Overrated

Admirable film.

Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

Merry Christmas Everybody Today I'm going to review the 1964 Christmas Special Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer. Anyway I watch this Special every year with My Family. The Special stars the great Burl Ives as Sam The Snowmen and he tells the story of how Rudolph become the most famous Reindeer of all and met Hermey and Yukon Cornelius and go to the island of misfit toys and find the Abominable Snowmen. I also like the part were the head elf says Hermey Doesn't like to make toys and also a dentist GOOD GRIEF. Anyway I love Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer it is Christmas Classic that I love watching every year with My Family. I'm giving Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer a 10/10 stars. Anyway MERRY Christmas Updated on May 27th, 2017

This was a staple in our home growing up the same as it was in many others. It tries very hard to have a deep moral message and catchy tunes and creating a fairy tale around a classic Christmas Carol. I hate to say anything bad about it but watching it now (and I still try to every year) I can't help but wonder why it has stood the test of time. The animation for its time was probably very good and is still decent but the story itself is very dark. The characters are a little rugged and edgy. The songs are clumsy and simple (yet still somehow ridiculously catchy) and Santa is almost downright mean. That to me might be the worst thing about it. He is grumpy, and almost disrespectful to his elves, reindeer and wife. Santa should be anything but. I suppose in my middle age I am over-analyzing a children's story but I'm doing it for the sake of review. I still watch it every year and it gives me a great deal of nostalgia to do so, so I must remember it fondly from my childhood. Still I will say that the animation style is very unique, still looks okay nowadays (different enough to not truly show its age) and their is no shortage of action and adventure even if it feels just a little rushed.Burl Ives narrating the story as the snow man is a stroke of brilliance. There is a calming, "Grandpa telling a story" sound to Mr. Ives voice and of course his singing voice is beautiful. He is perfect for the role of the jolly snowman telling the story. Everyone's voice fits their characters relatively well. Their voices are all something of classic characters now and its hard to imagine them sounding any differently. Billie Mae Richards is excellent as Rudolph. She has the right tone and inflections and emotions to her voice. Larry Mann is very good as the gruff and heroic voice of Yukon Cornelius. Paul Soles is the voice (now considering something of a controversial role) as Hermes, the elf that wants to be a dentist. The controversy is that apparently (even aside from his rather strange lispy voice) there are indications of him being homosexual. That is ludicrous because first of all...who cares...and second of all, someone is truly over analyzing this. His voice is strange but there are a lot of strange elements about this little animated classic. Stan Francis is okay as Santa but as previously mentioned, Santa is not so well created in this movie. The supporting cast of voices all do a good job.I suppose the film is best described as if you love, you'll love it and if you don't you'll see a lot of the more strange and negative aspects of it. I always felt like it was weird (even as a kid) but there is something appealing about it too. There is absolutely no doubt that they created something unique and something that has stood the test of time and is a must watch in many homes every holiday season. I'm not sure when I will let my daughter watch it (she's not even born yet...due in April) but there is absolutely no doubt the film has definitive pros and a few cons but who am I to say anything bad about it. See it for yourself and add it to your holiday repertoire. 6/10

Who doesn't love "Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer?" I do. This special that I am about to review won't be long, but I will try to give my best on what I think of this special. The story is about a reindeer named Rudolph who has a shiny red-nosed that glows, and doesn't seem to fit in with the other reindeers as they called him some bad names. So Rudolph, goes on an adventure with Hermey who is an elf that wants to be a dentist along with Yukon Cornelius who is dreaming to discover silver and gold; they come across an Abominable Snow Monster as well as the toys that are being misfitted. In my opinion, I thought the animation in this special is exactly quite good which it looks like an earlier work of stop-motion animation. Also, I really do enjoy its story; characters; songs; etc. So, that is how short that I am about to say about "Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer;" it really is a lovely Christmas Special and I give it a 10 out of 10.

The much more theatrical "Santa Claus is Comin' to Town" had an in-joke six years after the release of this first claymation animated special which has become a holiday staple. It briefly identifies how Santa was able to transport presents to the children with the help of the magic feed which made reindeer fly. After the children viewing Santa's story name all of the regular eight reindeer, a little deer with that blinkin' beaken' comes on, creating a little humor considering that Rudolph hadn't even been conceived yet, let alone old enough to fly. This prequel to the later story focuses on a skinny Santa, a nagging Mrs. Claus ("Eat, papa, eat!"), and the announcement that a new fawn is about to come into the herd. Santa visits, proud of the deer who guide his sleigh, but is horrified by what he sees. The cute little fawn has a snout that lights up like Times Square. So what does Santa do? Order the parents to put the poor little fawn into the deer closet so they won't be humiliated.There's lots of subtext here of characters being in some form of closet, whether it be Rudolph, Hermie the Elf who wants to be a dentist, or even Charlie, the oddly named clown who pops out of the box and has a voice like Ed Wynn. Of course, Charlie comes from the island of misfit toys, the ultimate closet of all, and this is discovered when Herbie and Rudolph run away, having been humiliated enough up at the otherwise festive North Pole. So not only is "Rudolph" a holiday classic, it is also a very subtle tale of acceptance and a revelation of the shame that responsible adults should feel when they reject others simply because they are different.That's a pretty daring subtext for a children's program in 1964, an era of social unrest. There's also little drops of the animated sequence of "Anchors Aweigh" here with the kingdom run by the wise kindly lion that Rudolph and his group of friends discover. The Johnny Marks songs are a mixed bag, with the best ones sung by Burl Ives (the Snowman narrator), particularly "Silver and Gold" and his big hit, "Have a Holly Jolly Christmas". "Fame and Fortune", sung by Herbie and Rudolph, seems a little gratuitous, but its not as lame as "We're a Couple of Misfits". Santa's "Jingle Jingle Jingle" is truly upbeat, as are "We Are Santa's Elves" and "The Most Wonderful Day of the Year" which rounds up the story with a truly awesome theme. The saddest moment comes with the "Island of Misfit Toys", but there's joy to be found with the revelation of their plot line. So for those of us who grew up feeling like we lived on our own island of misfits, this shows that even in the darkest of moments, there is always hope.