Rudolph's Shiny New Year

Rudolph's Shiny New Year
Developed by	Rankin Bass
Narrated by	Red Skelton
Country of origin	United States
Production
Running time	50 minutes
Production company(s)	Rankin/Bass Productions
Distributor	Warner Bros. Television
Broadcast
Original channel	ABC (1976) ABC Family (present)
Original run	1976 – present
Chronology
Preceded by	Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (1964)
Followed by	Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July (1979)

Rudolph's Shiny New Year is the 1976 stop-motion animated sequel to the 1964 television special Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, produced by Rankin/Bass.

Plot

Shortly after Rudolph has saved Christmas, he and Santa Claus receive word that the latest Baby New Year, Happy, has gone missing and that he must be retrieved soon or else the year will not be able to change. Rudolph travels to the residence of Father Time, who explains to him the importance of Happy's rescue, and that a huge vulture called Aeon is in search of the infant because he has survived for thousands of years and will die after the present year has ended, but if he manages to capture the Baby New Year before anyone else, he will be enabled to live forever. Rudolph also learns that after each year has ended, it is moved to a designated island among a group of such islands intended for past years, where it shall take place perpetually, and that Happy might be on one of the islands, so Rudolph leaves in search of him.

While traveling from island to island, Rudolph meets a number of historical figures (including fairy tale characters when exploring the island meant for the middle ages), many of whom claim to have met Happy, but the reason for the baby's leaving home was because he was ridiculed for his gigantic ears, and he often wound up leaving a current island after the secret of his ears (which he conceals with an oversized top hat) has been discovered and laughed at by that island's residents. Rudolph is able to relate to Happy, having been taunted himself before, so he searches for him with the help of a whale named Big Ben and successfully comes upon him. Rudolph tries to encourage the Baby New Year to go home and that he should not take offense when people poke fun at the size of his ears, but soon Aeon flies by and kidnaps Happy, bringing him back to his nest so nobody will be able to find him. Rudolph flies around in search of Aeon's nest and brawls with the bird, successfully defeating him by turning him to stone, and he takes Happy home so he can become the current Baby New Year, and so the year may change.

Archipelago of Last Years

When a year ends, the old year retires to the Archipelago of Last Years and selects an island for himself after which time on that island remains frozen forever as the year in which the old year ruled. Among the islands of the Archipelagos of Last Years are:

• 1,000,000 BC: Represented as a prehistoric island that consists of dinosaurs and cavemen. O.M. lives here.
• 4000 BC: During Rudolph's search for Happy the Baby New Year, Rudolph mentioned that all its inhabitants wanted to do was build pyramids.
• 1023: Represented as a medieval island filled with fairytale characters. Sir 1023 (pronounced "ten-to-three," as in the time 2:50) lives here. According to the special, 1023 is the year that all the well-known fairy tales actually happened.
• 1492: In Rudolph's search for Happy, he mentions that the people on that island were too busy discovering things to help them.
• 1776: Represented as a Colonial American island that celebrates Independence Day daily. Benjamin Franklin lives here. The inclusion of this date was a reference to the United States bicentennial which was ongoing at the time of the special's debut.
• 1893: During Rudolph's search for Happy the Baby New Year, he mentions that the inhabitants have never heard of Happy.
• 1965: Rudolph stated that island was "too noisy" in his search for Happy the Baby New Year. This is a reference to both Beatlemania and the growing unrest brought on by the escalation of the Vietnam War.

Cast

• Red Skelton - Father Time (Narrator), Baby Bear
• Billie Mae Richards - Rudolph
• Morey Amsterdam - One Million BC
• Frank Gorshin - Sir 1023
• Paul Frees - 1776, Santa Claus, General Ticker, Aeon
• Don Messick - Papa Bear
• Harold Peary - Big Ben
• Iris Rainer - Quarter Past Five

DVD details

Released with The Year Without a Santa Claus

• Release date: October 31, 2000
• Full Screen
• Region: 1
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Audio tracks: English

Production notes

• The reindeer model used for Rudolph in this special was significantly different from the one used in the original special, most notably in that it had a wider, rounder mouth and a more blunt face as opposed to the elongated model used in the original. This model was also used for the 1979 finale Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July.
• A lady with blonde hair at the front of the crowd at the end of the special was also used as the mother in The Year Without a Santa Claus.
• While Rudolph's Shiny New Year takes place after Rudolph The Red-Nose Reindeer, Rudolph appears in this film as a fawn, without a full set of antlers. This seems to be out of continuity with the end of Rudolph The Red Nose Reindeer, where he appears to be a fully grown deer with antlers.
• The camel who carried Rudolph and General Ticker to Father Time's castle was the same camel who served as "Joshua" in The Little Drummer Boy, another Rankin-Bass puppetoon.
• In one scene, the characters are on a boat using a calendar page as a sail. The calendar page is of August 1928, a reference to writer Romeo Muller who was born on August 7, 1928. The calendar page is inaccurate, since it shows the month starting on Thursday, whereas August 1, 1928 was actually a Wednesday. In addition, August appears with 30 days instead of 31.
• In the "The Moving Finger Writes" sequence, the calendar dates seen accurately reflect a common year starting on Monday.
• None of the characters from the original special returned in voiced parts except for Rudolph and Santa Claus. Rudolph's parents, (his father being Donner) are shown in the scene where Rudolph explains to Happy about himself, but are not referred by name nor do they have any lines. Donner is seen as part of Santa's sleigh team towards the end after Happy makes the Aeon laugh and it strikes midnight when Rudolph says "There's got to be a way to get to Father Time's castle before the 12th bong" and Santa and the reindeer team showing up instantly, but again is not referred by name. In the scene when 'Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer' is being played, when young reindeer are seen playing ball, a female reindeer resembling Clarice, Rudolph's girlfriend, (due to her bow, which is red with white polka dots, like in the original special) is seen. However, when in the original special where Clarice is the only reindeer that does not make fun of Rudolph's nose, in this special she runs away with the other reindeer and appears to be laughing at him.
• One more difference between the original special and this one is the role of the narrator in the story. In the 1964 special, Sam the Snowman apparently knows Rudolph, but doesn't interact with him. In this special, Father Time acts as the narrator and has some interaction with Rudolph.
• The special currently airs annually on ABC Family as part of its 25 Days of Christmas programming block (despite the fact that it is not a Christmas special); it is occasionally aired on sister network ABC in the week between Christmas and New Years Day.
• Big Ben would later appear in Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July, albeit briefly.

External links

• Rudolph's Shiny New Year at the Internet Movie Database
• ABC Feature Page for Rudolph's Shiny New Year
• Archived ABC Feature Page for Rudolph's Shiny New Year