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Rudolph and Frosty’s Christmas in July Review

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Rudolph is back for another adventure and this time he’s being assisted by Frosty The Snowman! This was my favorite Rudolph special and we even get a nice action scene to top it all off. In the previous specials, I was a little annoyed by how timid Rudolph could be. He shirked away from the fights and never seemed to defend himself, but that all changed in this special as he finally stood up for himself. Frosty’s guest star appearance was also a blast.

Rudolph and Frosty are the best of pals. When they heard that starring in the circus could help one of their human friends in his rushed romance, they decide to help out. Unfortunately, it’s in a very warm area where Frosty can’t normally reside so they ask a shady fellow to give them magical wards. They will only work for a little while so Frosty calls in Santa to save the day, but Santa gets lost and starts driving in a circle for days. Without Santa, Frosty and his family quickly melt so then it’s all up to Rudolph to make a deal with the villain. The problem is that these deals typically come at a steep price.

As you can see, we can blame most of the film’s problems on Frosty and his family. They should not have agreed to come to the circus if it would force them to be dependent on a mysterious sorcerer. You never want to be in someone’s debt if you don’t have too and much more so if it’s a sketchy looking fellow who probably does not have your best interests at heart. Frosty was also the only reasonable Snow person in the film. His wife and kids are ingrates who shove Rudolph aside right away. “They wouldn’t let him play any reindeer games!” Why does no one understand poor Rudolph?

Frosty’s a good character at least. He tries his best to make things right and goes to the magician to stop this madness. Unfortunately, he’s as gullible as he is kind so everything is up to Rudolph once more. Unlike the New Year special where Rudolph didn’t know how to fight, that changed in this special as he launched into action and we got an aerial fight. The sharp shooter parody also got to jump into the action as she used her gun to destroy the magical wand. A little action is always a nice touch to make the ending of something a little more epic.

This film also helped to bring together just about the whole franchise of stop motion characters from this series. Rudolph, Frosty, Jack Frost, Santa, and more characters got to show up for this event. Jack Frost’s role is a little sad for his fans since he has to keep blowing cold air for hours and hours. Truly a sad fate and Santa didn’t fare much better as he got lost in a snow storm for the whole film despite his magical abilities supposedly being immensely powerful. Even the whale got to appear to give Rudolph a helping hand when the going got tough he knew when to get going.

I won’t comment on the animation since you know my views on that already from older Rudolph specials. This kind of animation just isn’t my style, but I won’t let it hurt the film too much. After all, we finally got an evil Rudolph in this film, which was a neat parrallel. The film could have done more with this angle though as the idea has a lot of promise.

Meanwhile, this film also adds a plot twist to the original Rudolph film, which makes it imperative that you quickly re watch that one after this film before rewatching this one. Let’s just says that big storms don’t just happen randomly. Frosty’s story is also retold and while there is no twist, we are reminded on how high tier his hat is. Frosty’s hat has more magical power than most fighters can even dream about. It was fun to see both films again since they actually got decently long flashbacks, which served as film recaps.

Bringing the universe together like this and also setting the power levels was most impressive. Not to mention that we also got a very large soundtrack as a result. Songs from both titles ended up appearing and even the Misfits song played, which was nostalgic. Of course, Frosty and Rudolph’s main themes are probably still the most catchy even if Rudolph’s may make you want to cry since the lyrics are so sad…in theory.

I haven’t really talked about the villains right? Well…they are all right I suppose, but they didn’t do much. Scratcher was a pretty decent villain. Getting kicked off of the Reindeer team made things personal for him, but Scratcher was still unable to really deal any damage here. Winterbolt had some pretty powerful magic and it may even be deadlier than Santa’s since he beat the old man rather easily with the storm. It was a little iffy, but it seems like he can’t beat Frosty or Rudolph in a fair fight since the hat is too powerful and Rudolph’s determination never lets him give up. There’s also a human villain, but he’s of no consequence in the long run.

Overall, Christmas in July is a fun film and it’s actually the best Rudolph film that I’ve seen. The idea of a crossover is a good one and it’s safe to say that people had been waiting for this team up for some time now. It’s like Batman vs Superman, you can imagine the hype that was building up when this film was announced. If I had to choose which fighter I think would win, I’d go with Rudolph. Frosty’s powerful, but Rudolph’s quick and he can basically fly. That being said, Frosty can probably throw snowballs so maybe I had better rethink this. Like with Batman and Superman, I can think of scenarios where either fighter can claim victory. I hadn’t heard of this film myself until a few weeks ago, but it’s still most impressive that the two heavyweights could finally fight and hopefully this gets a sequel someday. That being said, hopefully Rudolph’s friends are a little more loyal since just about all of them betrayed him when it counted. That’s not what I expect to see from these guys, but Frosty stayed strong and knew that Rudolph wouldn’t steal things that weren’t his. After all, you can’t steal something that you already own and that’s the only way Rudolph would pull off a heist because he’s a nice Reindeer. I certainly recommend checking this out for Christmas.

Overall 7/10

Rudolph’s Shiny New Year Review

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Everyone’s favorite reindeer is back for this uplifting adventure. He may have saved Christmas, but there is no rest for the weary as this takes place immediately after his first iconic adventure. It’s not quite as enjoyable as the first film of course, nor does it beat the crossover with Frosty. That being said, it’s still a complete Rudolph adventure and a nice way to get set for the New Year.

Santa Clause learns that the New Year will never come and December 31st will last for eternity because the New Year ran away. In this world, time is a physical being and the years are all babies that he raised. Unfortunately, the New Year had big ears so everyone laughed at him. He decided to run away so that he would be understood a little better. He’s just a newborn baby though so he crawls his way up to the islands in the northern most part of the world. Rudolph is given the task of finding him within a few days or all is lost.

Rudolph sets out and is accompanied by a few of time’s friends like an Alarm Clock and a Whale. The Alarm Clock is one of the guys who laughed at the New Year so I can’t say that he’s a great friend, but the whale was always sensible and helped Rudolph out when he was in a pinch. Unfortunately, a bird by the name of Aeon aims to stop Rudolph in his quest. Aeon loves to laugh and he actually has the upper hand against Rudolph. Poor Rudolph looks nervous when Aeon appears and can’t seem to land any good hits in. If only Rudolph had more fighting experience.

Aeon isn’t your average villain though and you can sympathize with his goals. He knows that he will perish in the morning if the New Year starts so he wants to prolong this day forever. After all, what’s the worst thing that can happen if the New Year never rolls around right? His life is on the line here so it’s not completely unreasonable. Still, Rudolph fights for the greater good, but also knows that there is always another way. The ending is very fortunate for Aeon and even the baby learns that he shouldn’t mind the ears. In a sense, the plot was completely ripped from Dumbo, but we’ll let it slide this time.

The songs aren’t quite as good as the original Rudolph’s, but when you consider the nostalgia and the iconic status of the original, then it all makes sense. No amount of sequels can measure up to that level of greatness when it comes to the audio, but they can try. The songs still aren’t bad either of course and they’re nice and retro. The animation style still isn’t my favorite, but this came out ages ago so it’s not as if there were a whole lot of choices back in the day. The graphics certainly won’t be hurting the score.

What does hurt the score a little bit is that the film actually has some boring moments despite its short duration. I really didn’t care about Father Time and his plot. It was rather boring to see him slowly walk around the room and explain to the audience that Rudolph already succeeded when the film was just getting started. I never cared for the gimmick of spoiling the ending so that we could enjoy the journey a little more. The George Clooney film where the heroes have to save the future did this as well. Tomorrowland was the name and spoiling was its game. I feel like it’s just used because otherwise the film would have been too short or they couldn’t think of anything for Father Time to say. They could have cut the character out of the film and nothing would have really changed.

I also can’t say that I cared for the Caveman all that much. From all of the islands, that was probably the most uneventful and I definitely prefer the knight in shining armor. That being said, as was commented on during the film, it was impressive for the caveman to be singing so well while he was jumping around the place and engaged in strenuous exercise. That takes guts and a solid lung capacity so bravo there! Doesn’t change the fact that it was an island that dragged on.

Well, you get the point. These supporting characters dragged Rudolph down instead of strengthening the movie. Rudolph doesn’t really need a supporting cast and the whale was the only other character needed. Aeon as well of course since every good story needs a villain. The actual journey just isn’t as good as the original Rudolph since it’s not quite as fun or enjoyable and that’s what keeps it from being as good as the original. There’s no rushed romance here though so that’s always a plus!

Rudolph is also more likable than his portrayal in the original film. Controversially, I wasn’t a huge fan of him there. In this film, he’s more experienced and is glad to go out and save the world even though it’s Christmas. He’s always thinking of how he can help everyone else and ends up being one of the most selfless heroes around. That’s why you always want to have Rudolph in your corner if a fight breaks out. He’s got your back even if he hasn’t learned how to fight just yet.

Overall, This is a good film to watch for New Year’s. Or rather, it’s one of the only films for you to watch on New Year’s. Santa Clause is definitely in character as he lets Rudolph do all of the hard work while he just chills out at home. The film is short so you’ll be done with it very quickly. It may drag a little and the supporting characters aren’t great, but I’d still call it a good movie. A little underwhelming, but good all the same. The writing is strong and Rudolph makes for a good main character. It’s hard to top that…but the sequel pulls it off rather easily!

Overall 6/10

Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer Review

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I recently saw Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer so I really wanted to play the game! I finally managed to find it in the outskirts of the city and it was well worth the 1.89$ that I paid for it! I have to admit that I feel really bad for the people who paid 30 dollars to buy it on opening day though. Man, those people must have been shocked at what arrived in their homes that day. Heh heh heh…okay, let’s start the review!

The game follows the events of the film, but really only the ending of it. There are a couple of minigames as you build toys for the kid who have waited all year to open their presents. Luckily, you will only have to wait a few minutes to go and deliver it to them. See, the game’s length is rather infamous. Remember when I played the Casper video game that you could beat in around 15-20 minutes? This game is even shorter as the run time is more like 6-10 minutes not including the short cutscenes that probably extend it to around 13-15. It’s a blast and a half….if you have not played a video game before!

One of the video games involves baking cookies. Okay…you basically have to swing your wii remote three different ways. Strike once to pound the batter, Next strike to smooth it out, shove it in the oven, and throw in the toppings. Rinse and repeat until the timer runs out to show that you have completed the game! Next up, you have to punch presents into Santa’s bag or onto the Christmas tree. This is probably the trickiest minigame thanks to the controls. Still, it’s about as easy as World 1-1 of the average Mario game or even easier since you can’t die. Just move with the Wii Remote and you’ll be find. Finally, you have to ride with Rudolph and friends to drop presents on the kid’s houses. This one’s the easiest as you can literally just drop presents for eternity. Just keep dropping them and most of the presents will actually land on the house. You’re not penalized for missing so you can do this with your eyes closed! There’s also a paintball minigame where you have to throw paints at the toys. It’s very similar to the Basketball minigame from Mario Party 4 so it’s pretty catchy.

There’s no way to lose any of the games so completing this title will be simplicity itself. Now, those minigames probably didn’t sound like a lot of fun, but you can try to make them more exciting. See, each game actually has a score at the top so you can try to get it as high as possible. There’s no actual reward or incentive for doing so, but why not right? You may as well to pass the time by. On the bright side, the game is so incredibly short that it never drags on.

The graphics are surprisingly good/decent considering how cheaply produced the game was. The character models aren’t stretched or blurry and the in game graphics are surprisingly clear. I feel like the graphics got all of the attention from the developers so they could at least make the trailer look good. For everyone who bought the game, they probably celebrated with a pizza. There isn’t much of a soundtrack, but that probably goes without saying. (The theme that plays when you start the game is catchy!) We do have the classic Rudolph song though and that’s always great!

I appreciate the fact that there is a story mode even if it is extremely short. After each minigame, you get a small cutscene with the snowman from the intro to the film. He has a new voice actor who isn’t nearly as good, but he tries his best to be warm and friendly. The credits aren’t included when you finish the final minigame so you’ll have to go to the menu and enter the credits that have been available from the start. I guess they knew that you would finish it quickly so they decided to have the credits at the ready. Not a bad strategy right?

We also can’t forget about the hilarious loading screen for this game. In Super Smash Bros for the Wii U, people love to crouch over and over again. It’s a taunt in a way and it especially comes in handy when you are out of the normal ones. Well, the loading screen here just has the Yeti crouch spamming. That’s the loading screen! It’s like an inside joke that the developers are in on and the gamer can’t be apart of it. The loading screen almost makes the game and you’ll remember it for quite some time!

Rudolph is the perfect example of why I am always on the lookout for new games at the 5 dollar bargain bin. In particular, the Wii has a ton of “Shovelware” titles that actually turn out to be a lot of fun or at least highly amusing. This title will always hold a special place in my heart along with Casper for being so short that it is practically a parody of a game. No matter how small the budget was, it’s just incredible that anyone could actually get away with making a game that is this short. You’d almost expect the game to be sued!

Overall, Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer is a game that is so short that I’m tempted to give it a mere 3 stars. I still feel that it’s worth the extra star because the actual minigames are enjoyable and they don’t feel repetitive. I may have felt differently if I got it for 30 dollars, but at under 2 dollars, 10 minutes sounds pretty decent. I only recommend this game if you know what you are getting into. It’s one of the best 2 dollar games that I have played not counting sport titles. This is the kind of game that you will want to have at parties so that you can laugh at it along with your friends in some good natured fun. I don’t think I’ll ever be playing this game again since there is no real replay value to be found (I guess you could beat your high scores….) but it was a decent one time ride. Don’t believe all of the negative reviews (Mine is negative though) about the game not being fun. It is short, but the actual minigames are fun! Just watch the trailer and get back to me…

Overall 4/10

Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer Review

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Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer is a Christmas special that I’ve watched many times in the past. It uses stop motion instead of traditional animation, which can be dicey. That being said, it makes up for this with the classic Rudolph as the main lead. His heartwarming story has inspired millions throughout the ages and who can forget the incredible snowman? The special has its ups and downs, but it is definitely a solid experience.

The plot involves Rudolph and the other Reindeer as they begin to bully him when it is found out that his nose glows. Even Santa Claus wants nothing to do with Rudolph so he runs off to brave the world on his own. Meanwhile, there is an Elf who has the same problem. He doesn’t like making toys and he just wants to be a dentist so the others shun him and he runs off. One thing leads to another and the two of them team up with an experienced gold digger to help save Christmas.

Not everyone shuns Rudolph as one of the does by the name of Clarice tries to be his friend. The special definitely has more romance in this plot than most of the other Christmas specials. The actual subplot isn’t great, but it does help us get to the big battle with the Snowman so it was all ultimately worth the effort. Clarice is definitely more of a likable character than most of the other reindeer as they were all pretty unreasonable with Rudolph.

As for Rudolph, he’s a nice little guy, but he’s not quite as likable as Frosty or dare I say Jack Frost? I probably agree with his decision to leave and save his friends since they were all in a tricky spot, but I think he probably overreacted when Clarice complimented him. That’s not going to help his image with the rest of the reindeer although he was definitely the best flier there. He can get pretty defensive about his nose and it’s a good thing that he found Hermey when he did or it could have been all over for him. At least he got a good hit in on the Snowman.

The Abominable Snowman is a pretty intense Kaiju and I have to say that it definitely does look like some of the old Gamera monsters. It seems to be reasonably tough and it was able to climb its way back to the surface after it fell into the cold depths of the ocean. That takes a lot of guts and it seems to move pretty quickly. It was overwhelming a team of reindeer and that’s no small feat.

Santa’s portrayal is very interesting since he’s very mean throughout the whole film and they never try to make us forgive him. He ends the film in just as bad a mood as he was in during the beginning. It’s intriguing to say the least and I think that the writers may not have even realized this as they were writing the script. He insults the Elf’s song, He does care about the fate of Rudolph’s parents except for his sleigh, etc. Santa Claus really tries to put a damper on things and he makes sure that Rudolph never gets to feel good.

The soundtrack is pretty solid and we get a lot of good songs. Many of them are classic like “Silver and Gold” and naturally…”Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer” They’re run to listen too and the music is one of the reasons why the special is so fun. The stop motion has never been my favorite technique, but it works well enough. It definitely has a certain unique feel to it and I suppose that it’s pretty iconic for Rudolph at this point.

One of the better subplots in the film is the meanwhile with the Narrator. He’s a talking Snowman like Frosty and he’s the kind of guy that you can sympathize with. He is telling us Rudolph’s story with such detail that even he gets scared by what he remembers. It’s pretty intense to say the least. He’s probably one of the more likable narrators that I’ve seen in the Christmas specials so far.

As for the rest of the cast, they’re pretty unlikable. They are all pretty unfair to Rudolph about his nose and we never get a real reason about why they act so discriminating against Rudolph because of it. Why don’t they like red noses? There is probably something related to a past tragedy with the nose, but it’s still pretty sad to see. The parents getting into it was also pretty overdone since you would expect them to stand up for Rudolph. It’s pretty depressing until he finally leaves to make a name for himself. Of course, that is why the bravery of Rudolph is so revered.

Overall, Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer is a pretty solid Christmas special. It’s not quite as intense as some of the other ones and while it has aged pretty well, the romance does drag it down to an extent. Not because of the fact that it is romance per say, but the way that it’s handled can be a little tough to watch. Rudolph just doesn’t handle the whole thing very well. The soundtrack is very good and it’s nice to actually have a mean Santa Claus for once. It’s a pretty big change from the norm and that’s always good. Rudolph is a pretty emotional film that I definitely recommend for the New Year. It has some good themes and it reminds you to know that giant monsters prefer pig meat to deer meat. In case you are ever in a pinch this could help you out! (There is also an action scene in the climax for all you Shonen Jump readers)

Overall 6/10