Deconstructing 'Rudolph' (some food for thought).

[William769]

don't watch much television. I watch the news until I’m furious (which these days takes about 15 minutes), and then switch to the Simpsons (Homer, not O.J.) to calm me down.

But Christmas is different. I have so much required watching for the holidays, I need all 12 days to get it all in. I refuse to succumb to the networks’ evil dogma that Christmas starts on Nov. 1, with a two-month marathon of the Grinch and that dumb movie where the kid gets his tongue frozen to the flag pole.

No, we’re well into Advent before I start my holiday viewing, and then it’s quite a task. There’s the Grinch and Charlie Brown, of course, and several versions of “A Christmas Carol.”

Then there’s the more obscure stuff — a Dame Edna special from 15 years ago, featuring Roger Moore and Lulu, Mark Morris’s “The Hard Nut” (which leaves all other Nutcrackers in the dust), Pinky and the Brain, Opus the Penguin, Pee Wee Herman, and a 45-year-old nativity story with scary marionettes. It’s a huge undertaking to watch it all, requiring many gallons of hot chocolate with peppermint schnapps, but it must be done or it’s just not Christmas.

http://www.washblade.com/blog/index.cfm?type=blog&start...

[Mythsaje]

1. Rudolph was pretty much my least favorite of all the Christmas cartoons...

Never knew exactly why, but I have the feeling some of those things he mentioned came to play somwhere in my subconscious.

My fave was always Santa Claus is coming to town. I thought young Mrs. Claus, before she BECAME Mrs. Claus, had some spine and guts.

[badgerpup]

2. Does anyone remember that one with claymation dinosaurs hosting?

The whole thing was claymation, and one of the hosting dinosaurs was a Tony Randall/Felix Ungar type. It was about songs...various vignettes done by various clay characters...
F'rinstance, the "We Three Kings" had the properly dressed kings singing the verses almost like a recitative, and then the camels (in Joe Camel sunglasses, of course) went all jazzy on the chorus:Ooooh, ooooh, star of wonder, star of light!...

The running joke was that they couldn't quite get the song Here We Come A'Wassailing right...
IRRC, the song got hijacked by geese, leprechauns, pigs, dogs...among others before being sung correctly.

It was funny as hell and I DON'T REMEMBER THE NAME OF IT!

[Mythsaje]

3. Now for some reason I thought that was the California Raisins

Christmas Special. I remember it vaguely, so I could well be wrong. But that's what I seem to remember.

[zbdent]

10. It was the Raisins

because the California Raisins revived the Claymation process with the commercial "I Heard It Through The Grapevine", and they capitalized on the popularity of the raisins ...

[StrongbadTehAwesome]

14. Claymation Christmas, simply enough.

That's one of my favorites. It's out on DVD now, in a "collection" with an easter and halloween special that are pretty much rubbish, but it's worth it just for the Christmas one.

http://www.amazon.com/Vintons-Claymation-Christmas-Hall...

[Ayesha]

4. Funny, I always loved Rudolph

I think both he and the elf dentist seem kind of gay, and the whole Rudolph story shows how wrong prejudice and hate are.

[Jamastiene]

5. Why anyone would not like Rudolph is beyond me.

Even if Rudplph and the dentist were not gay, they were still outcasts and the whole moral to the story of Rudolph is that outcasts can sometimes make the most unique and valuable contributions to the betterment of society. Rudolph is my favorite Christmas character, simply because he knew rejection and he remained good and saved the day. That's a great story to me.

[Berry Cool]

7. Same here. And he's got the facts wrong about some of the stuff.

The doll doesn't cry jelly instead of tears. The water pistol squirts jelly instead of water. There's really nothing outwardly wrong with the doll (which is perhaps why I can relate to her). She is just, for some reason, a misfit anyway.

[teenagebambam]

8. My partner and I

have decided that the doll has psychological problems - like maybe she's related to Chucky.

[TechBear_Seattle]

13. Well, all of the reindeer are female, including Rudolph

Male reindeer shed their antlers right after rutting season in late autumn; females keep their antlers until spring. Come Christmas, only female reindeer have antlers, and Santa's reindeer are always depicted as having antlers as they fly through the Christmas Eve sky. Therefore, All of Santa's reindeer are females. QED.

[FuzzyDicePHL]

6. I also watch "The Hard Nut" every year

I don't miss something with sets & costumes by Charles Burns.

"A Wish For Wings That Work" (the Bloom County xmas special) was totally missable tho.

Don't forget the Judy Garland xmas special, the first Simpsons xmas special, the Powerpuff Girls "Twas the Fight Before Xmas" or (the best of all) The SCTV Xmas Specials!

[teenagebambam]

9. Judy is the BEST

especially when she introduces "Liza's beau, Tracy"!

[goddess40]

11. Heat Miser and Snow Miser

from A Year Without Santa Claus - I love their songs.


I always loved Rudolph and the dentist because they refused to go along to get along and I've always admired that in a person.

These aren't cartoons but I do enjoy them:

As for A Christmas Carol, the Muppet's version is the closest to the Dickens book.

What about Emmett Otter's Jug Band - I love Emmett.

Then there's NL Christmas Vacation - "SQUIRREL" and the "you'll shoot your eye out" Christmas Story.

[StrongbadTehAwesome]

15. I love the Muppet Christmas Carol! n/t

[Jamastiene]

12. Kicking for Rudolph fans.

CBS is going to re-air Rudolph again this Thursday, December 21st. They had him on a couple of weeks ago, but for those who like Rudolph and missed him, here's your chance to see him in remastered HD quality. Stunning from what I saw on my regular old CRT television. Still clearer even for those of us who do not have HDTV.