Rudolph has to find the missing Happy, the big-eared Baby New Year, prior to the end of New Year's Eve or else the old year will go on indefinitely. Rudolph is assisted in his desperate mission by friendly whale Big Ben, cheery caveman One Million (O.M. for short), noble knight Sir Ten-To-Three, and the amiable Ben Franklynesque Seventeen Seventy Six. Meanwhile, evil monster bird Eon the Terrible wants to get his nasty claws on Happy so he can live forever. This really sweet and delightful holiday television special boasts the usual appealing attributes which make these shows by Jules Bass and Arthur Rankin, Jr. so utterly charming and irresistible: a catchy and jaunty soundtrack of infectiously bouncy songs, a giddy, upbeat tone, cool stop-motion animation, likable and colorful characters, an amusing sense of gentle good-natured humor, and an engrossingly simple and straightforward story. Red Skelton makes for a warm and folksy narrator as Father Time. In addition, marvelous voice actor supreme Paul Frees lends his glorious golden throat to Eon, Seventeen Seventy Six, Santa Claus, and clockwork soldier General Ticker. The other cast members voice their roles with tremendous hearty aplomb: Billie Mae Richards as eternal optimist Rudolph, Frank Gorshin as Sir Ten-To-Three, Morey Amsterdam as One Million, Harold Peary as Big Ben, and Don Messick as the grumpy Papa Bear. A total treat.
Review of Rudolph's Shiny New Year
Rudolph's Shiny New Year
(1976 TV Movie)
A typically charming holiday TV special by Rankin/Bass
2 December 2007
Warning: Spoilers