One of a plethora of animated Christmas classics created in the 1960’s – A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965) and How The Grinch Stole Christmas (1966) come to mind – this rendition of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer is unique in that it uses stop-motion animation instead of cartoons to tell its story. Voiced by Burl Ives, Sam the Snowman brilliantly narrates the tale of an awkward reindeer and his firsthand struggle with discrimination. Along the way, Ives sings a number of holiday classics such as Silver and Gold, Holly Jolly Christmas, and of course, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.
Our story begins when Rudolphs father, Donner, tries to cover up his newborn sons shiny, bright red nose with a disguise. When Rudolph attends a flight training school for young reindeer, he encounters Clarice, a young doe who thinks that Rudolph is cute. This revelation causes Rudolph to leap into the air and fly around the sky like a seasoned aviator. But when he lands, the false nose falls off and Rudolphs red honker is exposed to the scorn and ridicule of young bucks everywhere. Clarice is the only one who doesnt condemn Rudolph as a freak, but her father soon forbids her...