Robbie the Reindeer in Legend of the Lost Tribe

It's a couple of years after Hooves of Fire. Robbie is searching for a lost tribe of Vikings. Blitzen is released from prison. He tries to get back in with the other reindeers but they refuse until he tricks them with his new criminal bunny friends.

This gets a bit random. I like Robbie a little more this time around. Maybe they should have skipped the Vikings and make the bunnies Easter rabbits. It would be fun to have a battle of the holidays.

My wife and I just ordered the new DVD with the original Robbie (Hooves of Fire) and this one on it. We have the older release with only Hooves of Fire, and absolutely LOVED that one. We were both shocked and disappointed at how bad this one is!! The story is weak, but worse yet the witty scripting from the original is completely absent. I gave it a 4 for the first minute or so of the movie - after that it's probably a 2 or even a 1.

Oh, and the "addition" of new voices for the US version is appalling! I was SO relieved when I found the audio setup item which lets you switch to the original British voice talent!! I only wish I could tell the DVD to NEVER EVER play it with the US voicing again. I actually liked several of the US voice actors, but it just seems wrong if you've seen (and heard) the original with its British cast. It is, after all, a British comedy, and I kind of expect the British accents.

Some time has passed since the race in `Robbie The Reindeer' and the group of reindeers have set up a tourist business offering guided tours. When an accident occurs on one such tour Robbie believes he was saved by a long lost tribe of Vikings - supposed to have been wiped out years ago. No one believes him and they are more concerned with the business losing money. When the evil Blitzen is released from prison 50 years early he promises to help them turn things around but double crosses them with the help of a master of disguise rabbit. Robbie escapes and goes to the Viking tribe to help him and his friends overcome Blitzen.

This programme will need to work hard to build the same Christmas anticipation as Wallace & Gromit did. On several occasions the BBC's big thing was the newest W&G short to be shown. Last year Robbie The Reindeer was the next shot at a clever comedy animation and it hit big with clever jokes and good voice work. Here the bar has dropped a little but it is still worth a look. The plot is a little more floppy and doesn't work as well and the jokes are funny if not hilarious.

The makers have tried to recreate the same magic but it doesn't always come off. It's telling that the sports commentators from the original, Des Yeti and Alan Snowman, have a brief cameo - they were the best bit of the last one. However it is still funny and has plenty of surreal moments and a funny (if straightforward) movie pastiche of Return of the Jedi's forest chase on Endor.

The voice work again is of an excellent calibre and you almost wish the animation had made better use of them. O'Hanlon is again good as a slightly more aware reindeer version of his Father Dougal. Coogan is great in a few roles and Horrocks et al do well in support. Alistair McGowan is again on hand for some brief impressions and a strange but enjoyable role is available for an instantly recognisable Jeff Goldblum (who is noticeable absent from the booths in the final credits).

This series needs to get better for next Christmas if the BBC want it to compete with W&G as the most anticipated Christmas animation, but aside from that it is well made, different and funny if not as funny as you'd want. Overall a quality animation to raise the mood after the Queen's speech.

Robbie The Reindeer in Legend Of The Lost Tribe (2) (2002) -

The animation of this sequel was much better than its predecessor, even after just 3 years.

It was a slightly weaker plot and definitely more of a stretch for an idea than the original story of Robbie (Ardal O'Hanlon) finding his feet at the North Pole to pull Father Christmas' sleigh, but it was still good fun and a giggle.

It started with the reindeers failing to run a tourism business and built to a journey in which Robbie found a "Lost Tribe" of Vikings. Meanwhile the evil Blitzen (Steve Coogan) had also been freed from prison. Those events all combined for a cute climax and there were of course some great jokes dotted throughout.

The vocal acting was all done well again and I liked the use of Jeff Goldblum as the voice of White Rabbit, because the character needed to be more distinctive to stand out.

There were some obvious story similarities to 'The Simpson's' (1989-) episodes involving Sideshow Bob (Kelsey Grammar), with Blitzen out for revenge against Robbie, so it wasn't essentially very original, but I did like what they did with it overall.

Fun for all the family, but certainly not as good as the likes of 'Wallace & Gromit' (1989 - 2003) or 'The First Snow Of Winter' (1998).

637.11/1000.

I read one of the user comments in Hooves of Fire and saw the 8 out of 10 rating and got my hopes up for this one. I can't begin to explain what a bad movie this is. It's certainly not for kids. And it's a waste of good clay too! The version I saw had Britney Spears as the girl reindeer (with breasts, no less). The story line is awful...renegade reindeer gone bad who comes back and imprisons his fellow reindeer by cruelly tricking them. Two of them escape and enlist the help of a long-lost tribe of tiny Norsemen. This is a holiday show?? This is good cheer?? Yikes...I couldn't turn it off fast enough. My 7-year old didn't like it either and said take it back to the video store.