Buy Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer & The Island of Misfit Toys (2001)

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I'll be the first to admit that GoodTimes has produced some, shall we say, "less-than-perfect" features over the years, but they have done very well here. This tale was obviously made by people who have a great deal of love and respect for the 1964 classic original. They have worked very hard to use computer animation to come as close as possible to the look of the old stop-motion animation, and I think they have succeeded. The characters' movements are a bit smoother than the original, but that is about the only difference.

Returning from the '60s are Rudolph, the reindeer of the famous shiny nose, his dentist/elf buddy Hermie, the whacked-out miner Yukon Cornelius, the Abominable Snow Monster (will he ever learn to swim?), Rudolph's girlfriend Clarice, all of the minor characters, and of course, Santa Claus. They have come together to investigate the mysterious Toy Taker, who has managed to succesfully pirate all the world's toys, including Santa's workshop itself. The new actors provided to give voice to the classic characters all sound perfect. Richard Dreyfuss does well in a role as the obligatory snowman narrarator (though I do miss Burl Ives), and Jamie Lee Curtis puts in an appearance as the Hippo Queen. Rick Moranis provides the voice of the Toy Taker himself.

Like many others out there, I grew up watching the original stop-motion Rudolph every year. I was a little worried that this wouldn't be any good, especially when I saw the GoodTimes label on it. But, my kids LOVE it! And, it was produced for them, after all. This movie makes absolutely NO pretense whatsoever that it was designed and produced for anyone but preschoolers, and it certainly succeeded with mine.

As adults, we see the world with different perspectives than we did as little kids. Nothing, no matter how well done, will ever recapture the joys of the specials we saw for the first time as little kids back when you only had a chance to watch these shows once or twice a year. Especially since now you can buy them on DVD or VHS and watch them over and over, any time you want. Anything is more special when you are a kid and it is only availble to watch once a year.

The animation is not the most top-notch out there, but then, it's not supposed to be. It's more concerned with looking like the original, with all its flaws due to 60's technology. And yes, the plot is not the most original in the world. Any parent will figure out the identity and motives of the Toy Taker before the movie is half over. But the kids will love it, and really, isn't that what it's all about??

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There are three types of reviews worth ignoring for this video:

(1) Anyone who thought they were buying the 1964 classic. Why would you trust the review of anyone that dumb?

(2) Anyone who says "Rudolph is sacred." Rankin Bass et al. have already done two Rudolph sequels. This isn't virgin territory.

(3) Anyone who says my kids loved it, but I hated it. Just who are animated Christmas specials produced for, anyway?

Truth is that this could have been awful like Goodtimes Rudolph movie from a few years back. This time the writers went out of their way to be faithful to the spirit of the original. Nearly every moment pays homage to some element of the original Rankin & Bass production, from the opening credits to the concluding musical number.

Rankin & Bass's Rudolph sequels, great as they are, abandon all the other characters but Rudolph (even Santa was replaced by the Frosty Santa or the Year w/o Santa Claus Santa). The writers of this try to pick up where the 1964 special left off, with Hermie and Clarice and Yukon et al. (no Fireball, unfortunately)

The songs are, with some exceptions, a definite attempt to draw on Rankin & Bass type orchestrations. They aren't all as great as the Johnny Marks songs, but "Best Christmas Ever" is a worthy contender.

I was pleasantly surprised at how the writers were able to build on Romeo Muller's world from 1964 without wrecking it. It's a fun, warm holiday special. Real Rudolph fans ought to give it a chance.

My chief complaints are that the computer animation falls apart with Yukon and the Bumble and Yukon's voice is off. These are really pretty minor complaints, however.

Yes, my kids love it.

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This new Rudolph uses digital animation instead of the wonderful stop-motion action of the original, and it's a poorly-scripted, miserably-executed mess. It's an unfortunate appendage to one of my favorite childhood specials, and I hope someone takes a magnet to it. No matter, though -my kids have already forgotten it. Don't even consider buying "Island of Misfit Toys" unless you've exhausted the wonderfully-creative originals. They are decades better than this quickly-conceived piece of shlock.

Honest reviews on Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer & The Island of Misfit Toys (2001)

I am as diehard a Rudolph fan as you could ever hope to find. After reading all the reviews on this film, I shyed away from purchasing it, but then I decided to go for it. Now it's true we're all spoiled by Pixar's computer animation and this doesn't compare to them. Once again, GoodTimes Entertainment pulls off a winner with good songs and an entertaining story line. I really loved their animated feature musical from 1998 in spite of the reviews on that as well. It was great to see the original cast back in this feature and the voicing was very convincing. How will this feature attract kids? I can't answer that. As an adult, I really liked it. Though I did not care for the style of animation, the soundtrack was nice and music pulls a lot of weight when I choose what movies I like or dislike. I give 2 thumbs up to GoodTimes and hope they continue to publish great Rudolph related titles in the years ahead!

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I was amazed by how horrible the CGI graphics were. If you are going to try to revive a classic please do it right. Instead, the visuals look like someone has a 'make your own animated film' software on a PC at home and whipped them up in one night. Wow, what a horrendous thing this film ispoor story, poor visuals, poor writingthere are 200 Christmas movies on Amazon someone should consider before this. Please do yourself a favor and don't subject your family to this.