Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer

This is one of the greatest Christmas movies. There are two things I love right off the bat. The opening credits, and the way the snowman moves through the snow. Don't ask me why.

During this viewing we had a couple of special guests who have just been dying to be in the blog. My two sisters, Kaitlin and Caroline were visiting. Kaitlin thought that the movie brought back childhood memories and is still as good as she remembers.

We meet up with a baby reindeer named Rudolph, who happens to have a red noisy lightbulb for nose. This drives his parents crazy and they are sad about what a failure their child is already. They are able to hide his nose for a year, but then its time for him to socialize with other reindeer at the Reindeer Games. While there he meets his new bro Fireball, and future girlfriend Clarice, the cute doe with the Minnie Mouse Bow. Rudolph shows some real promise in his flying skills, but then his nose starts acting up and he basically gets banished as an outcast.

Meanwhile in Santa's mansion, we meet some Christmas Elves! A lot of what these elves are like are what inspired the look for all the elves in the movie Elf. There is one elf named Hermey who has luscious blonde hair in contrast to all the other bald elves. He doesn't enjoy making toys or singing, but instead really wants to be a dentist. He does not fit in and realizes that he never will and so he leaves.

Hermey and Rudolph find themselves together running off into the unknown as misfits. Due to his bright and noisy nose, Rudolph keeps attracting the Abominable snowman. During their journey the run into Yukon Cornelius who is a prospector eternally searching for silver and gold. He gets them out of a close call with the Bumble (Abominable Snowman) and they find themselves drifting into the unknown on some ice.

They end up at the Island of Misfit toys who is run by a winged lion named King Moonracer. He goes and collects misfit toys and brings them here in hopes that they might someday find a good home. Some of these toys include a Jack in the Box named Charlie and a water pistol that shoots jelly. Rudolph and the gang vow that if/when they see Santa again they will tell him about the island.

Not wanting to put his friends in danger against the Bumble, Rudolph leaves without his friends and strikes out on his own. He is gone for months and during that time grows up and gets some big antlers. His parents and Clarice have been super worried and have also spent the last few months searching for him. He finally returns home and realizes they are gone and figure that there is only one place they could be, the bumble's cave. He goes there are tries to fight off the bumble, but only succeeds once Yukon Cornelius and Hermey show up and help. Cornelius knocks him out while Hermey removes his teeth. He's harmless now that he is toothless!Cornelius and the bumble end up falling over a cliff!!

They return back to Christmas Town and rejoin the Elves in the mansion. They find out from Santa that Christmas is going to be canceled because there is a very bad snow storm and he can't fly through that. He then realizes that Rudolph's nose finally has a purpose and will cut through the clouds. Cornelius returns with the reformed bumble who helps out by putting the star on top of the Christmas tree. Hermey is allowed to open a dental practice. Rudolph and Santa stop by the Island of Misfit Toys so they can be delivered to children too. Cornelius finds a peppermint mine. Everyone has a happy ending!

While this movie has the superficial feelings of happiness and joy that is often accompanied by the memories of seeing this as a child, I couldn't help but notice a different aspect of this movie now that I'm older. There is a bit of a darkness to it. There are some really mean, bullying words that are said by adult figures throughout this movie. And quite frankly, Santa is a jerk in this movie. Sure he is stressed out due to the holidays, but he is completely ungrateful to his singing elves and his wife. Santa along with others are also very focused on segregating anything that is different from the norm.

Andrew's Closing Thought: The only thing more annoying than a red nose is a red nose that whistles.

Up Next: The Santa Clause