''Rudolph's Shiny New Year'' is a 1976 Christmas and New Year's

stop motion Stop-motion (also known as stop frame animation) is an animated filmmaking and special effects technique in which objects are physically manipulated in small increments between individually photographed frames so that they will appear to exh ...

animated television special and a

standalone sequel A sequel is a work of literature, film, theatre, television, music, or video game that continues the story of, or expands upon, some earlier work. In the common context of a narrative work of fiction, a sequel portrays events set in the same ...

to the 1964 special ''

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer is a fictional reindeer created by Robert L. May. Rudolph is usually depicted as the ninth and youngest of Santa Claus's reindeer, using his luminous red nose to lead the reindeer team and guide Santa's sleigh on C ...

'' produced by

Rankin/Bass Productions Rankin/Bass Animated Entertainment (founded and formerly known as Videocraft International, Ltd. and Rankin/Bass Productions, Inc.) was an American production company located in New York City. It was known for its seasonal television specials, ...

. The special premiered on ABC on December 10, 1976.

Plot

Just after the events of ''

'',

Santa Claus Santa Claus (also known as Saint Nicholas, Saint Nick, Father Christmas, Kris Kringle or Santa) is a legendary figure originating in Western Christian culture who is said to bring gifts during the late evening and overnight hours on Chris ...

receives a letter from his friend

Father Time Father Time is a personification of time, in particular the progression of history and the approach of death. In recent centuries, he is usually depicted as an elderly bearded man, sometimes with wings, dressed in a robe and carrying a scythe ...

asking for help to find Happy the Baby New Year before midnight ("the 12th bong") on New Year's Eve or else it will be December 31 forever. Santa sends Rudolph out to find him due to the snowstorm currently happening outside. An evil giant vulture named Eon the Terrible is supposed to live for exactly one eon after which he will turn into ice and snow and disintegrate. As this particular eon will end January 1 of the New Year, he plans to kidnap Happy to keep the year from ending and stop time, thus preventing his predestined death. General Ticker (a military clock) and the great Quarter-Past-Five, or Quart for short (a camel with a clock in his hump), bring Rudolph to Father Time's castle beyond the Sands of Time. Father Time speculates that Happy, who ran away due to his big ears being laughed at when they were first seen by Nanny Nine O'Clock, is hiding out in the "

Archipelago An archipelago ( ), sometimes called an island group or island chain, is a chain, cluster, or collection of islands. An archipelago may be in an ocean, a sea, or a smaller body of water. Example archipelagos include the Aegean Islands (the o ...

of Last Years" where the Old Years retire and rule over an island styled to resemble the year over which they ruled. When Rudolph is attacked by Eon on the ocean while en route to the archipelago, he is saved by Big Ben (a

sperm whale The sperm whale or cachalot (''Physeter macrocephalus'') is the largest of the toothed whales and the largest toothed predator. It is the only living member of the Genus (biology), genus ''Physeter'' and one of three extant species in the s ...

with a clock attached to his tail) who transports Rudolph across the ocean. Upon arrival in the archipelago, Rudolph first travels to the island belonging to a

caveman The caveman is a stock character representative of primitive humans in the Paleolithic. The popularization of the type dates to the early 20th century, when Neanderthals were influentially described as " simian" or " ape-like" by Marcellin B ...

named O.M. (short for One Million B.C.). O.M. inhabits an island anachronistically-inhabited with friendly dinosaurs and other prehistoric creatures. As Rudolph and his friends search for Happy (who left after his hat accidentally fell off saving a baby Pterodactyl and revealing his big ears, causing the dinosaurs to laugh), they repeatedly encounter Eon. After other off-screen visits to the islands of 4000 B.C., 1492, 1893, and 1965 have been completed without success, Rudolph and O.M. head for the island of 1023 (pronounced "ten to three," as in the time 2:50), belonging to a Scottish

knight A knight is a person granted an honorary title of a knighthood by a head of state (including the pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church, or the country, especially in a military capacity. The concept of a knighthood ...

with a long beard named Sir 1023 whose island is filled with

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...

trappings along with several

fairy tale A fairy tale (alternative names include fairytale, fairy story, household tale, magic tale, or wonder tale) is a short story that belongs to the folklore genre. Such stories typically feature magic, enchantments, and mythical or fanciful bei ...

and

Mother Goose Mother Goose is a character that originated in children's fiction, as the imaginary author of a collection of French fairy tales and later of English nursery rhymes. She also appeared in a song, the first stanza of which often functions now as ...

characters. Meanwhile, Happy manages to befriend the Three Bears, but becomes saddened when he is forced to remove his hat while playing a game with Baby Bear and exposes his big ears to them, causing him to leave again despite Baby Bear begging him not to go. The group then travels to the island of 1776, which reflects

Colonial America The colonial history of the United States covers the period of European colonization of North America from the late 15th century until the unifying of the Thirteen British Colonies and creation of the United States in 1776, during the Re ...

and is ruled over by "Sev" (AKA 1776) who resembles

Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin (April 17, 1790) was an American polymath: a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher and Political philosophy, political philosopher.#britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the m ...

. Following Happy's seeming rejection on the Island of 1776 following the daily Independence Day parade, Eon kidnaps him and takes him to his lair on the Island of No-Name which is said to be located "due north of the North Pole". The group now leaves the archipelago in pursuit. Catching up to Eon, they attempt to rescue Happy. However, Eon (upon being awakened by the sound of O.M. tumbling) thwarts them by sending an avalanche down on the group and trapping them inside giant snowballs. Managing to melt his way free using his nose, Rudolph climbs up to Eon's nest where he finds Happy, who refuses to leave. Rudolph shows Happy his nose and tells him his own story of being bullied because of his nonconformity before asking Happy to let him see his ears. Happy does so, and Rudolph, like everyone else before him, laughs at the sight. Happy once again gets upset, but Rudolph explains that the sight of Happy's ears had made him feel so wonderful that he had to laugh out loud, just like it had done with everyone else. With this declaration, Happy shouts out with joy, but causes Eon to awaken. Rudolph quickly tells Happy to take off his hat and leave it off for good. At the sight of Happy's large ears, Eon bursts into uncontrollable laughter which sends him tumbling down the side of the mountain and into the three remaining snowballs, freeing O.M., 1023, and Sev. Rudolph realizes that Eon is now so full of warmth and happiness that it would be impossible for him to turn to ice and snow. Santa arrives and the gang returns to Father Time's castle with Happy just before the 12th bong starts the New Year, which is designated "19-Wonderful".

Archipelago of Last Years

When the old year has been retired, they settle on an island in the

of Last Years where time remains still on that island. Among the islands of the Archipelago of Last Years are: * 1,000,000 B.C. Island: Represented as a prehistoric, anachronistic island that consists of friendly dinosaurs, other prehistoric creatures, and cavepeople living together. One Million, also known as "O.M.", lives here. * 4,000 B.C. Island: Rudolph mentions that its inhabitants wanted to only build

pyramids A pyramid () is a Nonbuilding structure, structure whose visible surfaces are triangular in broad outline and converge toward the top, making the appearance roughly a Pyramid (geometry), pyramid in the geometric sense. The base of a pyramid ca ...

. This would be in real life approximately one millennium before the first Nile River valley pyramid known as Adjib's Tomb was built. * 1023 Island: Represented as a medieval island inhabited by

characters. Father Time states that the year of 1023 was when all the well-known fairy tales and

nursery rhymes A nursery rhyme is a traditional poem or song for children in Britain and other European countries, but usage of the term dates only from the late 18th/early 19th century. The term Mother Goose rhymes is interchangeable with nursery rhymes. Fro ...

actually happened. Sir 1023, also known as "Ten-to-Three", lives here. * 1492 Island: Rudolph mentions that the people on that island were "too busy discovering things" to talk to Rudolph and O.M. The first voyage of Christopher Columbus took place that year. * 1776 Island: Represented as a Colonial American island that celebrates

American Independence Day Independence Day, known colloquially as the Fourth of July, is a federal holiday in the United States which commemorates the ratification of the Declaration of Independence by the Second Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, establishing th ...

on a daily basis. 1776, also known as "Sev", lives here. * 1893 Island: Rudolph mentions that the inhabitants have never heard of Happy. 1893 marked the beginning of a major economic depression in the Western Hemisphere known as the

Panic of 1893 The Panic of 1893 was an economic depression in the United States. It began in February 1893 and officially ended eight months later. The Panic of 1896 followed. It was the most serious economic depression in history until the Great Depression of ...

. * 1965 Island: Rudolph stated that island was "too noisy" to search for Happy. "Noisy" world events of 1965 included

Beatlemania Beatlemania was the fanaticism surrounding the English rock band the Beatles from 1963 to 1966. The group's popularity grew in the United Kingdom in late 1963, propelled by the singles " Please Please Me", "From Me to You" and " She Loves Yo ...

(and other

British Invasion The British Invasion was a cultural phenomenon of the mid-1960s, when Rock music, rock and pop music acts from the United Kingdom and other aspects of Culture of the United Kingdom, British culture became popular in the United States with sign ...

-related hysteria) as well as the growing

opposition to United States involvement in the Vietnam War Opposition to United States involvement in the Vietnam War began in 1965 with demonstrations against the escalating role of the United States in the Vietnam War, United States in the war. Over the next several years, these demonstrations grew ...

Cast

Red Skelton Richard Bernard Skelton (July 18, 1913September 17, 1997) was an American entertainer best known for his national old-time radio, radio and television shows between 1937 and 1971, especially as host of the television program ''The Red Skelto ...

as: **

(Narrator) ** Baby Bear * Billie Mae Richards as Rudolph *

Morey Amsterdam Moritz Amsterdam (December 14, 1908 – October 28, 1996) was an American actor, comedian, writer and producer. Between 1948 and 1950, he hosted his own TV sitcom ''The Morey Amsterdam Show''. He played Buddy Sorrell on CBS's ''The Dick V ...

as One Million BC *

Frank Gorshin Frank John Gorshin Jr. (April 5, 1933 – May 17, 2005) was an American actor, comedian and impressionist. He made many guest appearances on television variety and talk shows, including '' The Ed Sullivan Show'', '' Tonight Starring Steve Allen' ...

as Sir 1023 *

Paul Frees Solomon Hersh Frees (June 22, 1920November 2, 1986), better known as Paul Frees, was an American actor, comedian, impressionist, and vaudevillian. He is known for his work on Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Walter Lantz, Rankin/Bass and Walt Disney the ...

as: ** 1776 (AKA "Sev") **

** General Ticker ** Eon the Terrible **

Humpty Dumpty Humpty Dumpty is a character in an English nursery rhyme, probably originally a riddle, and is typically portrayed as an anthropomorphic egg, though he is not explicitly described as such. The first recorded versions of the rhyme date from ...

** The Great Quarter Past Five (AKA "Quart") *

Don Messick Donald Earle Messick (September 7, 1926 – October 24, 1997) was an American voice actor, known for his performances in Hanna-Barbera cartoons. His best-remembered voice roles include Scooby-Doo; Bamm-Bamm Rubble and Hoppy in ''The Flintsto ...

as: ** Papa Bear **

Rumpelstiltskin "Rumpelstiltskin" ( ; ) is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm in the 1812 edition of ''Children's and Household Tales''. The story is about an imp who spins straw into gold in exchange for a woman's firstborn child. Plot I ...

Prince Charming Prince Charming is a fairy tale stock character archetype who comes to the rescue of a damsel in distress and must engage in a quest to liberate her from an evil spell. This classification suits most heroes of a number of traditional folk tales ...

Seven Dwarfs The Seven Dwarfs are fictional dwarfs in the 1812 fairy tale '' Snow White'' by the Brothers Grimm and other renditions and adaptations. History The Seven Dwarfs live in a tiny cottage and work in the nearby mines. Snow White stumbles upon thei ...

* Harold Peary as Big Ben the Whale * Iris Rainer as: ** Mama Bear ** Nanny Nine O'Clock ** Happy the Baby New Year

Songs

* "The Moving Finger Writes" * "Turn Back the Years" * "It's Raining Sunshine" * "What a Wonderful World We Live In" * "Fourth of July Parade" * "Have a Little Faith in Me" * "

" * "Have a Happy New Year"

Production

The special was filmed in 1975 (according to the copyright), but it was shown on ABC on December 10, 1976. For the special, Rudolph was given a redesign by Paul Coker, Jr.

Television rights

The rights to this special are held by Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution, which used to license the show to

The Walt Disney Company The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was founded on October 16 ...

; Disney carried the special on Freeform annually during its 25 Days of Christmas marathon (and occasionally aired it over-the-air on ABC). Since 2018, Warner Bros. has licensed the special to

AMC AMC may refer to: Film and television * AMC Theatres, an American movie theater chain * AMC Networks, an American entertainment company ** AMC (TV channel) ** AMC+, streaming service ** AMC Networks International, an entertainment company *** ...

and its sister channels for the Best Christmas Ever block.

Home media

''Rudolph's Shiny New Year'' was first released on

VHS VHS (Video Home System) is a discontinued standard for consumer-level analog video recording on tape cassettes, introduced in 1976 by JVC. It was the dominant home video format throughout the tape media period of the 1980s and 1990s. Ma ...

Warner Home Video Warner Bros. Discovery Home Entertainment, Inc. (doing business as Warner Bros. Home Entertainment; formerly known as Warner Home Video and WCI Home Video and sometimes credited as Warner Home Entertainment) is the American home video distribution ...

in 1992. It was also re-released on VHS in 1999, and for the first time on DVD alongside '' The Year Without a Santa Claus'', on October 31, 2000. The special, along with other Rankin/Bass Christmas specials and

Chuck Jones Charles Martin Jones (September 21, 1912 – February 22, 2002) was an American animator, painter, voice actor and filmmaker, best known for his work with Warner Bros. Cartoons on the ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Melodies'' series of shorts. He ...

's animated TV adaptation of '' Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas!'', was bundled in Warner's ''Christmas Television Favorites'' DVD box set, released on October 2, 2007. On October 7, 2008, these same titles were released in another holiday-themed DVD set, ''Classic Christmas Favorites''. Warner Home Video released seven different original Rankin/Bass holiday classics along with ''Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas!'' on the third DVD box set, ''Santa's Magical Stories'', released on October 4, 2011. '' A Miser Brothers' Christmas'', a sequel to the 1974 special, '' The Year Without a Santa Claus'', is also included.

References

External links