Rudolph's Shiny New Year

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.

source: Rudolph's Shiny New Year

This time, Rudolph has to save the new year. But, they tried to copy the original story too much. The plot is confusing. Many of the characters have odd dates and times as their names. The film also tries to mix other stories and characters into this story, and they do this badly. In conclusion, Rudolph's Shiny New Year is a lsme sequel to the original 1964 Rudolph.

Rudolph's Shiny New Year (1976) ** 1/2 (out of 4) Mildly entertaining animated film from Bass and Rankin starts off where the previous film ended. This time out Santa gets a call saying that baby New Year has gone missing and without him there will be no new year. With bad weather out Santa decides to send Rudolph who goes out to search for the kid. This film falls well short of the original movie but I think there's enough here for adults to enjoy. I say adults because I think there are quite a few dark moments here that might scare young kids and I'd also say that the movie contains some rather mean-spirited moments that really aren't good for them either. I say this because the entire thing is about baby New Year having large ears. The kid goes from one island to the next but he's constantly being laughed at for having big years. The "moral" of the story is obvious but with Rudolph you had other kids making fun and laughing at him while the majority of the people laughing at New Year are adults. With that out of the way, the rest of the film is fairly entertaining, although it really should have just been thirty-minutes instead of an hour. As you'd expect the animation is very good and there's no question that Rudolph is a very good and entertaining character. The supporting players (bears, Ben Franklin, a caveman) are interesting as well.

This is one of the series of clay-animation movies starting with Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. In this one, Rudolph agrees to help Santa Claus find the New Year Baby that ran away. Of course there is a villian, that tries to stop them. Clean, wholesome, family movie, all right for small children to watch.

I grew up watching Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer for a very long time. Rankin Bass and of course Romeo Muller have made such a great icon that was a classic for a very Long time. And Rankin Bass Jr. also helped out on the production and as it seemed i enjoyed this forever. At Christmas time i watch many classics such as Frosty the Snowman. But Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer has been my most favorite that i have watched. I enjoyed it a lot and sometimes read the books about it. But Rudolph has been the best hero and leading Santa's sleigh was also a nice deed. Despite what i have to say. I love Rudolph and i like his story. And since childhood i used to watch many cartoons starring him in it and I'm glad to say that it definitely pleased me. Rudolph was popular and was the best reindeer of all. And since seeing the original movie. I went on to seeing Rudolph's Shiny New Year because i thought it was a great masterpiece. Of course being that. Rudolph has to save Baby New Year's Eve who is also teased because of how large his ears appear to be by the other kids. But also that they have to avoid the vulture who is mean and really is not nice at all. Even though Rudolph is my favorite character since childhood and when i was a child watching the stuff before. He will continue to please me at Christmas time. Rudolph is a beloved and a great hero that has one simple message. Never be teased or alone when trying to join a group. Always be who you are and everything will be alright. This is what Rudolph will say if you are really sad. The greatest holiday hit for Christmas ever. - Rudolph's Shiny New Year deserves to be on the most great holiday Christmas masterpieces of all time. Though if you are still a child this should entertain you. And may i say the characters such as Father Time and Rudolph himself will. The story was great, The animation was dazzling, And the concept and the look of the characters was awesome. This is not a movie to pass up on when Christmas is around the corner. You need to see this for yourself. You will be pleased, Definitely something i would recommend for both kids and grownups who are fans of the show.

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.

Well, that's what it do for me. I was like 6 or 7 when this came out. What's with Father Time's freaky expression? Early botched face lift victim? And his scythe? Uh, ok. I'm happy some people liked it, but I most certainly hated it. In 1976, animation like this was still a treat, so we were all excited. I guess it succeeded in one thing: preparing kids for disappointment. Even at six years old, I was perfectly aware of educational content masquerading as entertainment. Archipelago of, oh stop. And most of the songs were terrible, often with video that had no connection to the plot. It really just seems Rankin/Bass made this with unused songs they had lying around, threw in a bunch of historical dates to make it educationalish, and tied it together with the barest pretense of a plot... while misusing the much beloved Rudolph. I just realized, the Fonze wasn't the first to jump the shark! The Fonze did it the year after Rudolph did it!

Bizarre is the only adjective for this depressingly dark Rudolph sequel.

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.