Rudolph's Shiny New Year
From Christmas Specials Wiki
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| Directed by: | Arthur Rankin, Jr. Jules Bass |
| Written by: | Romeo Muller |
| Release date: | 1976 |
| Running time: | 47 minutes |
| Characters: | |
Rudolph's Shiny New Year is a stop-motion animation special that aired on television in 1976, produced by Rankin/Bass.
Synopsis
The story begins precisely where Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer left off, following Santa Claus's return from his trip around the world. As he begins to settle in, he receives a letter from his old friend Father Time who writes that he is in serious trouble: the baby new year Happy has gone missing. If he is not found, the new year cannot begin and the old year will continue on forever. Santa summons Rudolph who he knows is the only one who can make it through the thick fog and across the sands of time.
Sent to assist in this journey are agents of Father Time, General Ticker, a military clock, and The Great Quarter Past Five, a camel with a large timepiece in his hump. On the trek across the desert, Rudolph is introduced to Aeon the Terrible, a giant vulture who hovers overhead, also looking for Happy. His companions explain to him that Aeon can only live until he is one eon old, so his plans are to keep Happy from being passed on the crown of time, thus extending his own lifespan.
Upon their arrival at Father Time's castle, located beneath a large, bright star in the sky, Rudolph is given deatils about the passage of time, and just how crucial it is that he finds Happy. Father Time explains that the little guy took off when no one, not even his nursemaid Nanny Nine O'Clock, could stand the sight of his oversized ears without laughing. His feelings hurt, Happy set his sights on the Archipelago of Last Years: a group of islands, each of which is home to the individual who once represented years passed.
As Rudolph sets out to find Happy, he is greeted a large whale named Big Ben who surfaces just as Aeon is about to attack the ocean-bound reindeer. With his new bodyguard, Rudolph makes his first stop on an island that is home to One Million B.C., a cave-man remnant that Father Time describes as one of the oldest years in the archepelago. Nicknamed O.M., the flighty cave-dweller dances about with a group of dinosaurs and tells Rudolph that Happy had been there not long ago. Unfortunately, the same misfortune occured as before with Happy's ears, and the laughter of the prehistoric creatures scared him off to another island.
O.M. accompanies Rudolph for two days as they have no luck finding happy in 1893, 1492 or 1965. The island that would follow, served as home to 1023, a knight of shining armor with an overgrown beard that hung our of his helmet. Instilled with a sense of duty, the soldier joins Rudolph on their quest as they seek out Happy through the stories of Little Red Riding Hood, Little Miss Muffet, Cinderella, Snow White & the Seven Dwarfs, Rumpelstiltskin, The Three Little Pigs, and Humpty Dumpty.
They had not yet gotten as far as the home of The Three Bears when Happy happened upon their house in the woods. Hungry from his travels, the baby new year samples the porridge left behind by the home's residents, Papa Bear, Mama Bear and Baby Bear. After finding a bowl that was just right, and breaking the smallest of the three chairs, Happy falls asleep in Baby Bear's bed, which is where the bear family finds them upon their return. Baby Bear, identifying with the tyke, befriends the child until he also laughs at his birth defect, wll the while pleading for his new friend to return as he crawls away into the forest.
When Rudolph, 1023 and O.M. spot Happy being flown away by Aeon, the group rush to Big Ben and chase the vulture down in pursuit. Big Ben is able to knock the baby free from the bird's grasp with a spray of water from his blowhole, but a wind carries Happy far off course and out of reach again.
The air currents carry Happy to 1776, a kindly older man resembling Benjamin Franklin, who is out flying a kite just before the holiday festivities. On this island however, they're not celebrating the new year, but the Fourth of July, full with a parade and drum and fife corps. As the villagers once again scare Happy away, Rudolph just misses his chance to catch up with him, but instead acquires yet another soul who vowes to help track down the baby new year.
Back in the clutches of Aeon, Happy is brought to a mountain of snow and ice, where the evil bird is holding the child captive. Alerted to this infiltration, Aeon causes an avalanche that encases the heroes in four perfect spheres of snow, out of which only Rudolph and his shiny nose is able to break free. Once at the top, Rudolph shares his own misfot story with Happy and encourages him to overcome his disfigurement. Awake now, Aeon glimpses those giant ears, and plummets to the bottom of his perch, laughing for the first time in his life.
As the clock strikes twelve, Santa Claus arrives to deliver Happy to Father Time by the last bong of the clock, thus restoring the passage of the new year.
Songs
Cast
- Red Skelton as Father Time, Baby Bear
- Frank Gorshin as 1023, The Great Quarter Past Five
- Morey Amsterdam as One Million B.C.
- Harold Peary as Big Ben
- Paul Frees as Santa Claus, Aeon, General Ticker, 1776, Humpty Dumpty
- Billie Mae Richards as Rudolph
- Don Messick as Papa Bear, Rumpelstiltskin, Prince Charming
- Iris Rainer as Mama Bear, Nanny Nine O'Clock
- Happy
- The Three Little Pigs
- The Big Bad Wolf
- Little Red Riding Hood
- Little Miss Muffet
- Cinderella
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