Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer

Considering I reviewed the awful 1997 Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer: The Movie last year, I thought it best to review the 1964 stop motion Rankin/Bass classic it took inspiration from AKA the one that everyone remembers! And I'm not gonna be afraid to admit it, but I had never seen this prior to me doing this review! I of course was aware of it, but I never really had the time to watch it, nor did it ever really air around the holidays, or at least in my house! Now that we've got that out of the way. So can this stop motion special live up to all the hype & be the holiday classic that everyone knows it as, or is it a case of being overrated? Let's find out!

Story: Bit obvious I don't need to go into the story & what the message of it is since EVERYBODY knows what they both are! It may be your typical fish out of water story with the message of being yourself instead of conforming into what society expects you to be & accepting yourself despite bullies trying to bring you down, but the way it's executed it really good mostly thanks to the relationship between Hermey & Rudolph. The factor that the message also brings the sad truth that even if you do eventually accept yourself, there's still going to be people who'll bully & bring you down is actually a rather good one for kids as it is pretty realistic & the answer (which is pretty much 'screw them! I'm gonna do what I want/be who I wanna be no matter what they say) is also a good way to teach children how to deal with it! The adventure aspect with Hermey & Rudolph going to the Abomidable Snow Monster is also rather fun thanks to the colourful characters they come across including everyone on the Island of Misfit Toys & Rudolph learning to be brave & to ignore the haters is also really well executed, along with the climax as they learn the same for the Abomidable Snowmonster. If there is one issue I have, it'd be the romance between Rudolph & Clarice as it really could've been taken out & nothing would change & it isn't really developed or connected to the main plot & it kinda tones down the message due to Clarice already being accepting of Rudolph despite his abnormality. Despite that tiny nitpick, despite the framework being told many times before, the execution & message are really what shines & makes it so memorable!

 

Animation: I know, it's the classic Rankin/Bass look that everyone remembers, but if I can be very honest, I'm not really a huge fan of the designs in their specials. And yes, it must've been a marvel when it first came out 50 years ago, but compared to now, it looks pretty stiff. Obviously this qualifies in the character animation as most of the movements are very very rigid along with the lip synching not being all that great. The flying scenes did surprise me with how good they were given how complicated it must've been back then & the fact they had to do movements for reindeers, humans & even a snowman does show that the animators paid a lot of attention despite the stiff overall look. As for the character designs, I do like the looks they give for the reindeers being all cute & the main characters being easily distinguishable, although sometimes it feels like they copy the models for the extras. Same goes to the background elves & if I can be honest, I'm not a huge fan of their designs (but I will give them credit that the designs of the Misfit Toys are pretty creative). Oh yeah, and despite the Abomidable Snowman scaring kids, I found his design pretty funny! The backgrounds like Santa's workshop, the snowy forests & Santa's castle also look nice & Christmas-y. I feel really bad for saying I'm not really a huge fan of the animation in this, but still, it could've been much much worse given this was made 50 years ago & it is evident that the animators put in a lot of effort given how painstakingly long it takes to accomplish stop motion animation in the first place!

 

Characters: Rudolph is of course the main character, who learns his lesson over loving & accepting himself along with learning to be brave, selfless & to not run away from his problems makes him likeable despite kind of being the typical underdog character. Hermey, Rudolph's friend & is an elf that doesn't like to make toys & would rather be a dentist which parallels nicely with Rudolph's fish out of water story & their relationship is enjoyable to watch. Santa himself is the benevolent type of leader in the North Pole despite convicing Rudolph's family to hide his nose only until it manages to save everyone & Christmas. Rudolph's father, Donner, is surprisingly pretty mean with his son's abnormality right from the get-go & tells him to conform to society, but learns to accept him after realizing what his nose can really do. However, I kinda get why they went this route in order for Rudolph to stick out even more along with the rest of the reindeer in the North Pole acting this way including Comet. Clarice is pretty much just there to be Rudolph's love interest & actually likes him even after his abnormality is revealed to everyone. Yukon Cornelieus is also a fun character as a prospector being over the top despite caring about money most of the time until he meets Rudolph & Hermey & is also the one who reforms the Abomidable Snowman by the end. The Misfits Toys are all also very memorable thanks to their interesting designs & individual personalities along with the fact they want to be loved by children despite their abnormalities The Abomidable Snow Monster is surprisingly sweet as it turns out despite his horrifying exterior, he ends up reforming thanks to Yukon. Oh yeah, and Sam the Snowman (of course voiced by Burl Ives) is the narrator of the special who recalls the events that happened. All the characters are very likeable with nice development & fun personalities so I can understand why they're still beloved today!

Songs: Of course I know all of the classic songs despite this being the very first time I watched the special! I am Old Kris Kringle is a nice introuductory song as we're first introduced to Santa along with Rudolph & his family. We Are Santa's Elves is also a fun song if not intentionally cheesy thanks to Santa's annoyed reactions to it. There's Always Tomorrow is pretty much Clarice's song to bring Rudolph's spirits up & is actually pretty nice to listen to with the sweet lyrics & calming tune even if it doesn't place emphasis on the message quite yet for Rudolph. We're A Couple of Misfits is also a rather fun song for Hermey & Rudolph & is nice to see them accept them being different from everyone else as well as each other. Silver & Gold is a nice song as Burl Ives' singing really shines (well, any time he sings actually), although it is kinda filler as it stops the story, but it really doesn't bother me cos it is a really good song nonetheless! The Most Wonderful Day of the Year is also a very fun song as we see everything from the toy's perspectives as they want to be loved by children with a catchy tune & memorable lyrics! A Holly Jolly Christmas is also a very fun song thanks to Burl Ives' singing & the lyrics also being very memorable. Oh yeah, and Burl Ives' version of Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer is of course memorable & a hallmark in Christmas songs! What else is there to say about the songs in this? Everyone knows them thanks to the fun & catchy tunes & highly memorable lyrics!

 

Overall, I get why Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer is still considered a classic with a great story with a great moral for children, fun characters & highly memorable songs despite the stiff animation. Just go & watch it if you haven't already cos right now I feel stupid for waiting until I was a young adult to finally watch it for the first! I mean, this was much much better than the 1997 Rudolph movie I reviewed last year (the one which I sadly grew up with) & I definitely intend to watch it every year now despite the animation problems!

Story: 10/10

Animation: 5/10

Characters: 9/10

Songs: 10/10

Overall: 9/10