Review of Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer The Movie

Introduction

Everybody knows the song. As a child I saw a version on the BBC with a rather frightening Abominable Snowman but no such problem in this as the major villain Ice Queen Stormella (Whoopi Goldberg) is easily tamed.
Rudolph is born with a nose that glows at inopportune moments. He embarrasses his father and his classmates all laugh at him. However, Zoey a young doe is very fond of Rudolph and when the Ice Queen captures Zoey he bravely goes to her rescue. Queen Stormella also threatens to ruin everybody`s Christmas by blowing up a storm that will prevent Santa leaving with all the children`s presents. Rudolph with his friends Slyly the Fox and Leonard the Polar Bear must save Zoey, and Christmas. Needless to say Christmas is mainly about the giving of presents and it`s Santa not Father Christmas. Rudolph learns that it is all right to be different on the outside because it’s the inside that matters.
Sadly the characters lack any depth. Just because a film is aimed at the young there is no need to simplify it to blandness.

Video

The film was made for video and the presentation on DVD is nice and clean. The colours are suitably bright and Christmassy. The animation is fairly basic with no depth. We`re a bit spoiled by the technological achievements of Pixar and it is easy to forget this stuff is the bread and butter of everyday animation

Audio

There is a cheerful soundtrack consisting of mainly original songs and the well-known "Rudolph" itself. The original songs are very much workaday efforts with no real inspiration in them. In the middle of the film the reindeer fly off to the tune of "Wonderful Christmas Time" by Wings. Oh well, it can`t be helped I suppose. The sound is good quality Dolby Digital and the dialogue is clear. The subtitles are useful if you want to sing along.
The cast are quite well known including John Goodman as Santa and Eric Idle as Slyly. They are not given a great deal to work with and the script is a disappointment because it is so overly sentimental.

Features

Bit of a swizz - the only extra is the theatrical trailer, which will be frequently shown on the television before Christmas. I cannot quite believe they actually have the nerve to title it `Special Features`- it hardly warrants that.
Only English subtitles are available.

Conclusion

Another example of Christmas merchandising and pester power. The adverts for this will be appearing on a children`s television near you. The story is a sentimentalised and American ideal of the meaning of Christmas. It is aimed at the very young and at least it does not have any nightmare inducing villains. So perhaps they will go to sleep on Christmas Eve after watching this…