Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer: The Movie

Strangely, I found this movie quite good. It fills you with a sense of Christmas and there's nothing wrong with sitting down and watching this before you open your presents. A nice little kids movie which appealed to me quite a bit. This year I was feeling a bit bah humbug, but this warmed my heart. The plot is good, sticking to the original idea while skewing away in places, but it remains a nice honest film which everyone can watch. The acting is above average IMO, and Leonard the Bear is my favourite character. A story of the underdog rising up is always great, and this delivers just like it's predessor. Especially fitting for a nice Christmas Day morning. There were some questions left unanswered, however, such as how do the reindeer's fly? But all in all, this is a worthy Christmas tale, telling a story about everyone's favourite reindeer. It is just a shame that this will forever be compared with the original. This is the way great films are ignored and this movie is getting bad feedback because 'it does not live up to the original'. This film is still great, however little can see it's potential. Sad.

An instant Christmas classic! Great cast (voices) and decent animation make this a family classic for any Christmas occasion. Considering the fact that this film isn't Disney, it belongs in the category of excellent animated films. On a Friday afternoon of September 1998, I came across "Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer : The Movie" opening today in limited release. Fortunately my movie theater was playing it and with a cast including Whoopi Goldberg, Bob Newhart, Sarah Jessica Parker, Debbie Reynolds, & John Goodman, I couldn't resist. Why Legacy Releasing opened a Christmas movie in the fall I'll never know, but if you haven't seen it with your kids, get it this Christmas season. Soundtrack includes a special musical performance of "A Wonderful Christmas Time" by Paul and Linda McCartney. Now on video from Goodtimes Entertainment.

This is the dumbest thing I have ever seen. This is not the Rankin-Bass version by any stretch of the imagination. That was a stop-motion short that is now considered a Christmas classic. Rudolph: THE MOVIE is no where near that special. The entire package, from the animation to the characters, should never have been released in theaters. That's right, this thing was on the big screen for, like, a whopping three weeks b4 going straight to video. As I said before, the animation would be right at home on UPN's Saturday Morning Lineup right next to the New Tex Avery Show. It's not The Prince of Egypt, let's just say that. Also, what is with the army of wacky side kicks? We get a polar bear voiced by Bob Newhart (Bob, what happened?), a thumb-sucking Arctic wolf, some kareoke singing faeries who painfully narrate the story, and a penguin who wears a tuxedo (Ha! My sides!). At the very, very least they added a new element to the old legend of Rudolph with the ice queen, who is voiced by Whoopi Goldberg, but even she isn't that interesting. Plus, it's a musical. And a bad one, at that. Listening to two different people do Rudolph's speaking voice and singing vocals is hilarious, since Singing Ru is about eight octaves deeper than Speaking Ru. So basically, stay away. This is one tiresome flick. 1 out of 4 stars.

Of course it isn't my all time favourite Christmas movie and it isn't as good as the timeless Rankin'/Bass special, but all the same it is very sweet, charming and simple. I for one am disheartened at the 4.8 rating, it is much better than that, of course it isn't perfect, but it is far from the worst animated movie ever. The animation is not too bad, a tad shoddy in places, but fifteen minutes in, the quality got better. I didn't think the songs were awful at all, honestly the songs in Secret Of NIMH 2: Timmy To The Rescue were much worse. In my opinion, they were actually quite cute. One or two of them are forgettable especially the song sung by the elves before Stormella is introduced, but I Hate Santa Claus and Zoey and Rudolph's duet were lovely, and who can resist festive classics like Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer and Wonderful Christmas time. I will admit I was annoyed by the sprites, there were a couple of moments where their presence was pointless. The movie also has some nice messaging, I really did feel for Rudolph(I know exactly what it's like to get bullied because of your nose, I used to get bullied because of my singing voice), a good story, if a little slow to start with and some fairly good dialogue. The real delight is in the very lovable characters and highly talented voice cast. Rudolph and Zoey are adorable, and John Goodman makes a suitably merry Santa Claus. Eric Idle and Bob Newhart positively delight as Slyly and Leonard, and despite her limited screen time, Whoopi Goldberg is very impressive as the villainous Stormella. Overall, a very sweet, simple and underrated Christmas movie. 7/10 Bethany Cox

I thought this movie was very adorable, and I'm surprised it didn't get more recognition. It's nice seeing so many famous actors doing a kids' movie together. Especially Eric Idle doing the voice of the fox with an American accent- he's truly delightful...I could barely tell it was him! OK, so it was a tad cheesy, but what's a feel-good family movie without a bit of cheese thrown in? I haven't seen it in a while, but I remember loving the voice of the younger Rudolph. I'm surprised he hasn't gotten more roles, or more of a bio on IMDb! So, if you've got kids, or you just want to giggle at how cute/corny it is, rent it or buy it. Sure, it's not a classic like the one with the Abominable Snowman, Yukon Cornelius or Hermy the elf, but it's just as delightful.