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Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer: The Movie

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer: The Movie

Animation · Family · 1998

Young Rudolph suffers a childhood accident that sees his nose turn from the publicly accepted norm of black to a glowing red colour. His parents worry about him getting teased, and indeed he does in the end. When he is beaten in the reindeer games by his rival for a doe he fancies, Rudolph runs away and moves into a cave with Slyly the Fox. However can he overcome his fear and reach his true potential?

Movie details

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer: The Movie

1998 Animation · Family 1h 23m

Critical arithmetic

The consensus, allegedly.

IMDb

5.8 / 10

3.2K votes

TMDB

6.1 / 10

Community rating

External scores via OMDb · CC BY-NC 4.0. Values normalized for display; availability varies by title.

Young Rudolph suffers a childhood accident that sees his nose turn from the publicly accepted norm of black to a glowing red colour. His parents worry about him getting teased, and indeed he does in the end. When he is beaten in the reindeer games by his rival for a doe he fancies, Rudolph runs away and moves into a cave with Slyly the Fox. However can he overcome his fear and reach his true potential?

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer: The Movie?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

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Where it lives

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

William R. Kowalchuk Jr.

Written by

Robert L. May · Michael Aschner

E

Eric Pospisil

Young Rudolph (voice)

Kathleen Barr

Kathleen Barr

Older Rudolph / Twinkle (voice)

John Goodman

John Goodman

Santa Claus (voice)

Whoopi Goldberg

Whoopi Goldberg

Stormella (voice)

Debbie Reynolds

Debbie Reynolds

Mrs. Claus / Mitzi / Mrs. Prancer (voice)

Bob Newhart

Bob Newhart

Leonard (voice)

Eric Idle

Eric Idle

Slyly (voice)

Court is in session

Put Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer: The Movie on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Sentimental Softie

“Sincerity is not manipulation.”

The film risks embarrassment to make emotion communal, and that openness is harder than fashionable detachment.

The prosecution The Cool Ironist

“The strings are showing.”

Every cue tells you exactly what to feel and when, leaving sentiment to do the work character should have done.