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I'll admit
it up front, this 1964 special is so dear to me that if I'm
caught in the right mood, "The Island of Misfit Toys" song
can move me to tears. Its charm hasn't diminished even in
the face of rapid advances in stop-action animation, the deconstructionist
view of it as a gay coming-of-age story (Editor: Perhaps
this would make a good double feature with A Nightmare On
Elm Street Part 2?), or even the savagely funny MAD-TV
casting of the Rudolph gang in a take-off of The Godfather.
Everyone
knows the story: Rudolph is born with a shiny nose which makes
him an outcast amongst the other reindeer. They call him names,
won't let him join in the reindeer games, etc. He runs away
from home in the company of Hermey, the misfit elf, who would
rather be a dentist than make toys. Their journey takes them
to the Island of Misfit Toys, where they learn that living
beings cannot run away from their problems. After saving Rudolph's
family from the dreaded Abominable Snow Monster, they return
to Christmas Town having earned the respect of their peers.
Oh, yes, and Rudolph's shiny nose saves the day by leading
Santa's sleigh through the storm that would've caused the
cancellation of Christmas.
The animation
is primitive and awkward, and yet that somehow only adds to
its charm. Slickness would be out of place here: maybe because
Rankin/Bass managed to make the characters look like those
wooden Christmas ornaments of my youth, and advances aside,
they just seem like they would move this way if they came
to life! Rudolph remains the consummate Christmas special,
teaching us a lot about the value of human beings, whether
or not they're misfits...or reindeer...or elves...
Video: How Does The Disc Look?
The picture
is very clear and light-years ahead of the last laserdisc
remaster, which looks remarkably bad next to this DVD. A few
minutes of footage have been restored to the show, which were
edited out over the years (I was astonished to discover that
even the laserdisc did not include the uncut program!).
And some
restoration work is evident. Blotches that were noticeable
(particularly during the opening) in previous incarnations
have been removed. For a Christmas special, this program was
done with a surprisingly dull palette, especially in the beginning
section which prominently features Burl Ives' narrating snowman.
However, the colors are rendered well, and outlines are clear
without being overly sharp. Another important improvement
over past incarnations is the absence of some rather annoying
color shifts between shots: for the first time, the reindeer
remain the same color throughout the show!
There are
some problems, though. I noticed several instances where,
when changing to a new scene, the picture would seem set,
then dull slightly. This was quite noticeable and a bit distracting.
And as with some other earlier films, the increased clarity
of the DVD tends to detract a little: the reindeers' fur looks
like pile lining, and the wooden heads of the elves look decidedly...well,
wooden. But I guess you have to take the bad with the good,
and Rudolph has definitely never looked better.
Audio: How Does the Disc Sound?
The sound
is another story all together. The two-channel mono is quite
clear (as opposed to the cloudy sound of the laserdisc), and
surprisingly free of distortion. However (and this is a really
BIG however), there are several places where the sound warbles,
rather like a tape in a player whose batteries are running
down. It was particularly noticeable at the end of the songs
"There's Always Tomorrow" and "Silver and Gold," but there
were other spots as well. I went back and checked this on
the laserdisc, and found no problem there, so this must be
a problem with this transfer. Calls to Sony Music about the
problem were not returned.
Supplements: What Goodies Are There? The disc
includes a Rudolph trivia game, which little children may
enjoy -- but anyone over the age of five will find questions
like "What did Hermey want to be?" such a snap they needn't
bother.
Parting Thoughts
In the end,
though, it looks like Scrooge has come a little early this
year. Rudolph was last released in a two laserdisc set with
sister specials Frosty the Snowman, The Little Drummer Boy,
and Santa Claus is Coming to Town - four specials - for less
than thirty dollars. TWO LDS FOR LESS THAN THIRTY DOLLARS!
In that light, to release this one fifty-minute special alone
on a DVD for $20 is inexcusable. If you have children, you
probably won't be able to avoid buying this--but adults, beware:
you'll find the lack of value and the sound problem very annoying!
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