One day in a school shortly before Christmas, a magician named Professor Hinkle is hired to perform for the pupils but fails to entertain them, so they go outside and build a snowman that they name Frosty. However, Professor Hinkle's rabbit, Hocus Pocus, escapes from the building while wearing his owner's top hat, which the children decide to put on top of Frosty's head, and the magic from the hat successfully anthropomorphizes him. This delights the students, but the agitated Hinkle wants his hat back, which the children refuse to provide him with. Antagonized by both the children's dislike of his magic performance and the fact that he may not be given his top hat back, Professor Hinkle makes it his main priority to snatch the hat back from Frosty.