Rudolph's Shiny New Year

Rankin/Bass sequel to Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer doesn't come close to that classic but has charms of its own. The story is that Happy, the Baby New Year, has run away and unless he is returned by Dec 31st the current year will not end. Rudolph is asked to find Happy, which is appropriate since they both have in common that they were laughed at for physical oddities. Rudolph with his glowing red nose and Happy with his huge ears. It's a running gag throughout the special that every time someone sees Happy's ears they burst out laughing. It seems a little mean after awhile, to be honest.

The most interesting part of the story to me was the Archipelago of Last Years. Basically after every year ends, that year retires to an island all of its own. It's a neat idea that allowed Rankin/Bass to toy with various characters from different times. My favorite of these was the island of the year that all fairy tales and nursery rhymes were created. So we get to see Rankin/Bass animate characters like the Three Bears and Cinderella. Throughout the story, Rudolph picks up various allies and must contend with an evil vulture named Aeon.

The stop-motion animation is, as usual, excellent. I love the vulture in particular. The voicework is great. Billie Mae Richards returns as Rudolph. Red Skelton voices the narrator Father Time, as well as a short bit as Baby Bear (using one of his old standard voices from his radio & TV shows). Morey Amsterdam voices O.M. the caveman. The songs are a mixed bag and probably the special's weakest element. Also, as mentioned, the constant laughing at the baby for his ears is a little rough and the "moral" at the end, as stated by Rudolph, doesn't seem to fit. Still, it's an enjoyable special. It's not one of the best but it's Rankin/Bass so it's solid entertainment despite its flaws.

Rudolph's Shiny New Year can be striking, and entertaining, if you're watching it when you're little - little enough that by the time you're my age you have no clear memory of the first time you watched it, just that you did over and over. As a kid you get introduced to claymation someway or another (even those of today who don't have Gumby get Wallace and Gromit), and this plays for a fine hour for the little ones, but can perhaps be of worth for the parents here and there. The story of Rudolph saving the "baby new-year" from the clutches of Eon, a vulture looking to keep December 31st on a loop, is pretty simple, with conflicts and characters that are typical and funny enough to take. But what can be memorable for a child is how some of this special is dark (with Eon) when it's not cute (most scenes with the baby). It's also interesting as a kind of sequel-cum-remake of the original Rudolph story, as the baby has to contend with having big ears- something that a child might find more relatable than a shiny nose. The songs are also a bit of a treat, if dated, and Red Skeleton does a fine double-job with the voicing of Father time and the little Bear on the island. Basically, it's the kind of special that is worth checking out with the kids for a few minutes, and if they get into it, it may prove a treat, and if not, there's still Nickelodeon.

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.

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.

Just finished this, the sequel to Rankin/Bass' "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer". With Red Skelton as narrator Father Time as well as the Baby Bear, Frank Gorshin as the knight Sir Ten-To-Three, Morey Amsterdam as the caveman-O.M. (One Million), Hal "Great Gildersleeve" Peary as the whale Big Ben, Paul Frees as various voices, Don Messick as Papa Bear, Iris Rainer as Mama Bear, and, returning as Rudolph, Billie Mae Richards. Written once again by Romeo Muller, "Rudolph's Shiny New Year" is a wonderful Tall Tale about how the reindeer with the shiny nose managed to make sure that it didn't become December 31st forever. Even as an adult, I was enthralled by the way Muller kept making things up as the story went along and didn't care a lick about logic or stuff like that as long as it was still believable. Although when Red said this story took place just after the events in the previous special, I did question why Rudolph's antlers had shrunk to when he was a kid. Other than that, I still highly enjoyed "Rudolph's Shiny New Year". P.S. I just found out Frees and Amsterdam were born in the same city as I, Chicago, Ill.