Hooves of Fire (TV 1999)

Robbie, an out-of-condition reindeer, tries to earn a place on Santa's crack sleigh team.

Director:

Richard Goleszowski

Writers:

Andy Riley, Kevin Cecil,

Stars:

Robbie Williams, Ardal O'Hanlon, Paul Whitehouse

5 wins & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Robbie Williams	...	Narrator (voice)
Ardal O'Hanlon	...	Robbie the Reindeer (voice)
Paul Whitehouse	...	Prancer (voice)
Jane Horrocks	...	Donner (voice)
Steve Coogan	...	Blitzen (voice)
Caroline Quentin	...	Vixen (voice)
Jean Alexander	...	Mrs. Santa (voice)
Ricky Tomlinson	...	Santa Claus (voice)
Rhys Ifans	...	Head Elf (voice)
Harry Enfield	...	Old Jingle (voice)
Tony Anscombe	...	Elf 3 (voice)
Alistair McGowan	...	Des Yeti / Alan Snowman / Trash Bag (voice)
Ben Stiller	...	Robbie the Reindeer (voice)
Britney Spears	...	Donner (voice)
James Woods	...	Narrator (voice)

Storyline

Robbie the reindeer is determined to win a place pulling Santa's sled. Unfortunately, he's got two problems facing him. One, he's sadly out of shape; two, he doesn't realize his pal Blitzen is cheating! Confused by the temptations of sexy lady reindeer Vixen, and completely unaware of bubble-headed Donner's love for him, Robbie faces the race of his life.

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Plot Keywords:

reindeer | christmas | seal | william tell overture | skeleton | 

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Genres:

Animation | Short | Comedy

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Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

25 December 1999 (UK)

Also Known As:

Robbie the Reindeer in Hooves of Fire

Company Credits

Production Co:

British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), Comic Relief

Technical Specs

Runtime:

29 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Originally, Rudolph's name is never mentioned specifically because of copyright reasons. Only because of this was its omission then worked into the plot as a running gag.

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Quotes

Head Elf: What happened, Robbie?
Robbie: I got tired of sweeping, then I saw these bits of toys lying around, and I thought, I'll invent new toys. This is Sebastian Musclewhale.
Head Elf: Do whales have arms?
Robbie: Sebastian has three. He needs them to fight his archenemy... Octomonkey!

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Crazy Credits

As the credits roll in the American dubbed version, we see behind the scenes of the actors recording the voices for their characters.

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Connections

Spoofs The Karate Kid (1984)

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Soundtracks

"The Other Side of the Moon"
Music and Lyrics by Mark Knopfler, Guy Fletcher, Andy Riley and Kevin Cecil
Performed by Jane Horrocks and Mikey Graham

User Reviews

Just thirty minutes long but a scream all the same!

This was the funniest programme on the television at Christmas in Britain. It follows the adventures of a young reindeer called Robbie (the son of Rudolph)who has been sent by his father to Lapland to train and navigate Santa's sleigh on Christmas Eve. However, there are a couple of problems in Robbie's way. He is lazy and will do anything to get out of work , a female reindeer called Vixen has caught his eye and made him go all gooey and the leader of the sleigh team, Blitzen, is constantly conspiring to keep Robbie off the sleigh team because he hates Rudolph (Robbie's father) and wants to humiliate him. However, Robbie's friend, Donner, learns of this plan and informs Robbie and tells him to train like mad for the Reindeer Games. You can be rest assured that all turns out well in the end. British viewers will enjoy the depiction of the British sport commentators, Des Lynam and Alan Hansen as a yeti and a snowman respectively, and look out for a joke about the singer, Seal. All in all, it was one of the funniest short animations I have ever seen. I was in stitches on Christmas Day and it is well worth watching, whether you're an adult or a child, or just a big kid!!!