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:

baby | snowing | time | archipelago | island | 

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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

Red Skelton recreated his popular radio character "Junior" for the voice of the Baby Bear on Fairy Tale Island.

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Goofs

Red Skelton mispronounced the word "archipeligo" several times as "ARCH-uh-pell-uh-go", before switching over to the correct pronunciation of "ARK-uh-pell-uh-go" later on in the story.

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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

Referenced in RuPaul's Drag Race: Untucked!: Glamazon by Colorevolution (2014)

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Soundtracks

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
Written by Johnny Marks (uncredited)

User Reviews

Happy New Year with Rankin/Bass

Rankin/Bass have been responsible for some of my favourites. Of their specials my favourites are Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer and Santa Claus is Comin' To Town. On the most part I did like Rudolph's Shiny New Year. Of course it is not as good as Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer, but considering how timeless that is I wasn't expecting the same kind of quality. I do think that some parts did feel stretched out and Rudolph's Shiny New Year could have been told quite easily in half the running time. It does look great though, a lot of detail went into the visuals and stop-motion animation and it really shows, managing to be both enchanting and wonderfully twisted. The score is fitting and whimsical, and while the songs are not among the most inspired or memorable from the Rankin/Bass specials- I personally did find Raining Sun Shine instantly forgettable- there are some pleasantly upbeat ones, the best being Hap-Hap-Happy New Year. The writing has its charm and fun, if not as fresh, witty or touching as some of the best Rankin/Bass specials. The story is interesting, the scenes with Happy are very sweet and what initially seems mean-spirited(I'm talking about Happy having big ears) comes across as touching in the end(I can also see a lot of people relating to Happy for this). There are some strange moments that can lose you first time, but the more times you see it the quicker you feel that it's part of the charm. Of the characters, all of which are engaging with some endearingly quirky names, my favourites are Rudolph, Father Time and Big Ben, though it is difficult not to love adorable little Happy and Aeon is a decent enough villain(even if there are better Rankin/Bass villains around, namely Burgermeister). The voice acting is terrific, Red Skelton being the standout. Overall, not one of the best Rankin/Bass specials but has a lot of good things. 8/10 Bethany Cox