Why so much hype?

Such a frustrating disappointment

One of the best films i have seen

One of my all time favorites.

I was very struck by how good this festive cartoon looked, the rich small details in all the buildings and everything is gorgeous, especially the interior of Rudolph's house, where everything looks so warm and cosy, and the enchanting snow-covered scenes of classic Christmas joy were all so beautiful, in fact I'd say this is probably the most finely done artwork of snowy scenery I've seen in one of the Fleischer animations, it's definitely a fantastically coloured and drawn short...but I don't know, I really wasn't feeling it too much with this one, beautiful as it is, it really didn't grab me and give me that heartwarming feeling of holiday cheer and goodwill like in the Fleischer Christmas shorts "Christmas Comes but Once a Year" and "Somewhere in Dreamland" did. This just seemed a little stilted and weak somewhere to me. And that bothers me, because I love the Fleischer style of animation and especially enjoy their wintry animations a lot, but I guess I must be missing something with this one. If this truly was Max Fleischer's last ever animated short than as a big fan of his, I must say that this was far from the best of what he was capable of and a mere shadow of his earlier works. I think for me it's the reindeer, I found their design really weird and off-putting, they all look so spindly and feminine, and I found the image of them walking on two legs and wearing clothes to be quite freaky, the image doesn't work the way it's meant to. And I never cared for the moral of Rudolph, they make fun of his pretty glowing red nose until it's suddenly useful to them and then he's suddenly accepted, not for who he is but for what he can do! And there was something a little off about that Santa too, he wasn't fat enough, in fact he looked positively jacked under that red gear! He voice didn't sound jolly enough either, he sounded more like He-Man! The voice actor did a terrible job. All in all though I didn't hate this, it just didn't work for me, I found it most wanting. It's just a wholesome fluff piece and a good old fashioned nostalgic throwback to the children's Christmas tales of yesteryear... X

. . . by considering its anti-bullying theme (which would be right up the alley of First Plagiarist-Elect Melancholia T.). Some might criticize it for cheap, shoddy, clumsy animation, distorted sound, and uninspired story-telling, but we can't all be Looney Tunes. Others might trace the 21st Century Scourge of Dark Skies Vandalism and Anti-Airliner Terrorists armed with LASER pointers to RUDOLPH THE RED-NOSED REINDEER, but that would be a stretch. Maybe "Cannibalism" is not exactly the right word to characterize Santa's first Christmas Night Visit depicted here as being to a household of 40,000 reindeer (at least, that's the number of Rudolph's family members filling Donner Pass Stadium at the end of this cartoon), but there must be some apt term to cover this (not to mention these 39,999 hop-scotching, leap-frogging, ice-skating, and tree-climbing four-legged hoofers). However, since both 1948 and 2016 were U.S. Presidential Election Years (marking the two biggest upsets in American History), perhaps the main take-away here is that RUDOLPH climaxes with Santa appointing its young title character "Commander-in-Chief." It it just a coincidence that "Santa" can be rearranged to spell "Satan," as can the Cyrillic symbols denoting the Nom De Guerre of D.J. Trump's puppeteer, Putin (or that D.J. will surely join 1948's upset winner--Truman--as the ONLY U.S. "Commanders-in-Chief" to fire off nuclear weapons?)?

IT'S REALLY AND truly true. This one reel, 8 minutes of animation have managed to be significantly so situated as to command such a unique position in filmdom. Of course, it certainly wasn't planned that way; as such intentionally laid plans "of Mice and Men.....etc." Well you know, Schultz! FIRST OF ALL, this is the first adaptation of the story to film; be it big screen or small. And even this adaptation has an interesting and multi-faceted lineage all of its own.THE STORY ORIGINATED as a tale meant to amuse the children of one Robert L. May (1905-76). It was committed to the written page, where it became a very popular tale with kiddies everywhere. (End of Chapter One) NOW WE HAVE the entrance of actor/song writer, Johnny Marks, who was the Brother-in-Law of Mr. Robert L. May. Before long, the Christmas Novelty Song, "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" was a hit (on a yearly renewable basis) on the radio, juke boxes, phonograph records and sheet music. To his very day, Gene Autry's Collection of Christmas Songs sees the new light of Day; especially at Sears & Roebuck stores, where it appears to be a truly real world time warp.* FROM THIS TOP of the world position, it was truly "a short put to a film adaptation. This then came in the guise of a one reeler, eight minute animated cartoon short subject. As its Producer-Director it had none-other than Max Fleischer, whose accomplishments in the field of bringing life and movement to drawings both predated and was second to only Walt Disney in that field.THIS WAS A SORT of a comeback for Max, whose involuntary "retirement" had been hastened by Paramount Pictures' financial coup-de-tat, taking his own FLEISCHER BROTHERS Cartoon Studios over and rechristening the company as FAMOUS Studios. This was the first and only cartoon production for him ever since those days in (circa) 1944 he was deposed.SO IT WAS that Max and brother Dave Fleischer, who had given us OUT OF THE INKWELL (with KOKO The Klown), BETTY BOOP, POPEYE Cartoons, GULLIVER'S TRAVELS, HOPPITY GOES TO TOWN and the SUPERMAM Theatrical Cartoon Series, hadn't done any pictures for about 5 years, when this came along. (The Brothers Fleischer hadn't even spoken to each other from that period until the end of their lives.**) AS FOR THE particulars of this, the first RUDOLPH THE RED NOSED REINDEER, it was a spectacular vehicle for the entrance of RUDOLPH into the new medium. The adaptation of the story (which is basically a variation on the "Ugly Duckling" syndrome, is done in a no holds barred manner. While all of the original elements are intact, Fleischer's adapting screenwriter, Joseph Stultz, adorns and fortifies the scenario with some healthy doses of Anthropomorphic deer, hazing of poor little "Red-Nose" and hero's welcome for him in a large Olympic-type stadium.ALYHOUGH WE HAVE long heard of this particular production, it is only recently that we were able to view it. We saw it in DVD form (available from Amazon.com along with several old Christmas themed cartoons,) Our Grandsons (3 year old Jack and 17 month Patrick) both give it their hearty endorsements.NOTE: * It's true, Every year, Gene Autry's smile and 10 gallon hat dominate Sears' radio/television department.NOTE: ** Well Schultz, you know the old expression: "You can choose your friends, but not your relatives!"

This charming short is one of the best holiday themed toons we will ever see. It simply wouldn't be Christmas-Time without it. Spread the word folks this one has stood the test of time and is a keeper! I suggest getting the new Christmas Carol DVD with Alister Sim (1951) version since Rudolph is on the disc as a bonus. Two Christmas greats in one!