Kitty Katswell's Adventures Of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer is a full-length crossover film starring Kitty Katswell, Knuckles the Echidna, Gordon the Big Engine, James the Red Engine and Henry the Green Engine alongside Rudolph, Hermey and their friends.
The film tells how Kitty Katswell and Henry the Green Engine taught Rudolph, Hermey, Gordon, James and Knuckles about being true to themselves.
Plot[]
The film opens with Kitty Katswell and Keswick at the movies. Kitty is about to show him the movie of her latest solo adventure. The scene then blacks out to the intro of "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer". In the story, Kitty, Henry, James, Gordon and Knuckles are visiting the North Pole just as Donner's son is born. At first, everybody's excited about his birth but when they see his glowing red nose, Gordon, James and Knuckles are not too sure.
Time passes and Rudolph is now at "take-off" practice with other yearling reindeer. After Rudolph meets his soon-to-be girlfriend, Clarice, the false nose his dad put on him falls off, revealing the true misfit he is. Gordon, James and Knuckles join in with the others, but Kitty and Henry follow him and Clarice and help her try to cheer him up.
During this time, an elf named Hermey doesn't want to make toys; he wants to be a dentist. He runs away from Santa's Workshop and runs into Rudolph, Henry and Kitty in the forest. The four of them work together to get past the Abominable Snow Monster of the North (a.k.a. "Bumble") with help from Yukon Cornelius.
Back in Christmas Town, Donner, Gordon, James and Knuckles feel awful about how they'd treated poor Rudolph, leading to them setting out to find him, followed by Mrs. Donner and Clarice. The misfits, on the other hand, wind up on the Island of Misfit Toys, a place of refuge for every-day toys that do not work like other toys do.
The group spends the night on the island, but Kitty, Henry and Rudolph leave in the middle of the night; Rudolph's reason is because he thinks his nose has endangered his friends' lives too many times. Henry and Kitty's reason is to make sure he's safe.
When the trio make it back to Christmas Town, they discover that Clarice, Rudolph's parents, James, Knuckles and Gordon are gone, and with a sincere promise to Santa, they set out to find them all. Henry spots the cave of the Bumble, where the monster is holding their friends hostage. Rudolph tries to protect them but ends up being knocked out by the Bumble.
Hermey and Yukon Cornelius arrive just in time to pull the Bumble's teeth out, which saves the family, but Yukon, the Bumble and Yukon's dogs fall over a cliff, leaving everybody saddened.
Upon returning to Christmas Town, the group discovers that because of nasty weather, Christmas is about to be cancelled. But with some help from Kitty, Santa asks Rudolph to guide his sleigh through the night, which he gladly accepts.
Henry accompanies Santa as he first makes his journey to the Island of Misfit toys, but then goes back to Christmas Town as Santa continues with his flight.
The scene then blacks out to the movies again as Kitty and Keswick are leaving, with Keswick commenting that it was like "somebody b-b-blasted the director" with his "no-talent" ray. But Kitty tells him he might like her next adventure, which turns out to be "Kitsandra Katswell's Adventures of Galaxy Railways".
Characters[]
- Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer - voiced by Bille Mae Richards
- Sam Snowman - The narrator, voiced by and styled to resemble folk singer Burl Ives, who also contributes several tunes throughout the show. Among the most famous numbers from the special is Johnny Marks' "A Holly Jolly Christmas," which became a Christmas standard in its own right.
- Hermey the Misfit Elf (voiced by Paul Soles) - who prefers studying dentistry to making toys. Quitting Santa's workshop, he and Rudolph run away together seeking "Fame And Fortune." Towards the end of the program, he finally gets his wish to open a dentist's office at the North Pole. One of many memorable songs from the show, "Fame and Fortune" was added to the 1965 airing of the show as a replacement for the reprise of a number called "We're A Couple Of Misfits", sung by Hermey and Rudolph soon after their initial meeting. The special's 1998 restoration saw "Misfits" returned to its original film context, while the 2004 DVD release showcases "Fame and Fortune" as a separate number.
- Clarice the Doe (voiced and sung by Janet Orenstein) A pretty doe Rudolph meets at take-off practice, and she immediately develops a large crush on him. In fact, it was Clarice who was part of the reason why Rudolph knows how to fly in the special, because she tells Rudolph he is cute and that gives him encouragement, resulting in a giant leap through the air. Even when the cap popped off of Rudolph's nose, Clarice remained faithful to him and follows him into the woods, where she performs one of the special's musical numbers "There's Always Tomorrow." She disobeys her father when she hangs around Rudolph, even to the point of running off into the woods with Rudolph's parents to go looking for him. The trio was then captured by the monster, but Rudolph rescued them in time. Despite the fact that, in reality, reindeer of both sexes grow antlers, neither Clarice nor any other doe in the special has antlers.
- Yukon Cornelius (voiced by Larry D. Mann) - a prospector who leads the audience to believe that he is searching for either gold or silver, but is actually seeking peppermint as revealed at the end of the original version of the special. His greedy behavior inspires the song "Silver and Gold," sung by Ives. Yukon is a blustery but benign character who ends up helping not only Rudolph and Hermey, but also the Abominable Snow Monster, which he nicknames "Bumble." Yukon Cornelius can be seen throughout the special tossing his pickax into the air, sniffing, then licking the end that contacts the snow or ice. The removal of the scene near the end of the special (for subsequent telecasts) in which Yukon Cornelius discovers a "peppermint mine" by that method near Santa's workshop left audiences assuming that he was attempting to find either silver or gold by taste alone. The scene was returned to the film in 1998 as well.
- Tall Elf is a minor character who appears in the "We Are Santa's Elves" and "Holly Jolly Christmas" scenes. Tall, thin and bespectacled, this character was an integral part of the stop-motion commercial and subsequent print ads produced for General Electric for the inaugural broadcast.
- Head Elf (voiced by Carl Banas) is Hermey's immediate supervisor, a portly and ill-tempered foreman and songleader of Santa's workshop. He wears a goatee styled to resemble popular songleaderMitch Miller and begins by using Lawrence Welk's famous introduction, "Ah one, and ah two". He is outraged at Hermey's persistent disruption of the assembly line with his dentistry studies. He also conducts the elves in their song for Santa, "We Are Santa's Elves," a tune which Santa finds annoying. Towards the end of the special, he finally grants Hermey's wishes and allows him to open a dentist's office. In one of the show's bloopers, the head elf is voiced by a different (and unidentified) voice actor in the musical scene as he begins conducting the group.
- The Abominable Snow Monster of the North (a.k.a. Bumble) - A large, ferocious ape-like mammal of unspecified species, possibly a yeti. As the main antagonist, he pursues Hermey and Rudolph throughout their adventure. The sight of Rudolph's glowing red nose drives Bumble into a rage. Sam the snowman also explains that the monster hates everything to do with Christmas as well. Later, the Abominable Snow Monster captures Rudolph and his family at his cave. However, Yukon and Hermey come to the rescue by knocking the monster unconscious and extracting all his teeth. Near the end of the film he has a change of heart, and he is seen putting the star on top of the Christmas tree and becoming a part of Christmastown.
- Kitsandra "Kitty" Katswell (Voiced by Grey DeLisle) - One of two extra helpers in cheering up Rudolph and Hermey.
- Henry the Green Engine - (voiced by Kerry Shale) - the second helper in the quest of cheering up Rudolph and Hermey
- Gordon the Big Engine (voiced by Ringo Starr) - An express engine who had the same train of thought as Donner at the beginning of the film. His point of view changes when he, Donner, Knuckles and James feel terrible about how they'd treated him. Gordon, along with the others, are rescued by Kitty, Henry, Rudolph, Hermey and Yukon Cornelius when the Bumble traps them in his cave.
- James the Red Engine (voiced by Ringo Starr) - A stuck-up red engine who also didn't like Rudolph's red nose at first, but his attitude changed after the rescue.
- Knuckles the Echidna (voiced by Dan Green) - A hot-headed echidna who was also not too fond of Rudolph's red nose. His tune changed after everyone was rescued.
- Dannirella (cameo) Gordon's wife
- Alfred the Holden B12/3 (cameo)
- Keswick (voiced by Jeff Bennet) - seen at the beginning and end only
- Thomas the Tank Engine (doesn't speak)
Several new members of Santa Claus's herd of reindeer include Fireball, a young buck with a distinctive shock of blond hair who befriends shy Rudolph at the "Reindeer Games." The Reindeer Games are the annual contest where Santa Claus evaluates the flight skills of his youngest reindeer. It is Fireball who encourages Rudolph to meet Clarice. Clarice informs Rudolph that she finds him cute. Inspired by Clarice's affection, Rudolph impresses all the reindeer assembled with his flying ability. A playful scuffle with Fireball ensues and the clay/mud cap Rudolph has been wearing to hide his glowing nose comes loose. Fireball is the first to witness Rudolph's true appearance and is terrified by the sight. Though Fireball does not appear on screen to be among the reindeer who mock Rudolph at the Reindeer Games, his voice is clearly heard doing so. He can be heard calling him "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" and then some other bucks laugh.
Most of the adult male reindeer, including Donner, Comet, and Clarice's father, were voiced with similar voices by Paul Frees.
The Island of Misfit Toys[]
The "Island of Misfit Toys", another canonical addition to the original story, is an island sanctuary where defective and unwanted toys are sent. Among its inhabitants:
- King Moonracer - a winged lion who acts as the island's ruler, voiced by Stan Francis. King Moonracer is responsible for flying around the world each night in search of unwanted toys. He lives in a large castle atop a hill on The Island of Misfit Toys, and acts as a 'governor' to the island, deciding who can or cannot stay on the Island, such as Rudolph, Hermey, and Yukon Cornelius.
- Charlie-In-The-Box is a misnamed, but otherwise seemingly normal jack-in-the-box who acts as the island's sentry. Charlie is voiced by Carl Banas, who also voices several other toys in this scene.
- Spotted Elephant is a polka dotted elephant and also is the island's footman.
- "A Dolly for Sue" (as she calls herself) is a seemingly normal girl rag doll with red hair and a red gingham (checkered) dress. Her misfit problem is never explained on the special, but was possibly revealed on NPR's Wait Wait… Don't Tell Me! news quiz show (broadcast December 8, 2007). The show revealed that Rudolph's producer, Arthur Rankin Jr., says Dolly's problem was psychological, caused from being abandoned by her mistress and suffering depression from feeling unloved.[2]
- Bird Fish is a toy bird who swims instead of flies.
- A misfit cowboy who rides an ostrich.
- Trainer, a train with square wheels on its caboose.
- A toy boat that sinks rather than floats; a squirt gun that shoots grape jelly; an airplane that cannot fly, a bear that rides a bike, and "a scooter for Jimmy".
Trivia[]
- Kitty's first name, "Kitsandra" is revealed in the film
- This marks the first time that Dudley Puppy has not appeared in a crossover film
- Apparently, Keswick is not a big fan of crossover films, as stated with the line: "Wow, Kitty that movie really stunk! It's like somebody b-b-b-blasted the director with my "No-Talent" Ray."
Goofs
- In certain close-ups of Henry, even though he's away from James and Gordon throughout most of the film, you can still see glimpses of the aforementioned engines on his left and right.
- Also, how could Henry have traveled to the Island of Misfit Toys when there are no tracks leading there?
- The narrator says Rudolph went out on his own, but Kitty and Henry follow him anyway.
- In certain clips of the engines, specifically close-ups, one can see snow, but at other times, it's gone.
- How could Henry have followed Santa when Santa flies and Henry remains on the ground?
- In the scene where Keswick and Kitty are at the movies, Keswick is seen putting down his candy box but in the next shot it was gone.
- A brakevan should have been added to Henry and James' trains.
Film[]
Kitty Katswell's Adventures Of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (FL)
The full film of "Kitty Katswell's Adventures of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer"