Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer and The Island of Misfit Toys

After Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer: The Movie bombed, the company, Goodtimes wants to try again to be on par with the 1964 film. So they decided to make a sequel to that film while ignoring the actual sequels in between; basically going by Godzilla sequels ideals. This is where Rudolph and the Island of Misfit Toys came in.

Richard Dreyfus as Scoop T. Snowman tells the story how Rudolph became famous for guiding Santa’s Sleigh that night, but he grows some doubt and believes he’s being used. Rudolph and Hermey the Elf Dentist is going on Hermey’s Dentist Mobile by sea to the Island of Misfit Toys to help King Moonracer dental problem, as warned by an aerophobia kite (voiced by Tarantulus of Beast Wars, Alec Willow). After Hermey’s “cure” to Moonracer, Rudolph and Hermy crashed the mobile at an iceberg near Castaway Cove, where they came across a toy hospital led by Queen Camilla (voiced by Jamie Lee Curtis). The villain, the Toy Taker has stolen all the toys in the world through the pied piper, even at Santa’s toys got stolen. Rudolph, Hermey, Clarice, Yukon Cornelius, and Bumble the Abominable Snow Monster find the Toy Taker and save the Toys before it becomes a toyless Christmas for children around the world. 

When I first heard the name, I thought it was going to be another Rudolph film as I became distant from it after the annoying taste the Goodtimes version left. This all changed when I was wondering what was my sister and Dad were watching in the living room while I was at the indoor porch when I had a distant phase. I got to the part with Rudolph got to Queen Camilla and afterwards, and I thought “Wait, is this our Rudolph, Hermey, Clarice, Coach Comet, Yuko, and Bumble?” That moment was a glimmer of hope for me that day.

The CGI is dated, but unlike that piece of rotten egg drop as Peter Cottontail Movie, it perfectly captures the designs and voice of the original Rankin Bass Rudolph film. It’s better to capture most of the design and spirit than barely. Kathleen Barr, who previously voiced Rudolph and currently voiced the Great and Powerful Trixie capture the original Rudolph better than THAT OTHER VERSION!! Scott McNeal (best known as Waspinator, Rattrap, Dinobot, and Silverbolt in Beast Wars) plays Hermey the Elf, Coach Comet, and Yukon Cornelius; he does great matching three original characters to a tee. The character I didn’t think they can make better, but did was Clarice. They gave her a little arc that kinda mirrors Rudolph with the flying, which is welcoming to a female Rankin Bass character that’s usually just the love interest/ support as Rudolph does the supporting in return. Unlike Donna in Peter Cottontail the Movie, or Ms. Claus in Miser Brothers Christmas, or Crystal in Christmas In July, who does less their initial appearance and would either be mother or part of the background. Her singing voice is as par, if not better than the original, despite she has one at the end, but just like the original.

The characters they couldn’t capture are the Snowman, the Doll and elves’ scale seem to be backwards, and Santa. Santa here is sort of better here. They got the jolly part of him, as he’s less strict or a jerk, and are about as sympathetic as John Goodman Santa. Not like Gary Chalk’s other Santa in Christmas Story 2, John Goodman as Robot Santa Claus and Year Without Santa Claus remake’s. I could argue that the elves are that small, because originally in stop-motion the elves would be difficult to animate them if they were half the size of Santa, despite Hermey’s model would be the smallest when he’s with Bumble with the lack of mouth and eyebrow. Same thing would happen again with Felix and It in Mad Monster Party. So making the elves smaller would work to CGI’s favor. Then there’s Scoop T. Snowman. It would be difficult to find an actor who’s on par with Burl Ive. However, SNL TV Funhouse did a sketch with Sam the Snowman. Weird enough, both of them were release in 2001. Island of Misfit Toys was released in October 30, while SNL’s episode was release in December 15. So timing wise would explain it, made at bad times in 2001, and made worst where Sam the Snowman would take Rudolph, Hermey, and the kids to.

Scoop T. Snowman: If you’re wondering “Where is Sam?” He grew tired of telling the same story, and Father Time has continuity in timeline to fix. So Sam is going to spend his time in his igloo.

Speaking of timing, this was released along with Robbie the Reindeer, the sequel to Rudolph starring his son. Because of the copyright that Island of Misfit Toys, Goodtimes only used the characters in the film, and debatable with Sam the Snowman. This means Robbie the Reindeer was never allow saying Rudolph’s name, as they take the advantage of it as a running gag that Blitzen doesn’t want to hear his name. Transformers also suffered with the loss of using a female autobot, Moonracer.

What kind of ruins the film is timing of the film. The first Rudolph was set anytime as timeless, but this sequel acknowledges that video games existed, meaning this would set in the present time of 2001. What should have been set months after the first film turned into years? This would make the film confusing with the characters never aging. Then again, they’re as iconic as Looney Tunes and the Simpsons; where characters don’t age unless written yet the environment does. However, Rudolph in the original did age with his body bigger, and antlers longer, but he had them shaved off for the elves’ tools. I’ll put more thought on the age thing with Rudolph when I get to Shiny New Years. The best toys better than a teddy bear in 1970’s would be difficult, other than smaller action figures. While this film would rip off Toy Story 2, it’s debatable if Toy Story 3 would rip this film off, if the Bear was a villain from the start than a surprise villain that mostly gets stale.

The music is mostly terrible. Goodtimes or Golden Time is known for few good things, good music is never one of them. The background music mostly sounds obnoxiously quirky, and couldn’t be on par with Robert Mays with using the instrumental version of his songs in different range. There’s some good music with the Toy Taker’s song sounding to this film’s extent of menacing, and “The Best Christmas Ever” is a decent last music.

Is this a bad film? Not bad enough to be considered boring or awful. To me, this is a guilty pleasure of a film, along with Home Alone 2, Rover Dangerfield, and to name a few. Given with the other Rankin Bass sequels I’ll be dealing with, let alone any bad Christmas film, it was good enough for me. I don’t judge a CGI film by their texture, just mostly if it’s either a good style and/ or animate that style well. Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer and the Island of Misfit Toys is flawed, but it could have been worse. Take it for what’s it worth, and judge it for your selves. This may not be gold film, but it’s Peppermint of a film that can fill me.