Let's Talk About Rudolph
image from wikipedia |
I wanted to open with a movie from my childhood (and everyone's, basically) that I truly love. This was my favorite of the Christmas classics that aired every year and I always adored Hermey and wished they'd included more of him. Of course I loved Hermey; I was a towhead and a misfit and didn't fit in, either!
A couple years ago on Christmas Eve, a few of us at my dad's house sat down and watched this movie start to finish without interruption. And what did we notice?
My God, but what a mean-spirited movie this is!
Rudolph's mom: "He's got a shiny nose!"
Donner, his dad: "Sh-sh-shiny? I'd even say it glows!"
Mom: "Well, we'll simply have to overlook it."
Donner: "Now how can you overlook that? His beak blinks like a blinkin' beacon!"
And later, when Donner is forcing Rudolph to cover his nose with some sort of black thing and Rudolph, barely able to breathe, protests that "It's not very comfortable!"
Donner: "There are more important things than comfort! Self-respect! Santa can't object to ya now!"
Great parenting, Donner.
Meanwhile, of course, Hermey the elf has his own problems.
"You'll never fit in!" - Green Boss Elf.
Uh-oh. Rudolph's disguise has just been given away when he got excited at the reindeer games!
"Donner, you should be ashamed of yourself! What a pity, he had a nice take-off, too!" - Santa Claus
"From now on gang, we won't let Rudolph join in any reindeer games, right?" - Comet
The two misfits find each other and plan their escape.
Gadzooks! It's Yukon Corenelius!
Ah, a whole island of misfits.
The most insanely happy Bumble ever.
Of course, in the end, everyone learns the error of their ways. Santa quits being such a dick, Donner apologizes for emotionally abusing his son, the green boss elf allows Hermey to open up a dentist's office, and Bumble joins the gang after losing his teeth and being trained by Yukon.
Now, I only noted a few of the mean-spirited quotes, but I really recommend you check this movie out in full and really pay attention to the meanness - it's quite fun, actually.
-All screen stills taken by me from my own copy of the movie.-
I just had a mini freak out of excitement! This is one of my favorite Christmas movies and one I look forward to watching every year!
ReplyDeleteMe, too! :)
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