"Rudolph" T.V. Special

[buffalo-boy]

Originally posted by spoke-
Please remind me never to select any of you dopers for a murder jury!

Where is the evidence that the elf was aware of the bird's "disability"? Isn't it possible that the elf just made the reasonable (if mistaken) assumption that the bird could fly?

If the elf didn't know
You must let him go!

Ignorance of the law is not an excuse.

If the elf was not wise,
He still has to fry!

[Gyrate]

Originally posted by Dangerosa
Does Santa's wife strike anyone else as a Yenta? I never really imagined that the icon for the major Christian holiday would have a Jewish wife.

Why not? The other icon for the same major Christian holiday had a Jewish mother (and was, of course, Jewish himself).

[flodnak]

Time to bump this one up, I think...

"The doll's problem is psychological" sounds like a cop-out to me. Sounds like they forgot what her problem was, so they decided it must be something invisible. Hah! It's those freakish pigtails, I'm tellin' ya!

[Drum God]

But doesn't the whole idea of the Rudolph story seem offensive? I mean, let's look at the facts, here:

1) Rudy is a bit different than the others in his peer group..

2) Rudy is taunted by his peers (with at least tacit approval from the adults)

3) Even Santa gets in a jab at poor ol' Rudy.

4) His only friend is a girl whom no one pays much attention to because she's a girl.

5) Suddenly, Santa and Co. develop an unexpected need for Rudy's gifts -- the very trait that made him so offensive to everyone.

6) Since Rudy can now do something FOR the other reindeer that NO ONE ELSE can do, everyone wants to be his friend. No one would give him the time o' day earlier, but now that they WANT something, everyone has to act nice.

Were I Rudolph, I would be sorely tempted to tell Santa what he could do with his sled. Let's just say it would be dark there, too.

It has always seemed to me that this story is about selfishness and ass-kissing. The head elf is careful to kiss-up whenever Santa is around, that acts like a tyrant when he leaves. Hermey is made to feel worthless because his interests and talents lie in dentistry rather than carpentry. Rudolph is similarly ostracized because he is a bit different. This treatment is even condoned by those in authority.

Suddenly everything changes when the authorities WANT something from these "misfits". When Hermey is needed to cure the snow montster of his dental problems, everyone loves him. When Rudolph's "nose so bright" is needed to guide the sleigh, everyone shouts with glee.

What a load of hooey.

[MrVisible]

Originally posted by Sunshine
As to the owlicide...due to the speed and trajectory at which the owl left the sleigh, the only possible theory is that there was a second elf. [/b]

If you look closely at the frame-by-frame, you can see the elf in question sporting an unmistakeable "what was that smell" look throughout the scene. Which leads me to my theory...

The second elf was behind the gassy gnoll.

[Dale The Bold]

Hasn't anyone else felt that the kids may not be happy with "misfit" toys? I keep picturing a kid ripping open a present and saying "Sweet Holy Crap! This train has square wheels! Santa must hate me, what have I done wrong?!"

[manhattan]

Ah, it's that time of year again.

But now, we have a better forum for this one. Off to Cafe Society.

[NDP]

Bumping up for discussion in 2002.

[Bullwinkle]

I just have to raise one point which hasn't been discussed yet. Even as a child watching it for the first time, I was disturbed by the fate of the Abominable Snowman.
What sort of message is this sending to our children? "Hey, kids, if there's a big, scary bully at your school, just push him off a cliff and then yank all of his teeth out with a pair of pliers! Then he will be nice to you and put the star on your Christmas tree."
Good Lord, what sort of conflict resolution is this? Why couldn't Abominable have simply had an impacted wisdom tooth which was making him cranky? Then Herb/mie could have done an exam while he was unconscious and extracted it. This would have demonstrated the elf's skill as a dentist and given us an 'Androcles and the Lion' subplot. Instead, the elf just goes nuts with the pliers and maims Abominable for life; something any sociopathic auto mechanic could have done.
I'll just stick with A Charlie Brown Christmas, thank you. Plus, the music's a lot better.

[mobo85]

Looking at a comment I made a couple years ago, I actually made an error in pinpointing when this special first aired.

The opening credits of the program read, in part, "©Videocraft Int'l Inc. MCLXIV."

I am unsure of the major importance of this, but it obviously means, among other things, that B. Icle Ivanhoe was semi-immortal (it also explains his birth name), and that the Santa Claus legend has existed longer than we ever expected to.

Or it could be a typo. I'm not sure.

[Kat]

It could just be me, but I think it'd be cool to have a Cowboy Riding an Ostrich toy.

[CaptMurdock]

I always thought that the dolls problem was something uder her dress. Perhaps she only wishes she was a doll and was really g.I joe.

[Laughing Lagomorph]

In addition to its other problems, I've always had trouble reconciling the Santa and Mrs. Claus characters as depicted here with the backstory we have on them from Rankin/Bass' Santa Claus is Coming to Town. I mean, is it the same Universe, or not? Mrs. Claus isn't Jewish in that one, and Santa isn't a jerk, although he is Mickey Rooney.

By the way, I think the extra UV light allowed in by the thinning ozone layer over the North Pole casued both Rudolph's (nose) and Fireball's (hair) mutations.

[Skid Row]

Wasn't Frauline Klaus a dead ringer for Mrs. "Blame Canada" Cartman? Perhaps the unhappy marriage in this 938 year old children's classic gave her an anti-cold-weather-northen-nation bias.

"Should we blame the images on TV....."

[Laughing Lagomorph]

Originally posted by Sunshine
Back to the OP...

The doll was misfit because she cried ice cubes instead of tears. (Really!)
...[/i] [/b]

I think you are onto something here.

I have watched this tape about 20 times in the last two weeks (the Little Lagomorph is at that age). I have found at least three instances of other characters crying: Rudolph outside his cave when he is a young one, Charlie-in-the-Box when they first get to the Island, and Rudolph's girlfriend in the Bumble's cave. Notwithstanding mobo85's penetrating analysis of the usual laws of cartoon physics, there are no ice cubes visible in any of the other three cases, but the doll definitely cries ice cubes. The caveat is it might have been colder then...she was crying at night. It might have been considerably warmer in the Bumble's cave, for instance, although it didn't look that cozy.

[a35362]

Originally posted by Nacho4Sara
One last comment: The elf totally pushed him! I specifically recall asking my mom if the bird learned to fly, or did the elf push him. She told me that the elf taught him to fly....

I specifically watched this year to confirm this...it's true!! To be fair, the elf hesitates, apparently thinking the bird must be able to fly (or at least glide?). Maybe he wasn't briefed on the toy's special needs...?

[a35362]

James Lileks's Bleat for Dec. 17th discusses the show and the Misfit Toys. Either he's lurking or "great minds think alike."

"Let's be independent, together!"

(Does anybody know what he's hinting at at the end of the column?)

[kingpengvin]

I have to say that the fact that a horrifying incident of teeth being yanked out by plyers in a short space of time was handled in such a lighthearted manner.

What kind of Dentist was Hermie going to be.

Hermie: "Is it Safe?"

BUMBLE: AAAIIGH!!!

Hermie: Is it Safe?

[Dewey Cheatem Undhow]

Originally posted by Kat
It could just be me, but I think it'd be cool to have a Cowboy Riding an Ostrich toy.

Or a squirt gun that squirted jelly! Hells bells, man, that's an improvement! Sure, you can torture your little sister by squirting her with water, but that cleans up pretty easily. But to squirt her with jelly -- have it seriously fuck up her hair, make it all sticky and hard to brush -- well, that would be perfect. The ultimate torture.

I would have loved a jelly gun when I was a little kid.

[Annie-Xmas]

Bumping this thread is the Great Straight Dope Holiday Tradition.

[Baker]

When is it going to be broadcast this year? Believe it or not, I haven't seen any ads for it.

[Biotop]

Maybe this year someone can answer this question:

Where were Rudolph's parents and Clarice for the several "months" they were out looking for Rudolph?

As you remember, Rudolph returns home to the Reindeer Cave(?) and finds it empty. A forlorn Santa says that "they've been gone for months, out looking for you!"

Granted, they ended up in the Abominable's rather sparse cave, but it doesn't seem possible that the monster could have been toying with them for months.

Also, what happened to the "storm of the century" when they're out delivering the toys? Seems I recall moonlight during Santa's big "Me-e-e-rr-eee Christmas" finale.

[Annie-Xmas]

Originally posted by Baker
When is it going to be broadcast this year? Believe it or not, I haven't seen any ads for it.

Monday December 8th at 8:00 EST on ABC-TV.

[mobo85]

Actually, Tuesday December 9th on CBS-TV, I believe.

[Lux Interior]

I always thought that the dolls problem was something uder her dress. Perhaps she only wishes she was a doll and was really g.I joe.

If she really was a GI Joe, then shw wouldn't have anything under her dress.

Unless GI Joes were antomically correct back in the 60s (or 00s).

[Gyrate]

Another year, another bump.

Having just watched it on the BBC, I have to say that the show gets more and more disturbing every time I see it.

Hermie does indeed seem to deserve his name. Note that every other male elf is completely bald (excluding facial hair), whereas all the female elves have blonde hair. Hermie is the only male elf with blonde hair; therefore, Hermie displays both male and female elven characteristics. Hence, "Hermie".

And an inadvertent MST3K moment: when Rudolph sneaks away from his friends on the Island of Misfit Toys, he leaves the door open.

<Spouse>: Hey! Close the door!
<Me>: Yeah! Were you born in a barn?

<beat>

<raucous laughter>

[NoGoodNamesLeft]

WoW! I had no idea this thread was started 2 years ago when I started reading it!

And in those 2 years nobody has brought up my biggest problem. It's on the Island of Misfit Toys. Ok, so you have:

-Dolly: We're not sure, probably an early interpretation of clinical depression (it would be interesting to find out if any of the original writers had any relatives with depression, hence including it int he show).

-The Train: Square wheels.

-The Elephant: Polks-Dotted.

-The Cowboy / Ostrich.

It's the last 2 that truly bothered the hell out of me.

-The squirt-gun: He shoots jelly. Huh? How 'bout you stop filling him with jelly in the first place! I mean, as a gun he seems quite functional, except the stupid kid he was given to keeps filling him with jelly!

-The Charlie in the box: This one boggles the mind! Just give him a new bloody name for christsake!

Hell, even the train can be fixed easily enough! Sqaure wheels can become circles pretty darn easily. You mean to tell me nobody thought of grinding off the corners??

The Misfit Toys & citizens of the kingdom of Moonracer certainly aren't an industrious folk!

[Weirddave]

I still can't believe nobody ever posted a link to the late, great Brunching Shuttlecocks take on the topic at hand.

[porcupine]

When I was at my friends' Christmas party earlier in the month, we concluded that Mrs. Claus must have had breast reduction. She had big giant hooters in "Santa Claus is Coming to Town," but not so in "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer."

[Eats_Crayons]

Dear Og! Did anyone else get seriously rattled by seeing poohpah's name as the thread-starter?

Gave me quite a start! Took me a sec to realize it was an old thread.

[paperbackwriter]

I had the same WTF? moment when I saw it in the forum list. I think poohpah'd have liked us remembering him attached to a thread like this.

[Eats_Crayons]

I agree, it's kinda nice to be immortalized in a thread that returns once a year. Still, I did a doubletake when I saw it. Startled me a bit.

*raises a glass of egg nog"

Here's to Poohpah!

And as for the thread: I've always loved the Bumble. Pity he wasn't accepted into the community until they maimed him... Destined for a life of apple sauce.

[Nanook]

Mommy, I've got an itchy pussy.

[Sternvogel]

Originally posted by Cabbage
I ask you--Has an ostrish ever been known to soar among the clouds? Has an emu ever flapped from treetop to treetop, sailing through the wind? I think not; a bird, at once without flight, shall always be without flight.

Forget about it, Cabbage. It's Christmas Town.

[NoGoodNamesLeft]

Who is Poohpah and where is he now?

[paperbackwriter]

Originally posted by NoGoodNamesLeft
Who is Poohpah and where is he now?

To avoid hijacking his thread, see here and here.

We now return you to your regularly-scheduled silliness, already in progress.

[Esprix]

Originally posted by Gyrate

Note that every other male elf is completely bald (excluding facial hair), whereas all the female elves have blonde hair. Hermie is the only male elf with blonde hair...

Also note that all the elves have large, distinctively pointed ears - but Hermie's are perfectly normal!

Methinks Hermie was never an elf in the first place...

Esprix, seeing conspiracies, but only because Gingerofthenorth thinks I look like Hermie

[Annie-Xmas]

Making the SDMB Holiday Traditional Bump.

Ken Jennings of Jepardy fame remarked that he's gotten letters from people saying he looks like Hermie.

[jayjay]

Awww...it's like bringing out that family heirloom star to put on top of the tree!

Thanks, Annie!

[FisherQueen]

Of course Santa and the elves are Jewish. Who else is going to be willing to work that hard all night on Christmas Eve?

[jayjay]

Originally Posted by FisherQueen

Of course Santa and the elves are Jewish. Who else is going to be willing to work that hard all night on Christmas Eve?

But what happens when Christmas falls on a Saturday?!

[SkipMagic]

Originally Posted by jayjay

But what happens when Christmas falls on a Saturday?!

FedEx.

[bobkitty]

Originally Posted by SkipMagic

FedEx.

Duh.. Pagans. They're much cheaper.

[jsgoddess]

I thought the doll said at one point that her "flaw" was that she cried real tears.

Humph. I wonder what I'm thinking of.

[voguevixen]

Hallmark has "Rudolph" partyware this season. The dessert plates have Hermie on them - WOOT!

Now if only they'd have Heatmiser and Snowmiser. *sigh*

[mobo85]

Originally Posted by Annie-Xmas

Making the SDMB Holiday Traditional Bump.

Ken Jennings of Jepardy fame remarked that he's gotten letters from people saying he looks like Hermie.

And another useless fact from TV Guide: the voices of Rudolph and Hermey are still alive, and they live in the same retirement home in Toronto and see each other often.

Proudly commemorating the 40th anniversary of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer...
"Corrupting Dopers' minds since 1964"

[C K Dexter Haven]

The Moderator speaketh:
Normally, we really frown on resurrecting old threads. We have recently revised polidy for this forum, to be a bit more lenient in this regard, and I'm going to allow this one to ride. It seems to be a "holiday tradition", so I'll let it stand, even though there's not much "new" being presented.

But I wanted to use this opportunity for the general reminder that we don't really like to have old threads bumped up from the depths. Many of the posters who commented before are no longer around and so not able to defend their opinion, and that's kinda not fair. So, we frown on bumping in general, but we'll allow an exception in this case.

Which also means, I suppose, that bumping up this thread will become an annual seasonal tradition. OK, so be it. But please, please, let's not start bumping up half a dozen old threads or I *will* get pissy about it.

[Annie-Xmas]

Thanks, Dex. Not only is bumping this thread a SDMB Holiday Tradition, it's a great annual tribute to thread starter poohpah chaulpa.

[Biffy the Elephant Shrew]

Originally Posted by spoke-

Where is the evidence that the elf was aware of the bird's "disability"? Isn't it possible that the elf just made the reasonable (if mistaken) assumption that the bird could fly?

If the elf didn't know
You must let him go!

"As God is my witness, I thought toy birds could fly!"

[astorian]

A few years back, the Bob & Tom radio show had a hilarious "Behind the Scenes" documentary about "Rudolph." Yukon Cornelius was "outed" as a homoexual by Charlie the jack-in-the box.

But the best (and saddest) segment was about poor CLarice. TYpecast as a Christmas reindeer, she eventually went the Dana Plato route, becoming a heavy cocaine user and porn star (her most popular titles included "Jingle Balls," "The Little Hummer Boy" and "Santa Claus is Cumming").

Poor Clarice was found dead with a line of (what else?) snow on the table beside her.