Olive, the Other Reindeer (1999)

When Santa cancels his annual flight because of a hurt reindeer, a young Christmas loving dog named Olive is convinced she has what it takes to get Santa's flight off the ground and save Christmas.

Director:

Steve Moore (as Oscar Moore)

Writers:

J. Otto Seibold (book), Vivian Walsh (book)

Stars:

Drew Barrymore, Dan Castellaneta, Joe Pantoliano

Nominated for 1 Primetime Emmy. Another 2 wins.

Cast

Credited cast:
Drew Barrymore	...	Olive (voice)
Dan Castellaneta	...	The Postman (voice)
Joe Pantoliano	...	Martini (voice)
Edward Asner	...	Santa (voice)
Peter MacNicol	...	Fido (voice)
Tim Meadows	...	Richard Stands (voice)
Jay Mohr	...	Tim (voice)
Michael Stipe	...	Schnitzel (voice)
Diedrich Bader	...	Zoo Director (voice)
David Herman	...	Guard Shack Elf (voice)
Matt Groening	...	Arturo (voice)
Mitch Rouse	...	Round John Virgin / Comet (voice)
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Danny Jacobs
Tress MacNeille	...	Mrs. Claus / Mrs. Eskimo (voice)
Kath Soucie	...	(voice)

Storyline

After mis-hearing a radio broadcast about Santa canceling his Christmas trip due to an injured reindeer, Olive the dog decides to travel to the North Pole and volunteer to be a replacement. Unfortunately, Olive must deal with an evil postman who's tired of handling all the extra Christmas mail. Will Martini the penguin be able to help Olive realize her dream?

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Plot Keywords:

animal character name as title | olive the reindeer character | four word title | north pole | dog | 

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Genres:

Animation | Comedy | Family | Fantasy | Musical

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Certificate:

TV-G

Did You Know?

Trivia

The reference "You sir, are no reindeer" is a reference to the 1988 Presidential debate comment made by Loyld Bentsen to Dan Quayle. "Senator, I served with Jack Kennedy. I knew Jack Kennedy. Jack Kennedy was a friend of mine. Senator, you're no Jack Kennedy".

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Quotes

Olive: Wow. I'm flying! I'm really flying!
Comet: Unorthodox style, but whatever works.

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Alternate Versions

Further airings by Fox has some scenes removed in order to show more commercials.

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Connections

References The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1939)

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Soundtracks

Merry Christmas, After All
Written by Matt Groening
Performed by Drew Barrymore, Edward Asner, Mitch Rouse, and Danny Jacobs

User Reviews

You will laugh, but you won't call Olive names.

One of the least accomplished episodes of "The Simpsons" was "Insane Clown Poppy," with Drew Barrymore as the voice of Krusty's illegitimate daughter Sophie. Happily, she and Matt Groening pre-emptively made up for this in 1999 with the charming "Olive, the Other Reindeer," which they executive produced, and which featured one of them (hint: not Matt) as the voice of the title character.

When Santa Claus faces a crisis that may mean his deliveries won't get through, lovable dog Olive mishears him on the radio hoping to depend on "all of the other reindeer," and believing that Mr. Kringle is counting on her, she's off to the North Pole with the help of her penguin friend Martini, but with a conniving postman (!) out to stop her. Only Scrooge would not be rooting for Olive and Martini to succeed in the course of this special, not least with the warm and winning voice work (particularly Barrymore as our four-legged friend, Joe Pantoliano cast against type as good guy Martini, and Michael Stipe as one of Santa's reindeer - who has a very funny joke about Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer).

A good, heartwarming story with computer animation from DNA Productions that looks more traditionally cartoony than the norm, which is not a bad thing here; Drew also does her own singing, and it must be said that she won't be giving Alicia Keys a run for her money - but her scrappy enthusiasm on her numbers ("Merry Christmas After All" provides an oddly endearing blend of Miss Barrymore's slightly flat vocalising and the truly musical Big Bad Voodoo Daddy) only adds to the special's charm. Funny and non-sick-making, this is up there with Channel 4's adaptation of "Father Christmas" and some of Rankin/Bass's seasonal cartoons in the winner stakes; one to tape.

"Warp speed, captain!"

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

17 December 1999 (USA)

Also Known As:

Olive, the Other Reindeer

Filming Locations:

Dallas, Texas, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

DNA Productions, Flower Films (II), Fox Television Studios

Technical Specs

Runtime:

45 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1