Olive, the Other Reindeer

This has been somewhat overlooked, but it really is a terrific special. It's clever and witty (a characteristic that you don't see enough of these days). Olive is a dog, who thinks she can substitute for one of Santa's reindeer and save Christmas. The choice of villain is inspired -- a mailman who wants to stop Christmas so he won't have to deliver all the cards. Not a lot of big laughs, but it's filled with gentle smiles.

The voice work is excellent, and the style is outstanding. There's little attempt to be "realistic," but rather it looks like a picture book (and seems to be sticking closely to the style of the original book).

Olive is an ambitious little dog who hears that one of Santa's reindeer has been injured and may not be able to pull the sleigh. Olive sets out to set into the place of the reindeer, making a few friends along the way. Meanwhile a bitter mailman sets out to ruin Christmas for all concerned.

I caught this early on Christmas Day buried in the middle of every channel trying to put up some feel good programmes and films about Santa and reindeers – mostly animations. This one struck me because how different the animation was – a little weird and off-kilter to be just another banged out Christmas animation. Then I noticed it was produced by Matt Groening – he of Simpsons and Futurama fame. I had hoped that this would be as sharp as some of the better episodes of those series but it didn't quite make it.

Generally it was amusing and it did have a few characters that were sharp and delivered one liners and I suppose the whole set up is inventive enough and different enough to stand out from the crowd of feel good animations on this morning. But it wasn't in the same league as Groening's Simpsons episodes. However the humour is sufficient to make it stand out and the voice work helps a lot.

Barrymore brings a relentless cheerfulness to Olive and the various side kicks help. Pantoliano is the best voice as the penguin Martini while others include Jay Mohr, Castellaneta, Stipe and MacNicol. It's not star studded which is good as that can often replace a quality product, but the cast are all good enough to deliver on the story's potential.

Overall this can't hold a candle to much of Groening's other work but as a competitor for your attentions amongst a host of other festive cartoons then this should easily beat many of the other stocking fillers that the networks serve up to fill the day.

My wife, 5-year-old daughter, and I ran across this special last year. Seeing Drew Barrymore's name gave me some pause, as she had recently flashed David Letterman while giving him a birthday dance, so I wondered if this special was actually going to be suitable for family viewing, and not some subversive story with a Christmas theme. Well, I definitely over-thought this one: "Olive" was absolutely wonderful, and unexpectedly charming (a very rare commodity these days). Her voice work was heartfelt, and a truly eclectic list of other voices, ranging from Joe Pantoliano to co-producer Michael Stipe (whose experience in cartoons includes his hilarious appearance on the funniest "Space Ghost" episode ever-#17, "Hungry") keeps this story light and humorous. The animation style was appropriate to the story and, apparently, to the source material (I have not yet seen the book). I recommend it!

I loved this animated special on the FOX network. And Drew Barrymore just brought the main character to life. It's about a dog (Barrymore) who thinks she is a reindeer and goes on a quest to help Santa after one of the other reindeer can't. With the help of a little penguin named Martini, they accomplish their task while dodging the evil mailman who wants to stop Christmas. I hope this comes to video and DVD. I think it will be another instant classic like "How the Grinch Stole X-Mas" and "Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer". 5 out of 5 stars! So if it is aired next Christmas, DON'T MISS IT!

I really enjoyed this special when I was little, and revisiting it again after, ooh, six years I loved it as much as I did even then.

The only minor quibble I have is that sometimes the pacing is a tad too slow, but because I enjoyed Olive the Other Reindeer so much I was past caring.

The computer animation is highly imaginative, and does have this sophisticated look. Plus it stayed true to the illustrations of the book it is based on.

The music is just as delightful. The incidental music is lovely and fitting with every scene and the songs themselves and there are only a few are well above average.

The writing is also spot on, and the writers certainly did their homework by allowing the hilarious puns to come thick and fast. And I loved the sweet and heart warming story That just leaves the voice acting. It was marvellous, Drew Barrymore gave a very expressive and heartfelt voice to Olive, who is plain adorable and spirited. Joe Pantoliano was hilarious as the penguin Martini, and Edward Asner is suitably merry as Santa. The villain is a postman bent on ruining Christmas; he isn't the most sophisticated villain ever but he is a funny one. As usual, Dan Castallenetta was great.

All in all, an unexpected Christmas cracker. 9.5/10 Bethany Cox