Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (1964) - Christmas Classic Archive

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The wonderful voice of Burl Ives (in the stop motion animated form of a snowman narrating to us about the story of Rudolph the Red-Nose Reindeer) not only narrates but sings during this delightful, ageless Rankin/Bass classic about a blinking-nosed reindeer with a father disappointed that his son may not make Santa's "sleigh team". You get to see Santa's workshop, with Hermey an elf who simply doesn't like to make toys (he'd rather be a dentist than a toy-making elf) while his gruff, gravel-voiced foreman orders him to brush aside his fantasy and get to work. Donner, one of Santa's team, is simply not willing to accept his son, Rudolph's "birth defect", using mud to cover the blinking nose. Meanwhile, the Abominable Snow Creature (who hates Christmas) is to be avoided and Donner has trained Rudolph to hide when it is near. Santa is about to look for a possible new reindeer to join his sleigh team, with some of his own current batch featuring tykes in practice hoping to impress him. Rudolph also has a potential girlfriend, but that red nose and how it beeps gets him ridiculed by his peers and he feels too ashamed to walk her home (she is fine with his red nose, however, her father isn't, ordering her home). Of course, Rudolph finds a common ally in Hermey, both recognizing they're considered misfits by everyone, becoming friends. With additional characters like the prospecting Yukon Cornelius, the roaring Abominable Snow Creature, and misfit toys on their own island (needing a home) as Rudolph and Hermey leave their homeland for a place where they won't be considered rejects provides great fun for children (and a nostalgic treat for adults who once grew up with this live animation classic). Good, wholesome family entertainment. The theme of "all because you are different than the norm doesn't mean you deserve to be treated as an outcast worthy of ridicule" is still quite relatable even today. With Yuletide favorites like "Holly Jolly Christmas" and "Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer", this live animation wonder has remained in the lexicon of the Christmas season for decades, an annual tradition that will remain for generations to come.

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--December 23, 2013