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July, Sam Spangles, one of the villains in the latter film, bares a noticeable resemblance to him; however, it is never mentioned if the two characters are related.
In The Legend of Frosty the Snowman, Hinkle is briefly seen in a flashback in which it is revealed that he is the father of Theodore Tinkerton, which would also make him the grandfather of Tommy and Charlie Tinkerton.
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