“I don’t think they got our message.” “After over five decades you’d think they’d get a hint.”
Hello, internet. Glad you could make it. Please, join me. There’s hot cocoa and those pre-cut sugar cookies freshly baked and sitting on the table. You don’t want the cookies? Trying to cut down, huh? Oh, you don’t like the fact that Rudolph is on them. Funny thing is…that’s sort of what I wanted to talk about.
Maybe you haven’t heard of me before and you came out of curiosity. Well, let’s get the disclosure business out of the way first. Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer is one of my favorite Christmas specials. There have been other attempts to tell the story, each loosely based in some way on a classic book designed to bring customers to a particular store. I discussed all that before, last year in fact when I did a Video Review of the special. Even before then I talked about this special and the song that inspired most of them, also based on the book mentioned earlier. It’s a timeless holiday classic about a reindeer with a special power nobody saw until it was actually needed. Until then they misunderstood God’s intention for the poor guy to help Santa. (If you’re not a Christian…you’re missing half of Christmas but that’s not important right now…but you can ascribe whatever origin you want on Rudolph’s shiny nose.) They realized their mistake when they saw he was actually the savior of Christmas. (Is that irony? Darn you Alanis Morissette, you get coal!) Jeers turned to cheers and Rudolph went down in history.
Of course there are those who hate history. They refuse to see the special as anything more than another target on old shows, try to add modern adult points of view to a 1964 show running under kid logic and the prevailing wold view of the time. Rather than seeing what it was they condemn it for not living up to modern points of view, or at least one particular point of view, but I won’t go that far if I don’t have to. Frankly where I have to go is disappointing enough. Apparently the Rankin/Bass classic is the latest target of scorn, and it shouldn’t surprise anyone who has been here long enough that I come to protect it. Internet…let’s talk reindeer.
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BW Versus The Internet: A Red-Nosed Intervention
“I don’t think they got our message.” “After over five decades you’d think they’d get a hint.”
Hello, internet. Glad you could make it. Please, join me. There’s hot cocoa and those pre-cut sugar cookies freshly baked and sitting on the table. You don’t want the cookies? Trying to cut down, huh? Oh, you don’t like the fact that Rudolph is on them. Funny thing is…that’s sort of what I wanted to talk about.
Maybe you haven’t heard of me before and you came out of curiosity. Well, let’s get the disclosure business out of the way first. Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer is one of my favorite Christmas specials. There have been other attempts to tell the story, each loosely based in some way on a classic book designed to bring customers to a particular store. I discussed all that before, last year in fact when I did a Video Review of the special. Even before then I talked about this special and the song that inspired most of them, also based on the book mentioned earlier. It’s a timeless holiday classic about a reindeer with a special power nobody saw until it was actually needed. Until then they misunderstood God’s intention for the poor guy to help Santa. (If you’re not a Christian…you’re missing half of Christmas but that’s not important right now…but you can ascribe whatever origin you want on Rudolph’s shiny nose.) They realized their mistake when they saw he was actually the savior of Christmas. (Is that irony? Darn you Alanis Morissette, you get coal!) Jeers turned to cheers and Rudolph went down in history.
Of course there are those who hate history. They refuse to see the special as anything more than another target on old shows, try to add modern adult points of view to a 1964 show running under kid logic and the prevailing wold view of the time. Rather than seeing what it was they condemn it for not living up to modern points of view, or at least one particular point of view, but I won’t go that far if I don’t have to. Frankly where I have to go is disappointing enough. Apparently the Rankin/Bass classic is the latest target of scorn, and it shouldn’t surprise anyone who has been here long enough that I come to protect it. Internet…let’s talk reindeer.
Continue reading →
Tell others about the Spotlight:
Posted by ShadowWing Tronix on December 4, 2018 in Animation Spotlight, Christmas Spotlight, Television Spotlight and tagged Christmas specials, Christmas Spotlight, commentary, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (TV special).
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