The Conservative Cave
The Bar => The Lounge => Topic started by: movie buff on December 01, 2011, 08:01:52 PM
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Hello everyone, and welcome to the first installment in my 25 Days of Christmas marathon!
First off, I must amend a statement I made in my previous thread about this marathon: I said I would not be doing any specific themes over a set of days. Now, it looks like I will have at least a few different themes I’ll be using at various points, as well as some that don’t terribly tie into any themes.
The first theme I’ll be looking at for a few days is Rankin- Bass’s beloved classic TV specials. I’ll be looking at a few of these, starting with the one that started it all, 1964’s ‘Rudolph the Red- Nosed Reindeer.’
It starts with the narrator, Sam the Snowman (Voice of Burl Ives), talking about how, while Christmas works out ok now, there was a time a couple years back when a major snowstorm almost caused Christmas to be canceled. This causes him to flash back to when the reindeer Donner and his wife/ mate give birth to a new faun that they name Rudolph, though they are shocked to discover he has a red nose which at times actually lights up. They try to hide it by covering his nose with dirt, and in reindeer training, he actually does a good job learning to fly, but the truth about his nose comes out, and everyone, even Santa (More on that a little ways below), either laughs at him or shuns him, other than a cute little doe named Clarice who Rudolph begins to hit it off with.
At the same time, we also get a look at another person at the North Pole who is considered an outcast for being different: Hermey the Elf. He’s no good at making toys like the other elves, he decides he wants to be a dentist instead. As you can probably guess, he and Rudolph quickly become friends. They set off together, and eventually befriend a prospector named Yukon Cornelius, who’s determined to find silver and gold in the North. The friends are chased by the Abominable Snow Monster (Or “Bumble†for short), and land on the Island of Misfit Toys, where various odd toys that aren’t wanted by anybody come to live. Rudolph secretly sneaks away, out of fear that if he keeps with his two friends, his glowing nose will cause them all to be caught by Bumble. Of course, by the end, the friends are reunited, Bumble is reformed, Santa promises to find homes for all the Misfit Toys, and a certain foggy Christmas Eve gives Rudolph the chance to earn the admiration of everyone.
Looking back at this special now, there are only a couple issues I have with it. One is that, especially early on in the special, Santa comes across as a bit of a jerk. When he first sees Rudolph’s nose light up, he actually tells his father Donner “You ought to be ashamed of yourself!†I could understand the other characters ostracizing Rudolph because of his nose, but Santa’s supposed to be so kind and jolly it doesn’t make sense that he of all characters would be so mean. Also, even for a kids’ Christmas special, the Bumble isn’t very scary at all. The other characters frequently talk about how scary and mean he supposedly is, but he looks more cute than scary, you can tell he’ll eventually end up becoming a good guy.
Now, for what I liked about ‘Rudolph.’ The characters were all very well- played and well- developed, especially Rudolph and Hermey, it’s always neat when Rudolph’s nose lights up and Hermey starts talking about dentistry. Yukon Cornelius was a very funny character that always had me smiling. Sam Snowman made for a very good narrator and it was amusing to see how much he got into the story. The designs for the characters in the Island of Misfit Toys are all original and neat- looking. The entire story is cute and light- hearted enough to satisfy the kid in all of us.
And, so, that’s ‘Rudolph the Red- Nosed Reindeer.’ Come back tomorrow for my next review!
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I kinda like Miraicle on 34th Street, and the one with the kid and his BB gun.
Do those count?
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I kinda like Miraicle on 34th Street, and the one with the kid and his BB gun.
Do those count?
Yes, those absolutely count, and I fully intend on reviewing both of them (The BB gun one is called 'A Christmas Story') in this marathon, if I can (And I almost certainly can).
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Is this perverted? My husband says he always liked Clarise, 'cause she has a "cute butt." :lmao: TMI
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It isn't Christmas without Rankin-Bass. Good choice!