Arathorn. Hermey was a VERY deep cover backup scion, just in case Aragorn screwed the pooch.
One thing we have failed to discuss in the fifteen years of this thread is the deplorable living conditions of the Polar Eskimo as portrayed in the Rudolph special.
Santa’s Castle is the only Castle in the area according to Sam the Snowman. He even makes a point of saying the “only castle” in a sort of snide inside joke way as if “of course we all know that no one else at the North Pole would have a castle.” We also know Moonracer lives in a castle, and since our heroes reached that Island castle in two day’s travel, it really couldn’t be more than (very liberally) eighty miles away considering the only means of travel were foot (the first night), dog sled (the second day) and drifting iceberg (the second night).
So the area has the “Haves” (Santa, Moonracer) and the “Have-Nots” (everyone else). We can assume the elves live below the castle in a sort of Upstairs/Downstairs scenario. I can even see the Head Elf as sort of like Carson from Downton Abbey — a butler trying to keep order and the elves in their proper roles. The domestic animals live in caves, as does the Bumble.
The only human characters other than Yukon and possibly Ms Claus that we see are two Eskimos. They are shown living in a cramped igloo that is more of a turtle shell than a home. When the big storm hits, the poor Eskimos have their crude shelter blown away and they are tossed pell-mell into the elements. When this happens we see that they had owned nothing inside their home at all. It was but a place to huddle and try to survive. Once can sadly imagine their fate after this weather tragedy: hypothermia and a slow death.
While I am all for toy distribution, perhaps if Santa was a bit more concerned about the Homefront then at least these Eskimos might have had a decent home. Nothing fancy was needed; just at least something as nice as the spartan cabin on the Island of Misfit Toys. That everyone from Santa and Sam to the elves and Moonracer seem to care nothing about the actual adult humans trying to eke out an existence in their midst is sad. it says something deeply troubling about Santa and Rankin/Bass. And because we have let it go these fifteen years, I am not sure it says anything much better about us.
What are you, some kind of Yuletide Communist?
By the way, I just read the entire thread from start to finish (pheww) and I have only one question,
Is it “Hermey” or “Herby” ?
Yes
So, wait. Sam was a real person, and the hat turned him into a snowman? Maybe there’s some karmic punishment after all!
[nitpick] The misfit toys are not wrapped. They are umbrellaed down without Santa even troubling with the chimney much less colorful paper and ribbon. It is almost as if the misfit toys are not worth the bother of an actual stop. [/nitpick]
A really sad thought there. The unloved toy would end up having to be picked up by the lion again, and toted back to the Island to wait for another Christmas. I imagine such a toy might become quite bitter having to do a second turn on the IOMT.
I wonder what the rate of recidivism is for those poor morose toys. Probably high, unfortunately.
Watching, for the first time in many years, “Santa Claus Is Coming to Town” the other night, I was struck by the fact that, just as in “Rudolph” and “The Year without a Santa Claus”, a significant part of the suspense was over the danger of the kids not receiving presents; due, respectively, to illegality, bad weather, and the big guy’s depression over decreasing belief among children.
How about that?
Arlo Guthrie singing:
Let’s get Santa Clause 'cause;
Santa Clause has a red suit
He’s a communist
And a beard, and long hair
Must be a pacifist
What’s in the pipe that he’s smoking?
Mister Clause sneaks in your home at night.
He must be a dope fiend, to put you up tight
Why do police guys beat on peace guys?
I think it is pretty obvious that Hermey is the bastard child of Santa and one of the girl elves.
“King Moonracer flies all over the world every night, and when finds a toy that no boy or girl loves, he bring back here, and sells it on EBay.”
I never understood how there could be this giant Abomnible snowmen living right next to a “modern” castle.
Also the scene where Rudolph is learning to fight off predators - what predators? Are there wolves or bears up there also?
So part of this Santa land is wilderness and part of it is civilized?
Finally it was funny how Sam the Snowman made a cameo appearance in “Elf”.
Regarding the above in bold, Santa’s is the only castle on the LEFT. It’s entirely possible there are acres of McCastles on the RIGHT.
(Awesome post that had me rolling. :D)
Unless there was another snowman in Elf…the Elf snowman looked like Leon Redbone (who also provided the voice). In both cases the snowmen looked like the guy who did their voice – and Leon Redbone and Burl Ives both had facial hair.
This time around I was struck by how awful a song “There’s Always Tomorrow” is.
We all pretend,
The rainbow has an end,
And you’ll be there my friend someday.
What the hell does that mean?
It’s like they decided that they needed a romantic ballad right at this point in the story. It has no bearing on the plot, and the lyrics are just a word salad.
It means “Believe in your dreams come what may”, of course; whether your days are happy and sunny or sad and rainy. Because Rudolf the Red knows rain, Dear.
And no love for the bunnies and raccoons on backing vocals? I’d call that display of improvised harmony probably the best I’ve seen from any ad-hoc singing group of forest-dwelling rodents, ever.
Or top 5, at the very least.
If Rudolph and his Dad can fly, want are they scared of the Snow Monster?
Birds can fly but they are afraid of cats. Same thing.
I feel like I check out SDMB fairly often, yet somehow I completely missed the annual resurrection of this thread. As usual, I’m struck by how many trenchant points continue to be made after 15 years of discussing a half hour children’s program.
I imagine a young mother who twenty-five years earlier had buried a rag doll in the back of her closet because a schoolmate told her that red haired dolls were disguised witches and would bring a curse on her and her whole family. Years later the family moved to a new house, and she remembered still feeling a little creepy clearing out her closet, a feeling that had only increased when she found the doll had mysteriously disappeared. Many more years intervened bringing puberty, college, the beginnings of a career, and five years ago marriage to the man of her dreams. Although the doll still occasionally haunted her nightmares, her memories of it had mostly faded. That is, until that one fateful, foggy Christmas morning. She came downstairs to watch her twin daughters open their presents, and saw … it. The same benighted doll from all those years ago just sitting at the foot of the tree, wearing an evil grin and holding an umbrella. The coffee mug dropped from the woman’s nerveless fingers as a scream tore through the tranquil winter morning.
Best post in this thread.