Rudolph's Shiny New Year

"Oh, but I'm getting ahead of myself.  Running a little fast, as it were."

The baby new year, Happy, goes missing shortly after Christmas.  Father Time (Skelton) asks Rudolph (Richards) for help finding Happy before New Year's Eve, or it will be December 31 forever.  His search is hindered by Eon the Terrible (Frees), who doesn't want the new year to come and is also looking for Happy.

Father Time believes that Happy is hiding in the Archipelago of Last Years.  The Archipelago of Last Years are the islands where past years rule / live.  Rudolph is helped by Big Ben (Peary) a whale who knows the islands.  As the search, they are joined by neanderthal One Million BC (Amsterdam), knight Sir 1023 (Gorshin), and 1776 (Frees).  Can they find Happy before the new year begins?


Rankin/Bass Productions, founded by Arthur Rankin Jr. and Jules Bass, was well-known for making seasonal movies.  Their best-known and enduring films were stop-motion animation.  They made 3 stop-motion movies about Rudolph: Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer in 1964, this film in 1976, and Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July in 1979.

The film, written by Romeo Muller, gets creative with mythology about the new year.  They have the freedom to take the story in any direction and have some fun with the idea that each past year has it's own island, which is made up of the important things that happened during that year.  For example, Sir 1023's island is fairy tales, and on 1776 island every day is July 4th.  It gives them the opportunity to show off some fun characters.

This film reiterates the ideas from the other Rudolph movies... it is cute and readily available to watch every year.  Not my favorite Rudolph movie, but it is still enjoyable.

Rudolph's Shiny New Year (1976) minutes
Director: Jules Bass & Arthur Rankin Jr.
Starring: Red Skelton as Father Time, Baby Bear
Billie Richards as Rudolph
Morey Amsterdam as One Million BC
Frank Gorshin as Sir 1023, Quarter Past Five
Paul Frees as 1776, Santa Claus, General Ticker, Eon the Terrible, Humpty Dumpty
Don Messick as Papa Bear, Rumpelstiltskin, Prince Charming, Seven Dwarfs
Harold Peary as Big Ben
Iris Rainer as Mama Bear, Nanny Nine O'Clock