Olive, the Other Reindeer

Despite being Emmy nominated, here's a Christmas film virtually nobody talks about anymore.

Olive, the Other Reindeer is a 2D computer animated TV special. It has Olive who is a dog, a Jack Russell terrier, I think. Her best friend is a penguin who sells fake Rolex watches (Rolexxx to be precise). An evil postman plots to stop Santa delivering presents; because he's sick of delivering letters to Santa. After a misheard radio announcement Olive comes to the rescue as the other reindeer to pull the sleigh.

This film is very charming. It's now regarded as a classic. To be honest it's not up there with The Snowman, or some of the Rankin Bass productions, but it is great fun. The film has some grown up humour, but nothing sexual or edgy, mainly just pop culture references and wordplay. I preferred this over "Hooves of Fire". There's a superb mix of voice talent on show, Drew Barrymore is excellent; bringing a cute naivety to the role without being irritating.

Unfortunately, given this uses computer animation from over 20 years ago it looks a bit rough around the edges. I saw it in 2000 and I remember it looking great and it has a very unique style, which is sort of flat. Viewers will be reminded of early South Park episodes and Cel-shaded videogames like Wacky Races on the Dreamcast. Once you get over the dated look there is a lot to enjoy. At 46 minutes long it does outstay its welcome by about 15 minutes.

It was first broadcast and produced for Fox Television with Matt Groening serving as executive producer. It was later repeated on Nickelodeon the year after and on Channel 4 in the UK in 2000. It was repeated for a few years after, but it hasn't been broadcast in the UK since 2003 to my knowledge. A DVD has been released with a nice picture and some extras.

My wife, 5-year-old daughter, and I ran across this special last year. Seeing Drew Barrymore's name gave me some pause, as she had recently flashed David Letterman while giving him a birthday dance, so I wondered if this special was actually going to be suitable for family viewing, and not some subversive story with a Christmas theme. Well, I definitely over-thought this one: "Olive" was absolutely wonderful, and unexpectedly charming (a very rare commodity these days). Her voice work was heartfelt, and a truly eclectic list of other voices, ranging from Joe Pantoliano to co-producer Michael Stipe (whose experience in cartoons includes his hilarious appearance on the funniest "Space Ghost" episode ever-#17, "Hungry") keeps this story light and humorous. The animation style was appropriate to the story and, apparently, to the source material (I have not yet seen the book). I recommend it!

One of the least accomplished episodes of "The Simpsons" was "Insane Clown Poppy," with Drew Barrymore as the voice of Krusty's illegitimate daughter Sophie. Happily, she and Matt Groening pre-emptively made up for this in 1999 with the charming "Olive, the Other Reindeer," which they executive produced, and which featured one of them (hint: not Matt) as the voice of the title character.

When Santa Claus faces a crisis that may mean his deliveries won't get through, lovable dog Olive mishears him on the radio hoping to depend on "all of the other reindeer," and believing that Mr. Kringle is counting on her, she's off to the North Pole with the help of her penguin friend Martini, but with a conniving postman (!) out to stop her. Only Scrooge would not be rooting for Olive and Martini to succeed in the course of this special, not least with the warm and winning voice work (particularly Barrymore as our four-legged friend, Joe Pantoliano cast against type as good guy Martini, and Michael Stipe as one of Santa's reindeer - who has a very funny joke about Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer).

A good, heartwarming story with computer animation from DNA Productions that looks more traditionally cartoony than the norm, which is not a bad thing here; Drew also does her own singing, and it must be said that she won't be giving Alicia Keys a run for her money - but her scrappy enthusiasm on her numbers ("Merry Christmas After All" provides an oddly endearing blend of Miss Barrymore's slightly flat vocalising and the truly musical Big Bad Voodoo Daddy) only adds to the special's charm. Funny and non-sick-making, this is up there with Channel 4's adaptation of "Father Christmas" and some of Rankin/Bass's seasonal cartoons in the winner stakes; one to tape.

"Warp speed, captain!"

Olive is an ambitious little dog who hears that one of Santa's reindeer has been injured and may not be able to pull the sleigh. Olive sets out to set into the place of the reindeer, making a few friends along the way. Meanwhile a bitter mailman sets out to ruin Christmas for all concerned.

I caught this early on Christmas Day buried in the middle of every channel trying to put up some feel good programmes and films about Santa and reindeers – mostly animations. This one struck me because how different the animation was – a little weird and off-kilter to be just another banged out Christmas animation. Then I noticed it was produced by Matt Groening – he of Simpsons and Futurama fame. I had hoped that this would be as sharp as some of the better episodes of those series but it didn't quite make it.

Generally it was amusing and it did have a few characters that were sharp and delivered one liners and I suppose the whole set up is inventive enough and different enough to stand out from the crowd of feel good animations on this morning. But it wasn't in the same league as Groening's Simpsons episodes. However the humour is sufficient to make it stand out and the voice work helps a lot.

Barrymore brings a relentless cheerfulness to Olive and the various side kicks help. Pantoliano is the best voice as the penguin Martini while others include Jay Mohr, Castellaneta, Stipe and MacNicol. It's not star studded which is good as that can often replace a quality product, but the cast are all good enough to deliver on the story's potential.

Overall this can't hold a candle to much of Groening's other work but as a competitor for your attentions amongst a host of other festive cartoons then this should easily beat many of the other stocking fillers that the networks serve up to fill the day.

With so much war and moral decay in this world at present time, Christmas has become my favourite time of the year. Not just because it's a festive season and colourful... but because its a time that represents innocence and goodness in people. We need Christmas all year round, it might make the world a better place.

And that's why I am a sucker for Christmas movies so much. At the core, I am a die hard horror nut and general cinema lover all round... but one thing I cannot get enough of is an original and off-beat Christmas movie. Over the years there's been some gems like: 8 Crazy Nights, Nightmare Before Christmas, Santa Vs the Snowman, Christmas Vacation and The Grinch (to name only a few).

While 'Olive the Reindeer' is a few years old now, I only saw it recently having heard many good things about it. It is a wonderful little film suitable for the entire family. The story is simple, sweet and subtley hilarious. One reviewer on IMDb said that Drew Barrymore dragged the movie down.... I can't disagree more. I thought she was delightful. She has child-like innocence in her voice that puts a believability into the Olive character. Not to mention that she Co-Produced this film so possibly without her involvement, Olive may not have been made (I don't know!?).

Anyhow, if you want a Festive movie for the kids and adults alike to enjoy.... rent Olive the other Reindeer. It's sure to amuse and entertain.