Olive, the Other Reindeer

Despite being Emmy nominated, here's a Christmas film virtually nobody talks about anymore.

Olive, the Other Reindeer is a 2D computer animated TV special. It has Olive who is a dog, a Jack Russell terrier, I think. Her best friend is a penguin who sells fake Rolex watches (Rolexxx to be precise). An evil postman plots to stop Santa delivering presents; because he's sick of delivering letters to Santa. After a misheard radio announcement Olive comes to the rescue as the other reindeer to pull the sleigh.

This film is very charming. It's now regarded as a classic. To be honest it's not up there with The Snowman, or some of the Rankin Bass productions, but it is great fun. The film has some grown up humour, but nothing sexual or edgy, mainly just pop culture references and wordplay. I preferred this over "Hooves of Fire". There's a superb mix of voice talent on show, Drew Barrymore is excellent; bringing a cute naivety to the role without being irritating.

Unfortunately, given this uses computer animation from over 20 years ago it looks a bit rough around the edges. I saw it in 2000 and I remember it looking great and it has a very unique style, which is sort of flat. Viewers will be reminded of early South Park episodes and Cel-shaded videogames like Wacky Races on the Dreamcast. Once you get over the dated look there is a lot to enjoy. At 46 minutes long it does outstay its welcome by about 15 minutes.

It was first broadcast and produced for Fox Television with Matt Groening serving as executive producer. It was later repeated on Nickelodeon the year after and on Channel 4 in the UK in 2000. It was repeated for a few years after, but it hasn't been broadcast in the UK since 2003 to my knowledge. A DVD has been released with a nice picture and some extras.