'Toon Reviews 10: Rankin/Bass Christmas Specials Part 14: Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July

Rudolph and Frosty’s Christmas in July

Overseas Theatrical Release: July 1, 1979

Original US Airdate: November 25, 1979

Airs annually on AMC’s Best Christmas Ever

Available on DVD

Both Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and Frosty the Snowman are the first titles most people think of when it comes to Rankin/Bass and they’re both great specials on their own. Bringing them together has a lot to live up to.  In this case, sometimes it does live up to the potential, but other times certain factors of the story prevent it from being as fun and exciting as it could be.

For starters, the lore of both specials mesh together seamlessly, giving the interesting feel of all Rankin/Bass specials sharing a universe. I don't just mean having the previously hand-drawn Frosty characters in stop-motion.  The feel is even stronger with the continuity from the respective specials’ sequels. Frosty’s married life with Crystal is expanded upon with them raising snow children. Side characters like Big Ben from Rudolph’s Shiny New Year and Jack Frost from Frosty’s Winter Wonderland also play a big role at one point.  As for Rudolph and Frosty , their moments together are easily the strongest parts.  They’re both popular and likable holiday icons, yet their common bond is that they’re different from other people. This is an even bigger deal for Frosty because he and his family are unable to join in the fun other people have due to the constant threat of melting.  Through it all, they’re a perfect fit not just for their status as misfits, but also for how they support each other in dark times.  Frosty helps Rudolph keep his nose lit, and Rudolph keeps Frosty and his family alive.  This point is especially proven with the plot they’re thrown into.  They’re called to help out a struggling circus on the 4^th of July weekend by appearing as guest acts to get it out of debt. However it's set up as a distraction, so an evil snow wizard named Winterbolt can get rid of Santa Claus and reclaim the North Pole.  However, there’s so much to the plot that there’s barely much room for scenes of Rudolph and Frosty as allies.

Now, out of this plot, we do get many great moments.  Much of the comedy come from the circus Rudolph and Frosty perform at. This is especially true when the eccentric owner of the circus, Lilly Loraine, with her high energy, hilarious one-liners, and gun-wielding cowgirl appearance, is involved. 

Then there’s Winterbolt and his evil plans, and his villainous actions sell the darkness factor.  He’s an evil monarch who ruled over the North Pole long before Santa took over while Winterbolt was put under a spell by Lady Boreal.  Now awakened, Winterbolt enacts a complex plan for the simple goal of taking back the North Pole from Santa. He also plots to put out Rudolph’s nose so nothing can light the way through any foggy Christmas Eve.  Winterbolt lures Rudolph and the snowman family to the circus with Frosty and his family getting amulets so they can’t melt for a limited time. While they're gone he forms a fierce storm to trap Santa, hires a jerk reindeer named Scratcher to trick Rudolph into stealing the circus’ money. Finally, he plots to steal Frosty’s magic hat to bring an army of snowmen to life.  For forming a plan this intricate, Winterbolt is a legitimately threatening villain, but there’s just so much to the plan that it’s too complicated to keep up with it.  Also, Winterbolt’s role takes away what made Rudolph’s story so powerful.  Because that foggy Christmas Eve was created by him, Lady Boreal granted magic to newborn Rudolph to make his nose glow as long as he always uses the glow for good.  In making Rudolph’s nose a work of magic as opposed to a feature he was simply born with, he no longer feels like a representation of prejudice victims. He seems more like a supernatural god-like being, and the same can be said for the fog which is a work of Winterbolt instead of nature.  It also gives unfortunate implications that different people and things like storms are unnatural creations even though they’re normal parts of life.  In addition, the idea of Rudolph’s nose going out when using it for evil doesn’t make sense.  Yes, he helps Scratcher steal money, but it was a trick, and Rudolph didn’t know he was doing something bad.  Because he thought he was doing something good, that technically means Rudolph didn’t use his nose for evil, so it shouldn’t go out.  In addition to the complexities of Winterbolt’s plan and the story going against Rudolph’s relatability, too much focus is spent on the circus acts that don’t add to the plot. There are also many slow, unmemorable songs which could also be cut out without losing much.  The whole special is filled with many extraneous scenes without showing much of Rudolph and Frosty as friends, and the few moments they do get together have potential.  Fortunately, everything comes together for a solid conclusion. Rudolph gets his glow back when retrieving Frosty’s hat from Winterbolt in a fun chase scene to revive the snowman (even though Frosty’s Winter Wonderland showed that true love’s kiss from Crystal could’ve brought him back to life). Lilly Loraine’s eccentric ways prove productive when she kills off Winterbolt, making for one of the most awesomely constructed villain deaths you'll see in a family show.  In fact, see it for yourself:

Then, Santa finally comes to get Frosty and his family to safety while Rudolph leads the now flying circus to a triumphant cover of his theme song as it all ends.  Even with the convoluted plot the ending is still impactful.

This crossover isn’t as good as it sounds. There's an incredibly complicated scheme from the villain, too much time spent on fluff like the circus acts and most songs, and Rudolph’s story is stripped of its relatability.  Yet, it also has many memorable moments from both Winterbolt and the circus, some enjoyable new characters, and moments where the characters work well together.  So, if you want to see what it would be like if the characters in different Rankin/Bass specials share a universe, this is worth looking into. However it’s debatable if you’ll want to view them as much as their predecessors year after year.

Recommended

The Ranking

1. Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
2. Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town
3. The Year Without a Santa Claus
4. Frosty the Snowman
5. The Little Drummer Boy
6. The Stingiest Man in Town
7. Rudolph’s Shiny New Year
8. Nestor the Long-Eared Christmas Donkey
9. The First Christmas: The Story of the First Christmas Snow
10. Rudolph and Frosty’s Christmas in July
11.  ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas
12. Frosty’s Winter Wonderland
13. The Little Drummer Boy Book II
14. Cricket on the Hearth

Be sure to stay tuned for the review of the next special where Jack Frost from both Frosty sequels, including this one, finally gets his own starring role.

If you would like to check out other Rankin/Bass special reviews on this blog, click here for the guide made especially for them.

'Toon Reviews 10: Rankin/Bass Christmas Specials Part 10: Rudolph's Shiny New Year

Rudolph’s Shiny New Year

Told and Sung by Red Skelton

Original Airdate: December 10, 1976

Airs annually on Freeform’s 25 Days of Christmas

Available as a bonus special on The Year Without a Santa Claus DVD and Blu-ray

The trend of Rankin/Bass making sequels to their older specials continues with their biggest property, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, getting the treatment this time.  I technically shouldn’t count this since it’s more of a New Year’s special than a Christmas special. Still, it’s listed as a Christmas special and Christmas figures are heavily featured, so I think it’s worth talking about here.  Now, if my review of Frosty’s Winter Wonderland is anything to go buy, you might think that I might not look too fondly at Rankin/Bass’ sequels to their highly regarded works.  Well, this may be a surprise to you, but I actually like this Rudolph sequel a lot. 

Much of its appeal has to do with the never-ending stream of creativity in the interpretation of how New Year’s works.  It takes the concept of a Baby New Year and gives it insightful background of how the baby represents given years.  He starts growing up on January 1, and keeps growing older until December 31 when he retires to an archipelago of islands where the people and places of that year are preserved.  This idea is central to the special’s plot when Rudolph is commissioned by Father Time to find this year’s Baby New Year called Happy, who has gone missing. He must be retrieved before December 31 or else the old year will go on forever.  As Rudolph is sent down the Archipelago to search for Happy, the special’s creative aesthetic continues to shine with the imaginative characters he comes across.  Father Time himself is a likable father-like character who gives Rudolph creative ways time works and is a pleasing narrator for the special thanks to Red Skelton’s voice work.  On the waters, his guide, Big Ben, is a hilarious smart-talking whale who can also be useful when fighting off trouble, especially with the bongs of the clock on his tail.  Each of the islands are represented by their own set of imaginative characters too.  There’s an overly optimistic caveman named O.M. from 1,000,000 B.C.  A really loud and dramatic knight in shining armor named 1023 comes from 1023 when fairy tales occurred.  Finally, there's a kindly Ben Franklin lookalike called Sev from the island where everyday is Independence Day.  Each of Rudolph’s allies on his quest are creatively conceived and are entertaining in execution, especially when they interact with each other.  Because they’re so lovable, I don’t mind that the supporting characters from the first special don’t show up. I mean, those characters started on their own desired paths at the end of that special.  Anyway, even the antagonist is highly creative and even impactful as a character.  He’s a monstrous vulture called Aeon who spends the special trying to kidnap Happy and preserve the old year.  He does his job well as a villain making for some truly frightening scenes to catch you off guard, but what makes him compelling is his motivation.  Aeon can only live for an eon, and his is up this New Year’s Eve, so he’s simply keeping Happy hostage to keep himself alive. He doesn’t even treat him too badly when he does capture him. Basically, while his actions aren’t justified, when you see that Aeon is just trying to avoid death, they are at least perfectly understandable. 

So, we have an interesting concept of how New Year’s works, lovable and creative new characters, and even some enjoyable, catchy songs to help illustrate the concepts and settings.  However, you might wonder what Rudolph has to do with all this, believing that he’s just there for audiences to latch onto something familiar so they’ll stay for the show.  If that’s the case, you’d be surprised to see how much he relates to the conflict when you learn why Happy ran away in the first place.  He has big ears which everyone laughed at whenever they saw them and got him depressed and hurt. Throughout the special, while he tries to hide his ears under a hat, circumstances get it off and the ears exposed leading to the same thing happening in every island Happy ends up in.  The way people mock and laugh at Happy’s ears is very similar to how others viewed Rudolph’s nose at first which makes them share the feelings of ostracism.  Because of this, it’s appropriate that Rudolph is the one who talks sense into Happy.  Via a charming upbeat Red Skelton cover of Rudolph's song against a traditionally-animated interpretation of Rudolph’s backstory, Happy is led to reveal his unusual feature.  However, when Rudolph ends up laughing too, it turns out that the use of Happy’s ears is to make people laugh.  I can see that the story is trying to say that the ears are supposed to make the New Year a wonderful feel-good one, but it also implies that Happy is meant to be laughed at.  Does he really want that, and would that mean to same for how Rudolph’s nose was laughed at which was even more prejudicial?  Either way, the reveal does lead to a nice finale where Aeon is cured of his curse while being warmed up from laughing at Happy’s ears. Following that is the ending Happy New Year song when Happy is brought to Father Time at the last bong which is a lively and triumphant number to go out with.

While this special isn’t as timeless or memorable as the first Rudolph special and has a questionable moral, the things it gets right are highly commendable.  The new characters are enjoyable, the villain has significant depth, the songs are a joy to listen to, and Rudolph himself is worked into the plot better than you’d expect.  Everything comes together as a Rankin/Bass special that's still impressive in many ways all the same.

Highly Recommended

The Ranking

1. Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
2. Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town
3. The Year Without a Santa Claus
4. Frosty the Snowman
5. The Little Drummer Boy
6. Rudolph’s Shiny New Year
7. The First Christmas: The Story of the First Christmas Snow
8. ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas
9. Frosty’s Winter Wonderland
10. Cricket on the Hearth

Be sure to stay tuned for the review of the next special for yet another Rankin/Bass sequel and the only one of their works to be nominated for an Emmy, The Little Drummer Boy Book II.

If you would like to check out other Rankin/Bass special reviews on this blog, click here for the guide made especially for them.

'Toon Reviews 10: Rankin/Bass Christmas Specials Part 1: Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer

Christmastime is here again, and for the occasion, we’ll be looking at the Christmas-themed works from one of the most acclaimed providers of animated holiday entertainment of all time:

The Rankin/Bass Christmas Specials

Basic Premise

When thoughts turn to Christmas traditions, one I always make sure to do every year is watch as many Christmas specials and movies as possible.  This tradition sticks out to me the most because these kinds of specials capture the day’s feel and spirit the best.  Whenever enough effort goes into one, you just can’t help but get invested and be reminded why Christmas is such a wonderful time of year.  Throughout history, there have been a lot of great Christmas specials, many of which we’ve been watching since childhood and take a note to watch at least once every December.  However, there is one company with a significant number of Christmas specials in their repertoire. They're what many families, especially those with big animation fans, note as yearly must-watches, and are the subject of the coming reviews.  They are the specials of Rankin/Bass Productions.

Throughout the 1960s, 70s, and even part of the 80s, this company has prided itself on pure imaginative story ideas, mostly based on popular Christmas stories and songs. They feature a definitive respect for Christmas hard to find anywhere else.  This means it makes perfect sense that many people have grown up with their stop-motion and traditionally animated works.  Now, although Rankin/Bass has an impressive 19 Christmas specials for families to look into every year, not all of them are well-known to the general public.  Sure, there are some really popular works like Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Frosty the Snowman, Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town, The Year Without a Santa Claus, and more. As we go through the reviews though, don’t be shocked if there are titles you never even heard of.  In the spirit of this blog, this reviewing adventure will certainly be an interesting mix of looking into the popular and the obscure. Heck, many titles are fairly new to even me.  In addition, in case you may be interested in viewing any of the specials as part of your Christmas traditions, each review will include where to find each special on TV, home media, or worst case scenarios, the internet, as well as fun fact information on who narrates the specials and their original airdates.  So come along for a special Christmas of looks at traditional favorites and the potential discovery of works not quite as well-known, all from the enchanted world of Rankin/Bass.

Now on with the reviews:

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer

Told and Sung by Burl Ives

Original airdate: December 6, 1964

Airs annually on CBS

Widely available on DVD and Blu-ray

This special about “the most famous reindeer of all” is also the most famous Rankin/Bass special of all.  For over 50 years, it’s been considered a big, must-watch event by many, and I have proudly been among that group of people.  It’s big on Christmas spirit in its atmosphere and visuals, but also has the makings of a relatable and inspiring story through the writing and the characters.  In a way, this iconic special presents Rankin/Bass as talented animation storytellers making for strong first impressions when it comes to Christmas specials. 

With the basis of the popular song about a reindeer with a glowing red nose, the special makes the concept imaginative, entertaining, and even mature and honest with its theme. The latter qualities are felt within the plights of Rudolph himself and many supporting characters. Throughout the first act, Rudolph puts in a lot of effort to become part of Santa’s sleigh team, even proving to be a great flyer. Despite his apparent skills, his unusual nose prevents him from making it big in society.  It’s either mocked for being strange and different by the young deer, or deemed too distracting for him to be on the team by the adults, including Santa himself.  In other words, this poor reindeer is a victim of prejudice, which is one of the harshest real-world issues for people of any kind to deal with. This isn't just true for when this special was first released, but it's even the case now.  Plus, a child character like Rudolph being put through such ridicule is sure to leave a heavy toll.  However, the story shows that prejudice is something faced by people of all kinds.  Many imaginative and colorful supporting characters also can’t fit in due to their differences.  There’s Hermey, an elf who’d rather be a dentist than a toymaker. Yukon Cornelius is a prospector searching for silver and gold and knows how to fight the infamous snow monster, Bumble, the best out of anyone. Finally, there's an entire island filled with toys that function differently than expected.  While what the misfits go is harsh, the animosity is present enough to make the theme clear, but doesn’t last long enough to ruin the experience.  The harshness is also lessened by reminders that there are people out there who aren’t so judgmental, like Rudolph’s love interest, Clarice.  Not only that, but when all who judged the misfits hear about their adventure, which included the supposed sacrifice of Yukon in a Bumble fight, they regret their behavior towards them. Just so you know, this all comes before Santa discovers the usefulness of Rudolph’s nose.  Speaking of Santa, it can be unsettling that he’s easily irritable and judgmental in this special, which isn’t what we expect from him.  However, while he does act jerky, his behavior feels like he’s just focusing a lot on his job of delivering gifts to the children of the world and misses certain social cues as a result. In my way of thinking, that can happen to anyone. So while Santa's portrayal is not the ideal one to associate with the holiday figure, I wouldn't call him malicious or anything.  Needless to say, the final moment is an incredibly satisfying happy ending. Rudolph officially proves the value of misfits as he uses his nose to guide Santa’s sleigh through a foggy night, saving Christmas for everyone.  It's a rewarding scene that shows prejudice can be overcome, and Christmas really is a truly special time of year for miracles. 

In addition to the strong, inspiring story that doesn’t shy away from hard truths of life, this special is also elevated by a specially crafted atmosphere that solidifies it as a landmark.  The stop-motion animation can be noticeably jittery and awkward in motion whenever the characters move and talk (which is the case for most Rankin/Bass specials in this style).  Still, the overall look from the designs of places like Christmas Town and the Island of Misfit Toys and characters like the elves and reindeer, has the perfect tone to them. It forever shapes what to think of Christmas.  Burl Ives’ narration as Sam the Snowman gives a special warmth and tenderness to what we see, especially when it blends in well with the heavier moments.  Also, it’s a genius idea to personify the narrator as a character.  However, what really helps elevate the special to true Christmas greatness are the songs.  They’re all jolly and catchy staples of the season on their own, but each have their own aspects that help them stand out.  Some help identify the characters.  “Jingle, Jingle, Jingle” highlights Santa’s devotion to his job. “We are Santa’s Elves” establishes the elf lifestyle Hermey doesn’t fit into.  “Silver and Gold” showcases the benefits of Yukon Cornelius’s desire for the stuff.  Other songs like “We’re a Couple of Misfits” and “The Most Wonderful Day of the Year” help establish the prejudice theme of the story and its tendency to leave the innocent out.  They're balanced by “There’s Always Tomorrow” offering hope to overcome neglection.  The last two songs of the special, “Holly Jolly Christmas” and the title song, are the perfect ones to bring on the happy ending where Christmas goes on and the misfits have their place.  Then again, any performance of the “Rudolph” song is always destined to turn out great, in my opinion anyway.

For all these reasons, it makes perfect sense why this special is essential Christmas viewing.  Everyone will surely love the songs and atmosphere, but at an older age, you’ll find that it’s one of the most relatable stories ever.  All credit to that goes to how it gives an honest look of one of the biggest issues in society, and an adventure inspiring how to overcome it.  It’s the ultimate Christmas tradition and the perfect display of Rankin/Bass’s talents.

Highly Recommended

Be sure to stay tuned for the review of the next special, one of the most bizarre Rankin/Bass works and the first of their earliest relatively unknown Christmas specials, Cricket on the Hearth.