Rudolph's Shiny New Year (1976)

Rudolph must find Happy, the baby New Year, before midnight on New Year's Eve.

Directors:

Jules Bass, Arthur Rankin Jr.

Writer:

Romeo Muller

Stars:

Red Skelton, Frank Gorshin, Morey Amsterdam

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Red Skelton	...	Father Time / Baby Bear (voice)
Frank Gorshin	...	Sir 1023 (voice)
Morey Amsterdam	...	One Million (O.M) (voice)
Harold Peary	...	Big Ben (voice)
Paul Frees	...	Santa Claus / Eon / General Ticker / Seventeen Seventy Six 'Sev' (voice)
Billie Mae Richards	...	Rudolph (voice) (as Billie Richards)
Don Messick	...	Papa Bear / Rumpelstiltskin / Prince Charming / The Seven Dwarfs (voice)

Storyline

Father Time sends Santa a message telling him that the baby new year, Happy, is missing! And without the baby new year, it'll remain the old year forever. But it's foggy and snowing, so Rudolph's the only reindeer for the job. Rudolph learns that Eon (ugly buzzard) is also searching for Happy, so that eon life will never end. With the help of 1 Million B.C. and Sir 1023, and 1776, Rudolph searches through the islands of the Archipelago of Last Year and races against eon to ensure a Happy New Year.

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Plot Keywords:

1970s | 20th century | 1000000 b.c. | prehistory | stone age | 

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Genres:

Animation | Adventure | Comedy | Family | Fantasy | Musical

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Certificate:

TV-G

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

10 December 1976 (USA)

Also Known As:

Ano Novo Brilhante de Rudolph

Company Credits

Production Co:

Rankin/Bass Productions

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

The characters from the previous special do not appear in this one likely due to the fact that its copyright was questionable (because the special's copyright date was 1164, not 1964).

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Goofs

When Rudolph and his friends find Happy, Rudolph worries about getting him to Father Time's castle before the twelfth bong until Santa shows up in his sleigh. Since Rudolph is one of Santa's flying reindeer, he shouldn't need Santa or his sleigh to get to Father Time's castle.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Father Time: [singing to the tune of Rudolph the Red-Nose Reindeer] You know Rudolph who guided and pulled Santa's sleigh / and who saved Christmas by lighting the way. But there's more to tell / Rudolph saved the New Year as well.
[shifting to spoken dialog]
Father Time: And it all began that same foggy night.

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Connections

Followed by Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July (1979)

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Soundtracks

Have a Little Faith in Me
Performed by Rudolph

User Reviews

"1965 was too noisy"

Rankin/Bass sequel to Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer doesn't come close to that classic but has charms of its own. The story is that Happy, the Baby New Year, has run away and unless he is returned by Dec 31st the current year will not end. Rudolph is asked to find Happy, which is appropriate since they both have in common that they were laughed at for physical oddities. Rudolph with his glowing red nose and Happy with his huge ears. It's a running gag throughout the special that every time someone sees Happy's ears they burst out laughing. It seems a little mean after awhile, to be honest.

The most interesting part of the story to me was the Archipelago of Last Years. Basically after every year ends, that year retires to an island all of its own. It's a neat idea that allowed Rankin/Bass to toy with various characters from different times. My favorite of these was the island of the year that all fairy tales and nursery rhymes were created. So we get to see Rankin/Bass animate characters like the Three Bears and Cinderella. Throughout the story, Rudolph picks up various allies and must contend with an evil vulture named Aeon.

The stop-motion animation is, as usual, excellent. I love the vulture in particular. The voicework is great. Billie Mae Richards returns as Rudolph. Red Skelton voices the narrator Father Time, as well as a short bit as Baby Bear (using one of his old standard voices from his radio & TV shows). Morey Amsterdam voices O.M. the caveman. The songs are a mixed bag and probably the special's weakest element. Also, as mentioned, the constant laughing at the baby for his ears is a little rough and the "moral" at the end, as stated by Rudolph, doesn't seem to fit. Still, it's an enjoyable special. It's not one of the best but it's Rankin/Bass so it's solid entertainment despite its flaws.