Rudolph's Shiny New Year

This is the one with the villainous Vulture, and where Rudolph gets trapped inside a big snowball. And the kid with the huge ears too...Well, it's not bad-Santa mixed with New Years and whatever-it doesn't quite hold up as well's 'Heat Mizer' or the first Frosty, but it's a fun watch for the family.

*** outta ****

This was included on the same DVD as "The Year Without a Santa Claus," and I must say that I don't remember this one at all from my childhood. It picks up where the original "Rudolph" left off. Rudolph has successfully saved Christmas, so he's charged with saving the New Year as well, sent off into the night by Santa Claus (who's really good at delegating, by the way), to find the New Year's baby, a bizarre little tyke with enormous ears who looks like Harpo Marx and wears a giant top hat. He's run away because everyone laughs at his ears; who better to find him and teach him the value of not taking life so seriously than Rudolph, he of the drunkard's nose?

I liked this one, though it features the least memorable music yet of this kind of animated film. Rudolph is joined by a soldier who's part clock and speaks in rhymed couplets, and a knight whose face we never see and who could be a character out of Monty Python. There's also a gloomy camel and my favorite character, a great whale who gives the group rides around the ocean and helps them chase down the scary monster bird (that's really its name) who wants to kidnap baby New Year so he can stop time and prevent himself from turning into ice (don't ask). Last but not least, Red Skelton fills narration duties as Father Time.

Like all of these films, even if they're not that great, they provide a certain nostalgic satisfaction to those of us who remember a time before computer animation.

Grade: B+

While not as good as either "Year Without a Santa Claus" or the original "Rudolph", this was still must-see TV when I was growing up. Since it's one-hour long (when broadcast), you get more bang for your buck than the many half-hour Christmas shows.

When watching this recently, it seems to me they cut one of Red Skelton's songs. Wasn't there a song titled "The moving finger writes...", where Father Time explains to Rudolph how Baby New Year grows into an old man by the end of the year? I have a distinct memory of that. Perhaps it shows up on the DVD? In a similar vein, there's a song I know they routinely cut from "Year Without a Santa Claus"--Mrs. Claus singing "Anyone Can Be Santa Claus". I realize that they're probably squeezing in more commercials than when I was a kid, & something is bound to get cut. Still.

Another Rankin-Bass holiday classic I grew up with - I was 4 years old in 1976 and watched it every year after it first aired for years.

What is cuter than this New Years Baby and his ears? I always thought he was adorable.

I always loved the Rankin-Bass specials - well made, nice stories, sometimes funny, and lovable characters - even the bad guys are great villains.

In this tale, Santa sends Rudolph out to find Happy, the New Years Baby, who had wondered far away from his home because others laughed at those cute ears of his. Happy just wants a friend but time is running out - you see, New Years is coming soon.

Highly recommended viewing.

10/10.

Happy the Baby New Year had runaway due to teasing about his big ears. The weather is frightful. After saving Christmas, Rudolph is the only one who can save New Year. He is joined by General Ticker. They cross the Sands of Time to find Father Time guided by The Great Quarter Past Five. Aeon The Terrible is after Baby New Year to stop time. Rudolph searches for Happy in the Archipelago of Last Years.

It was over a decade since the first Rudolph first aired. There is a nostalgic charm to the stop-motion animation. While it's great to have new characters, I don't understand why so many of them seem to drop off. Where did General Ticker go? Why introduce great side characters, only to drop them immediately? I also don't understand how the 3 bears fit into the Archipelago. They're not historical figures. There are some new songs but it's always the classic that is truly great. Despite a few questionable turns, it's still a fun journey.