In the Rankin/Bass Christmas special "Santa Claus is Comin' To Town," why does Winter Warlock lose his powers?
Half way through the film, Jessica asks the Warlock for help. He tells her that his magic is fading, and he doubts how useful he will be... or something along those lines. Why is he losing his powers? To my knowledge they never address the reason, and then at the end of the film the Warlock has his powers back. Why? How?
From the Wiki:
After giving him a toy train as a present, the Warlock is touched by this act of kindness and his evil icy heart melts, thus becoming human and befriends Kris.
It is never explained how or why the Winter Warlock regains his powers. One can only assume his heart froze over again because no one kept it warm?
He learns to control his powers for good, not evil. This takes time as his powers came from extreme negative emotions: he changes however, over time, losing negative powers and then gains positive power. It is a system of unlearning motivation, becoming empty, before becoming enlightened or wise. Similar also to martial arts systems where most initial levels before attaining black belt master status are unlearning/ unprogramming to start with black belt learning.
