USA, NR, 47 m, 1964
A Rankin/Bass masterpiece that speaks to the misfit in all of us. Rudolph was conceived for a Montgomery Ward promotional campaign by employee Robert L. May in 1939, and then served as the inspiration for a song written by May’s brother-in-law, Johnny Marks, which was performed by Gene Autry on a hit single in 1949. That song’s wisp of a story has been fleshed out here by Rankin and Bass’s favorite scribe, Romeo Muller, and he gives our shiny-schnozed hero a host of vivid characters to play off of: Bumble, a snow monster with a blood-curdling roar and razor-sharp teefs (he just might’ve served as inspiration for the wampa in The Empire Strikes Back); Hermey, an elf (with uncharacteristically round ears) who longs to be a dentist (voiced by Paul Soles, who more recently played Danny the janitor in Frank Oz’s meat-and-potatoes caper flick The Score); Sam the Snowman, our sparkly-eyed, banjo-strumming narrator (the one and only Burl Ives); and King Moonracer, a winged lion reminiscent of Aslan from The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. Moonracer resides over the Island of Misfit Toys, which gives sanctuary to a polka-dotted stuffed elephant, a Charlie-in-the-box, a jelly-squirting water gun (!), and so on. Truth be told, I would’ve been happy owning any one of these toys when I was a kid. Maybe it’s because I was something of a misfit myself, and could identify all too well with Rudolph and his posse of ostracized oddballs. (I still feel their pain.) Like Santa Claus is Comin' to Town, this one has lots of great musical numbers. Also recommended: Rudolph’s Shiny New Year and Rudolph and Frosty’s Christmas in July. © Copyright 2007 by Edward Larsen Terkelsen. All rights reserved.
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