Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer: The Movie

Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer the Movie is an animated film that was released on October 16, 1998.

Plot

The film begins in Santa's Village where the Sprites of the Northern Lights perform a light show in the sky which makes Santa and his wife Mrs. Claus wonder what the occasion is (Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer).

The Sprites then arrive at the home of one of Santa's reindeer Blitzen and his wife Mitzi, who have just become parents to a newborn buck whom they name Rudolph. Rudolph gets to his feet and does his first steps, but trips and tumbles into a haybale. Blitzen and Mitzi rush over to see if their son is okay. Rudolph emerges from the haybale unharmed, but when upon letting out a sneeze, his nose lights up red, to the shock of his parents.

The next day, Blitzen and Mitzi take Rudolph a tour of Santa's Village where they meet with Blitzen's three brothers and fellow Flyers Comet, Cupid and Dasher. At first Blitzen tries to hide Rudolph from them (worried at what they'll think of his nose), but Mitzi makes him stop. Cupid playfully tickles Rudolph and causes his nose to light up again, in front of the rest of the villagers to which Blitzen tells them that Rudolph has allergies before leading his son away. Blitzen along with Mitzi, hope that others will overlook Rudolph's nose and grow to accept it and he will become a Flyer, but leave after the villagers laugh at Rudolph (What About His Nose).

Meanwhile, two elves named Boone and Doggle are delivering mail to Santa with hopes they will be promoted to the factory floor. However when crossing the ice bridge of the ice queen Stormella, Boone loses control of the mail sled and along with Doggle crash into Stormella's ice garden, destroying her statues. The two elves quickly leave, but Doggle accidentally leaves his hat behind in the wreck.

Later, Blitzen and Mitzi give Rudolph a tour of Santa's workshop where he is given a teddy bear by one of the elves (Christmas Town). Just then, Stormella arrives with her penguin butler Ridley and her wolves demanding to know which elf was responsible for destroying her ice garden, showing Doggle's hat as evidence. Boone and Doggle reveal themselves as the culprits, but Santa refuses to hand them over to Stormella who declares her bridge closed off to the public and threatens to unleash a storm opinion anyone crosses it, before leaving to return to her home Ice Castle.

A year later, Rudolph starts Reindeer School where he expresses his wish to be a Flyer, but is ridiculed by his cousin Arrow and the rest of the class (except the teacher Mrs. Prancer and a young doe named Zoey(whom Rudolph has a crush on)), which causes him to leave the school in tears. When outside, Rudolph meets Santa who gives him his scarf and tells him that he thinks his nose is grand and that everyone is different on the outside but it's what's inside our hearts that counts and also says that he treats everyone in the village like family (Santa's Family). On Christmas Eve, Rudolph and the other villagers attend The Christmas Eve Launch and watch Santa and the Flyers leave on their deliveries (Wonderful Christmastime). Rudolph meets with Zoey who says that she wants to be his friend and doesn't care what the other reindeer would think. Just then, the two notice that they are under a mistletoe, but before they can kiss, Arrow (who is Zoey's boyfriend) arrives and makes Zoey leave with him. As she leaves with Arrow, Zoey looks back at Rudolph and gives him a kind smile, making Rudolph realize that she likes him.

Years later, Rudolph (now a teenager) prepares to take part in The Junior Reindeer Games with Zoey and Arrow. Before taking part in the first event The Sleigh Race, Zoey gives Rudolph her pendant for good luck, much to the chagrin of Arrow. When the race starts, Arrow (determined to get noticed by Santa and picked to be a Flyer) cheats by knocking other competitors off course and when neck-neck with Rudolph, he taunts his cousin, saying that Zoey is only nice to him because she feels sorry for him. Rudolph doesn't believe this, but Arrow says it is true as Zoey told him. Angry at these taunts, Rudolph's nose lights up and temporary blinds Arrow and causes him and the other racers to crash. Rudolph wins the race, but is disqualified by the referee for supposedly using his nose's light to cheat and makes Arrow winner by default. Zoey, knowing the truth, confronts Arrow for cheating in the race and breaks up with him after he discriminates Rudolph. Rudolph listens in on Blitzen arguing with the referee and misinterprets that his father is ashamed of him and leaves home.

Rudolph travels further out into the North Pole and imagines Zoey being with him (Show Me a The Light). Back at Santa's Village, Blitzen and Mitzi return home and discover that Rudolph has ran away and reveal this to Zoey when she arrives wishing to talk to Rudolph. Zoey decides to look for Rudolph herself and makes the decision to cross Stormella's bridge, which causes her to be captured and imprisoned by her. Meanwhile, the Sprites secretly guide Rudolph to a cave to take shelter in. However an arctic fox named Slyly declares the cave is his and tries to get Rudolph to leave, however due to the size difference between them, Slyly is easily defeated and decides to let Rudolph stay (It Could Be Worse). Slyly sees Rudolph's nose light up, but doesn't laugh but does laugh along with Rudolph, when the reindeer tells him about what others have said about his nose.

Back in Santa's Village, Blitzen, Mitzi and the mother and father of Zoey come to Santa and ask him for help to find their children, to which he sends Boone and Doggle. Meanwhile, Rudolph and Slyly are forced to find a new home when the cave becomes blocked by an avalanche. The two find a nice cave, but it is inhabited by a polar bear named Leonard, whom Slyly and a reluctant Rudolph trick into leaving, claiming that it could collapse at any minute. However when discovering that he had been tricked, Leonard returns in anger, but when Rudolph apologies and reveals the reason why they did it, he let's them stay. That night, Rudolph has a nightmare about being ridiculed, before waking up and going outside for fresh air, where he meets the Sprites who reveal that Zoey has been captured and only he can help her. They also teach him how to use his nose's light properly.

Rudolph wakes up Slyly and Leonard and they set out to Ice Castle, but Slyly stays behind in fear of Stormella's wolves. Rudolph and Leonard enter the castle via a secret entrance and find Zoey by following her singing (Show Me The Light Reprise). But before they can free her, Stormella arrives and imprisons them too before revealing that due to Zoey crossing her bridge, Stormella can now cast her storm and put Santa out of business (I Hate Santa Claus). After Stormella leaves to create her storm, Rudolph and Zoey admit their feelings for each other before Slyly arrives after having a change of heart. Slyly then goes to Stormella's bedroom and steals her key to free the others.

However as soon as the quartet get outside, Stormella along with Ridley and the wolves catch up with them. When Stormella threatens to freeze Zoey, Rudolph's nose lights up, causing Stormella to fall down the cliff they are on. Luckily, Rudolph aided by Zoey, Slyly, Leonard, Ridley and the wolves help pull Stormella up to safety. Because of this act, Stormella says she will grant Rudolph one wish, to which he asks for her to be nice. Despite turning nice, Stormella can't stop the storm as it has to run it's natural course.

Upon leaving Ice Castle, the quartet are found by Boone and Doggle who take them back to Santa's Village where Rudolph and Zoey reunite with their parents. After seeing Rudolph's nose light up, Santa asks him to guide his sleigh to which the reindeer agrees. Rudolph is wished good luck by Slyly and Leonard and is given a kiss by Zoey, before leaving with Santa and the Flyers (We Can Make It).

The next day on Christmas Day, Slyly and Leonard find presents for them from Rudolph: Leonard gets Rudolph's scarf and Slyly gets Rudolph's teddy bear. Later, Rudolph returns home with Santa and the Flyers and is given a hero's welcome by the villagers and is finally accepted (Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer Reprise).

Cast

• Kathleen Barr as Rudolph, Twinkle the Sprite
• Myriam Sirois as Zoey, Glitter the Sprite, Schoolroom Doe #1
• Eric Idle as Slyly
• Bob Newhart as Leonard
• Whoopi Goldberg as Stormella, the Evil Ice Queen
• John Goodman as Santa Claus
• Debbie Reynolds as Mrs. Claus, Mitzi, Mrs. Prancer
• Eric Pospisil as Young Rudolph
• Vanessa Morley as Young Zoey
• Garry Chalk as Blitzen
• Richard Simmons as Boone
• Alec Willows as Doggle, Prancer
• Lee Tockar as Ridley the Penguin, Vixen, Milo the Elf
• Christopher Gray as Young Arrow
• Matt Hill as Arrow
• Elizabeth Carol Savenkoff as Aurora the Sprite, Zoey's mother, Elf Crowd Member #3
• Cathy Weseluck as Sparkle the Sprite, Elf Crowd Member #1
• Paul Dobson as Dasher, Elf Referee
• Terry Klassen as Dancer
• Colin Murdock as Comet
• David Kaye as Cupid
• Tyler Thompson as Schoolroom Buck #1

Soundtrack

• Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer - Clint Black
• What About His Nose - The Cast
• Christmas Town - The Pointer Sisters
• Santa's Family - John Goodman
• Wonderful Christmastime - Wings
• Show Me The Light - Michael Lloyd and Debbie Lytton
• It Could Be Worse - Eric Idle
• I Hate Santa Claus - Camen Twillie
• We Can Make It - Johnny Tillotson, Tommy Row and Brian Hyland
• Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer - The Cast
• Show Me The Light - Bill Medley and Jennifer Warnes
• The Sprites' Songs - Debbie Lytton

Books

In 1998, books based on the film were released. They were called Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer: A Retelling of the New Animated Movie, Rudolph Saves The Sprites, Rudolph's Special Day at Santa's Workshop and Christmas Town: Rudolph's Sing Along Book.

Trivia

• There are two noticeable mistakes in this film that shows the difference between the reindeer in the film and the ones in real life.

1. In the film only the male reindeer have antlers but in real life both male and female reindeer have them.

2. In the film the males are called bucks and the females are called does whilst in real life the males are called bulls, the females are called cows and the young are called calves.