Karen is a major protagonist in Frosty the Snowman by Rankin/Bass. It’s rather unfortunate for such a sweet, pure-hearted girl to have a name that is now associated with an idiotic Boomer stereotype sporting a terrible haircut and always demanding to speak to the manager.

At the start of the story, she’s no different from her friends at school. They build a snowman, as any group of children would, when surrounded by winter scenery and blessed with free time.

When Frosty comes to life through the magic hat, she decides to accompany him to the North Pole so he won’t melt which is a terrifying and horrendous plan. They didn’t have a small airplane; they were on a little train that probably didn’t go more than fifty miles per hour. And there’s no geographical way to reach the North Pole via railroad, even if it were theoretically possible to build one.

Santa saves the day when Karen gets too cold and Frosty sacrifices himself to ensure she stays alive. He manages to rescue her and revive Frosty after a very brief “death.”

However, one thing bothers me: Santa Claus leaves her on the roof of her house, and I don’t see any clear way for her to get down. It seems like a perfect setup for her to slip and fall to her death. All because Santa was too lazy to lower his sleigh to ground level.