Rudolph the Red knows rain, dear

[vovat]

Today, we'll look at the Christmas special that teaches us not to be prejudiced, because a freakish nose can sometimes come in handy. Maybe somebody should have told that to Ashlee Simpson. This post isn't about shitty pop stars' even shittier siblings, though, but about the most famous Rankin-Bass stop-motion holiday classic of all, Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer.

Rudolph was an important part of my childhood, as I'm sure it was for many of the rest of you. I didn't watch much TV as a kid, which didn't really bother me at the time, but now makes me a little disappointed that I can't keep up with discussions of Thundercats or Transformers with other members of my generation. Rudolph, though, was something I caught whenever I could, which back then meant once a year. And if I may offer some mostly obvious comments on it:

• The title screen identifies the special as "(c) Videocraft Intl'. Ltd. MCLXIV." Yes, that's right, they apparently filed the copyright in 1164, which would have been quite a feat. Does that mean it's now in the public domain? {g}
  
• One thing that's always stuck with me about this is Mrs. Claus's obsession with fattening up her husband. "Papa! Eat!"
  
• I'm still not sure why they decided to have Rudolph's nose make obnoxious noises when it's glowing.
  
• Although the does are shown without antlers, female reindeer actually do have them, leading some people to speculate that the Ceryneian Hind of the Hercules myth could be a reindeer.
  
• There must be some kind of story behind the tall, nerdy elf, who's the only one besides Hermie and the boss not to look like a generic male or female elf. The fact that he has glasses suggests that, even though the North Pole doesn't have any dentists prior to Hermie, it presumably does have an optometrist.
  
• The Misfit Toys (whom I usually forget about until they actually appear) really run the gamut from hardly having anything wrong with them (the polka-dotted elephant) to totally messed up (the train with square wheels). The doll doesn't appear to have a problem at all, but according to the IMDB trivia page, she's there because she suffers from depression. Maybe some other misfit elf can become a toy psychiatrist, and get her some Prozac. And speaking of misfit toys, I wonder if any of those cannibalistic Cabbage Patch Kids ever ended up on that island.
  
• That same trivia page says that Rudolph and Hermie sang a song other than "Misfits" back when I was a kid, but I can't say I remember that.
  
• Okay, so Hermie removes the Bumble's teeth, thereby eliminating him as a threat to Arctic society. But what does he eat after that? Does Yukon Cornelius have to feed him through a giant straw?
  

All that nerdiness aside, though, this is something that's still worth watching after all these years. And speaking of Rudolph, you know how kids always like to yell out "like a lightbulb" and other such things after the lines of the song? Well, which interjections did you learn as a kid? For me, it was "like a lightbulb," "like a flashlight," "like Pinocchio," "like Monopoly," "ho ho ho," "yippee," and "like George Washington," in that order. Yeah, I know the "Pinocchio" one makes no sense, and I can't imagine caribou playing Monopoly, but those are what my elementary school music teacher said they were. Were they different for anybody else?

And, on a different topic, here's the infamous first-sentence-of-every-month meme:

January: It's New Year's Day, and I'm at home using the computer.
February: QUOTE OF THE DAY: "I'm not saying I'm Leonardo da Vinci. I'm probably closer to Leonardo DiCaprio, in musical terms." --Andy Partridge

So, after months of intending to move my web page but not quite getting around to it, I finally went ahead and did it.
March: I've now read 182 pages of Toto of Oz, which is twenty-two chapters out of thirty.
April: On Thursday night, bethje and I watched Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price.
May: I guess I'll start this post by mentioning that I finished John Swartzwelder's Double Wonderful a few days ago.
June: There are several political issues related to the current crop of presidential candidates that I wanted to get off my chest, so I figured I might as well combine them all into one post.
July: This past weekend, while not particularly eventful, did include a few things that I thought I should mention.
August: I'm sure we all know that rock music is an invention of the Devil.
September: Last night, bethje and I saw Rob Zombie's remake of Halloween, which was pretty good.
October: And finally, here's my long-promised second post on licensed video games.
November: As you probably know, some mysterious and anonymous benefactor gave me a paid account last year for my birthday.
December: bethje bought tickets for Dorothea and me to see Michaels Ian Black and Showalter at the Fillmore at the TLA at the Station at the Border at the Black Hole at the Center of the Universe on Friday night.


Finally, happy belated birthday to majellen!

Comments

[arfies.livejournal.com]

The version I have taped of "Rudolph" from 1992 has Hermie and Rudolph singing "Fame and Fortune," and when the restored version came out years later, they cut that song and put back in "Misfits," which was apparently ditched after 1964 since the sponsor wanted another song (which is where "Fame and Fortune" came in). I was weirded out. I downloaded both versions, though.

Rudolph's nose noise scared me.

[vovat.livejournal.com]

Yeah, since they used "Fame And Fortune" until 1998, it must be what I heard when I was a kid. That doesn't mean I remember it, though.

Rudolph's nose noise scared me.

I would think that would bother everyone more than the glowing does.

[obsessical.livejournal.com]

I don't remember all the things we shouted out, but I distinctly remember he went down in history "Like Lincoln."

BECAUSE LINCOLN IS MORE BAD ASS.

[vovat.livejournal.com]

Can't argue with that. He was taller, and had a beard and a stovepipe hat. All Washington had going for him were a powdered wig and false teeth.

[punterschlagen.livejournal.com]

I'm sorry to say that the "additional" lines for Rudolph have deteriorated to bathroom humor among the elementary music classes I've taught in recent years. Santa is now reported to have said, "Where's my underwear?"

Which makes no sense anyway. Oh well.

[vovat.livejournal.com]

I remember my brother telling me that some kids said that Santa was talking "in his underwear," which might be a bit crude, but still makes sense. I'm guessing "Where's my underwear?" was a corruption of that.

[onib.livejournal.com]

When the Rudolph song got to the "You would even say it glows" line, my brother always loved to yell out, "like a ghost!"

[arfies.livejournal.com]

Reindeer, like a light bulb, saw it, like a light bulb (or "like an Indiglo"), reindeer, like Pinocchio, Rudolph, like Monopoly, Ho Ho Ho (or "in his underwear"), loved him, Yippee, reindeer, like George Washington.

Pretty much the same.

[vovat.livejournal.com]

Yeah, that was what we said, although I don't remember anyone ever mentioning Indiglo.

[rockinlibrarian.livejournal.com]

I never really got into the "Rudolph" show even though everyone else in the world around me seemed to. I think the stop-motion freaked me out too much.

I personally always skipped yelling anything out after "very shiny nose" and saved "like a lightbulb" for after "glows." I didn't like the way "flashlight" sounded. Oh, I remember, I just repeated "shiny nose" for the first, and saved lightbulb for the second. Also I occasionally heard "Columbus" instead of "George Washington." I being the passive wuss I am would always just let whoever I was singing with take a slight lead there and join in once I figured out what they were going to say.

[vovat.livejournal.com]

I never really got into the "Rudolph" show even though everyone else in the world around me seemed to. I think the stop-motion freaked me out too much.

It is a little weird at times, especially when they show someone reacting strongly to something. What do you think of Claymation?

I don't think I'd ever heard Columbus used in "Rudolph." I still say Lincoln is probably the coolest choice, since he freed slaves, rather than making them.