I avoided this because I was afraid it was going to be one of those
stories where a reindeer was jealous of Rudolph and his fame. But that
isn’t the case at all. Even though the title is derived from a line in
that famous song, Rudolph is just an urban legend in this universe!
And that brings me to one possible problem with this special. You have to kind of go in with the right expectations. This was created by Simpsons creator Matt Groening and is definitely a bit usual. And I don’t just mean the odd animation style which I assume is meant to resemble the story book this was based off of. This is a world where dogs walk on all four’s, order from menu’s, and befriend talking scam artist penguins. A world where Santa is real, and the North Pole is a mere bus ride away. It’s a bit weird, but you look past that I think you’ll see there is some real good stuff in this.
The plot is pretty simple, after Blitzen is injured in an accident and can’t fly (see what I mean?) Santa says he hopes he can make it with all of the other reindeer. Olive thinks he said “Olive, the other reindeer” and sets out to be the eighth reindeer to save Christmas. Did I mention she was just a dog? The villain is a postman who wants to cancel Christmas because it adds to his work load. Why can’t he just quit his job? Yeah if we try to use logic this whole thing will make no sense at all.
Other characters include the penguin I mentioned before, his name is Martini. And there are assorted characters who help Olive get to the North Pole and evade the evil postman. Santa is played by Ed Asner and he’s a pretty good Santa actually. Considering how goofy the special is they play Santa and his reindeer surprisingly straight. There are all kinds of little gags in this which are cute, some which I bet you might miss the first time watching. Some gags are definitely more for adults but there is nothing insulting or off color (which could disappoint fans of Groening to be fair). One gag is a sign for Frostbite Falls on the highway. How can a special be bad when it has a Rocky & Bullwinkle reference?
The songs are good, maybe nothing you will play on your Ipod but still good. Bottom line, it’s a good story with a positive moral. And some really clever gags. Olive is a good character, impossible to resist, and we love cheering her on. I love Drew Barrymore, she really sells every line she says. Actually all the voice actors are good.
It’s a special I have really come to enjoy every year.
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