Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer & the Island of Misfit Toys (2001) (V)

User Rating:

4.5/10   

Director:

William R. Kowalchuk Jr.

Writer:

Michael Aschner (written by)

Release Date:

30 October 2001 (USA)

Genre:

Animation | Family | Musical | Comedy

Plot:

When the Evil Toy Taker takes all of Santa's toys, it's up to Rudolph and his friends Hermey, Yukon Cornelius and the Abominable Snowman "Bumbles" to stop him and bring Christmas to the children of the world. |

Plot Keywords:

Toy | Christmas | Teddy Bear | Blimp | Dentist

Awards:

5 nominations

Cast

Richard Dreyfuss	...	Scoop the Snowman (Narrator) (voice)
Jamie Lee Curtis	...	Queen Camilla (voice)
Rick Moranis	...	The Toy Taker / Mr. Cuddles the Teddy Bear (voice) (as Richard Moranis)
Kathleen Barr	...	Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer / Mrs. Claus / Dolly / Peggy the Pig / Female Cardinal / Tooth Fairy / Rocking Horse / Adina (voice)
Scott McNeil	...	Hermey the Elf, D.D.S / Boomerang / Yukon Cornelius / Coach Comet / Duck (voice)
Gary Chalk	...	Santa Claus / Bumble (voice) (as Garry Chalk)
Elizabeth Carol Savenkoff	...	Clarice (voice)
Colin Murdock	...	King Moonracer / Reindeer #1 (voice)
Peter Kelamis	...	Elf Foreman (voice)
Brent Miller	...	Hank (voice)
Lee Tockar	...	Charlie in the Box / Windup Mouse / Gingerbread Guard (voice)
Terry Klassen	...	Telephone / Dizzy Top (voice)
Alec Willows	...	Kite / Additional Voices (voice)
Don Brown	...	Toy Taker's Vocal Effects (voice)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Bruce Roberts	...	The Toy Taker's Singing Voice, Mr. Cuddles's Singing Voice (voice)

Also Known As:

Rudolph & the Island of Misfit Toys

Runtime:

74 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Canada:G (Manitoba/Quebec) | USA:Unrated | Finland:K-3 | Iceland:L | Australia:G | Germany:o.Al. | UK:U

Company:

Goodtimes Entertainment

Trivia:

Kathleen Barr, who is the voice of Rudolph in this movie, also did the voice of Grown Up Rudolph in _Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer: The Movie (1998) (V)_.

Quotes:

King Moonracer: Don't tell me I need a root canal.
Hermey the Elf, D.D.S: You need a root canal.
King Moonracer: I asked you not to tell me that.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Another Gay Sequel: Gays Gone Wild! (2008)

Soundtrack:

The Best Christmas Ever

Some good ideas, but has glaring execution problems

This story could have been better. It seems well intentioned, especially the back story of Cuddles, and tries to offer a nice message. Technical blunders are so numerous, however, you could have a parlor game while watching this to see who can spot the most goofs.

The computer graphic animation is grossly cheap and awkwardly done to the extent it's actually distracting. Characters do not cast shadows. The size perspective of objects is not consistent. Colors are irregular. Movements by characters appear robotic. This last problem is actually cute when you see it in the stop-motion clay-mation of the original classic Rudolph, but it looks weird here. Even though there is effort to reconstruct the characters faithfully to their original design, the overall quality of visuals simply stink.

It tries to give us an update on each of the characters we met in the original, and to some extent, succeeds. Glaring problems exist with Rudolph's personal life though. Instead of getting older since Rudolph's original cartoon adventure took place, he and girl friend Clarisse have apparently been shrinking from young adults to about middle school age (whatever that is for reindeer!). Also, Rudolph has angst about being famous. Why? A "toy taker" rips off the North Pole toy cache, and it's up to Rudolph to catch the thief. On the way, he runs into a loud toy-repairing hippo who offers to zap his red nose into a normal color. Well, OK. Oh, and everybody sings a lot, but the songs are truly forgettable. The voice talents are successful at making the characters sound like they did in the 1964 cartoon.

Had potential, and even the confused production offers a few moments. Overall, this is a very long endeavor, especially for the smaller children.