Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer - The Original TV Classic: Amazon.ca: Billie Mae Richards, Burl Ives, Paul Soles, Larry D. Mann, Stan Francis, Paul Kligman, Janis Orenstein, Alfie Scopp, Carl Banas, Corinne Conley, Peg Dixon, Kizo Nagashima, Larry Roemer, Arthur Rankin Jr., Jules Bass, Robert May, Romeo Muller: DVD

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This classic 1964 television special featuring Rudolph and his misfit buddies set the standard for stop-motion animation for an entire generation before Tim Burton darkly reinvented it in the early 1990s. Burl Ives narrates as Sam the Snowman, telling and singing the story of a rejected reindeer who overcomes prejudice and saves Christmas one particularly blustery year. Along the way, he meets an abundance of unforgettable characters: his dentally obsessed elf pal Herbie; the affable miner Yukon Cornelius and his motley crew of puppies; the scary/adorable Abominable Snow Monster; a legion of abandoned, but still chatty, toys; and a rather grouchy Santa. In addition to the title song that inspired it, this 53-minute tape is crammed with catchy tunes such as "Silver and Gold" and "Holly Jolly Christmas." Those who grew up looking forward to watching Rudolph every Christmas season will undoubtedly be able to recite the quotable quotes ("I'm cuuuute. She said I'm cuuuute." "Herbie doesn't like to make toys.") as well as any Casablanca cult audience. --Kimberly Heinrichs

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Customer Reviews

68 Reviews

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Average Customer Review

4.7 out of 5 stars (68 customer reviews)

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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars Bad DVD - Good Story, Dec 2 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Rudolph/Red-Nosed Reindeer (DVD)

We've all seen Rudolph many many times. There is no argument the story is very good. My not-so-good review has to do with this dvd itself. Picture quality is very poor. You'd probably have a better picture just taping the special off tv and watching it on VHS. Many specks, lines and dull color. Also the DVD says you get 135 minutes. The actual movie is not even an hour and you get only 15 minutes worth of features - the Fame and Fortune Song, Arthur Rankin, and a tv promo. They also advertise on the box that there is a spanish version on the dvd which is useless to those of us not speaking spanish - they must be counting the spanish version in the 135 minutes which is wrong because other dvd's with other languages don't count that in the minutes. Guess, I thought I was getting more here than I got. With the other Rankin Bass dvds you get bonus at least one bonus Christmas story. Not here. Wish I would've passed on this one and just played my old VHS tape - which is better than this. I would suggest holding off on purchasing this one and what for a remastered one to come on the market in a few years - this was a disappointment.

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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars The deservedly beloved 1964 Bass-Rakin television show, Dec 2 2003

By

Lawrance M. Bernabo (The Zenith City, Duluth, Minnesota) - See all my reviews
(TOP 50 REVIEWER) (HALL OF FAME)

This review is from: Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer (VHS Tape)

In just telling the story in the song "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" would make for a decent enough animated holiday television show. But where the 1964 production from Jules Bass and Arthur Rankin Jr. achieved greatness was in the creativeness it showed with the supporting cast. The story is narrated by Sam the Snowman, voiced by Burl Ives (who sang the second most popular version of the song after Gene Autry's orignal), and Rudolph (Billie Mae Richards) becomes friends with both Hermey (Paul Soles), the elf who marches to his own drummer, and Yukon Cornelius (Larry D. Mann), the prospector. However, the most unforgettable characters in this story are the toys from the Island of Misfit Toys: Charlie-in-the-Box, the Spotted Elephant, and the others, along with their leader, King Moonracer.

The result is a much deeper version of the story than was even hinted at in the lyrics of Johnny Marks' classic Christmas song. We all now how the story is going to end on that foggy Christmas eve, so it is everything leading up to that fateful night that is where this story gets its deserved reputation as Rudolph is not the only one who ends up having their life take a turn for the better, as even the Abominable Snowman finds he can put the finishing touches on a perfect Christmas. Besides, how often does a dentist get to be the hero in a Christmas story?

Bass-Rankin took at similar approach in 1970 with "Santa Claus is Comin' to Town," and while that animated holiday show is pretty good and worth watching each Christmas season, this one is better. If you have been in a store and seen the looks of pure delight on people's faces when they see the line of toy figures associated with "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer," then you already know this. Hard to believe this particular "Rudolph" will enjoy its fortieth anniversary next year.

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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars Buyer beware: lousy picture quality!, Nov 27 2003

By

Tom Anderson (Piney Flats, Tennessee United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)

This review is from: Rudolph/Red-Nosed Reindeer (DVD)

Anyone who is reading these reviews will have seen the TV production and know it inside out; therefore I will limit my review to the DVD picture quality--or rather, the lack of it.

It's a shame that what used to be a beautiful and memorable TV film has become a battered, faded-out shadow of its former self. It is painful to see something that holds a special place in your heart be treated so shabbily. For years the only version that millions had seen on TV had such faded color and low contrast that it practically looked like it was shot in black and white! If that is what you are used to, the
"restored" version on this DVD (and the one shown on TV the last 3 or 4 years) does look marginally better, but it is hardly restored. One only has to look at a deleted song in the extras section to see how beautiful and glowing the original production was: sharp, clear, pristine, with highly saturated colors. The time and money SHOULD have been spent to bring the rest of the film up to this standard. It is morally wrong to put a defective product on the marketplace, then have the nerve to charge money for it. As many of our parents probably told us when we were youngsters, "Anything worth doing is worth doing right!"

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Most recent customer reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Rudolph
You have to Love this one...
It has it all!

Except some technical/realizm issues all of which makes it a classic too.

Published on Mar 3 2010 by S. Shurvin

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic!
This product arrived on time and in perfect condition. I was very glad to receive this promptly over the holiday season!

Published on Jan 7 2010 by M Rich