Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer: The Movie

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer: The Movie is a 1998 American animated adventure musical film about the character of the same name, who first appeared in a 1939 story by Robert L. May. The film was the first theatrical feature from GoodTimes Entertainment, long known as a home video company. It stars Kathleen Barr as the voice of the titular Rudolph, and also features celebrity talents including John Goodman, Eric Idle, Cathy Weseluck, Whoopi Goldberg, Debbie Reynolds, Richard Simmons and Bob Newhart The film disappointed at the box-office, recouping only $113,484 of its $10 million budget from its theatrical release.

Plot
One night, the Sprites of the Northern Lights - a group of singing sprites who fly around the North Pole - witness the birth of a baby reindeer named Rudolph, who has an unusual red, shiny nose. Later in the morning, Rudolph and his parents, Blitzen and Mitzi, meet up with Rudolph's three uncles - Dasher, Comet, and Cupid. Cupid tickles Rudolph and inadvertently triggers his glowing nose, which draws attention and causes Rudolph to become the center of scorn and mockery. Meanwhile, two of Santa Claus's elves, Doggle and Boone, cross the ice bridge of the wicked Ice Queen, Stormella, to deliver mail. They accidentally crash into and destroy several ice statues that belong to her. When Stormella finds out, she storms into Santa's workshop and demands him to hand Boone and Doogle over to her to face consequences. When he refuses, she closes her bridge to the public as punishment, and warns that if anybody dares to cross it, she will create a blizzard so strong it will stop Santa from delivering presents to children around the world on Christmas Eve.

Rudolph later starts attending school, where he is ridiculed by his classmates for wanting to be among Santa's reindeer, the Flyers, despite his nose. The only one who doesn't tease him is Zoey, a kind young doe who Rudolph has a crush on, and who reciprocates his feelings. One day Santa Claus meets Rudolph, sad for the mockery, and reassures him that his nose is beautiful and that to be a Flyer a reindeer needs to have a big and honest heart, a trait that he sees in Rudolph, who gains more confidence in himself.

Years later, a teenage Rudolph takes part in the Junior Reindeer Games, which are responsible for selecting new Flyers for Santa. During a sleigh race event, Cupid's son and Rudolph's mean-spirted cousin Arrow (who is in a relationship with Zoey) implicitly causes the other competitors to crash and then tries to distract Rudolph by claiming that Zoey is only nice to him because she feels sorry for him, making Rudolph's nose glow in anger and blind Arrow. Though Rudolph wins the race, he is disqualified for blinding Arrow, and Arrow is made the winner by default. Zoey confronts Arrow for cheating in the race and ends their relationship. As Blitzen tries to defend his son's actions, an eavesdropping Rudolph misinterprets his father's statements as an admission of shame towards him, and decides to run away from home.

At night, unknowingly with the help and guidance of the Sprites of the Northern Lights, Rudolph journeys across the lands of the North Pole, and eventually befriends an Arctic fox named Slyly and a polar bear named Leonard. Meanwhile, Zoey learns from Blitzen and Mitzi that Rudolph ran away from home, and runs off in search of him. She eventually comes across Stormella's bridge the next morning and decides to cross it despite the consequences. However, she is caught by Stormella, who imprisons her. Upon learning about Rudolph and Zoey's disappearances from their parents, Santa sends Boone and Doggle to search for them. After having a bad dream, Rudolph meets the Sprites, who inform him of Zoey's capture and instruct him on how to properly use his nose. Rudolph, Leonard, and Slyly journey to Stormella's castle, but upon arrival, Slyly chooses to stay behind out of fear of Stormella's pet wolves while Rudolph and Leonard enter.

After Rudolph and Leonard are captured and imprisoned by Stormella, she fulfills her vow and unleashes a massive blizzard upon the North Pole. After Stormella goes to sleep, Slyly, having had a change of heart, sneaks into her bedroom and retrieves a key that unlocks the prison cells. However, Stormella wakes up, realizes this, and sends her pack of wolves after Rudolph and his friends, who eventually corner them on a cliff. When she threatens to freeze Zoey first, Rudolph uses his nose to blind Stormella, sending her toppling over the cliff and hanging on for dear life. Rudolph and the others then save Stormella, and she gratefully offers to grant him a wish. Much to the Ice Queen's dismay, Rudolph wishes that Stormella would be nice rather than to have a normal nose like he always would have wanted.

Though the wish takes full effect, Stormella is unable to stop the snowstorm that she created, saying that it has to run its course. Boone and Doggle later find and bring the entire group back to Santa's Village. Because of the blizzard, Santa is unable to carry out his flight this year, but when he sees Rudolph's glowing nose, Santa asks him to lead his team of Flyers. When Rudolph agrees, he is given a Medal of Valor, which all Flyers wear, and his father tells him that he is proud of him. Rudolph guides Santa's sleigh through the storm, and receives a hero's welcome when he returns.

Cast

 * Kathleen Barr as Rudolph and Twinkle
 * Michael Lloyd provides Rudolph's singing voice
 * Eric Pospisil as Young Rudolph
 * John Goodman as Santa Claus
 * Eric Idle as Slyly the Arctic fox
 * Bob Newhart as Leonard the polar bear
 * Myriam Sirois as Zoey (Rudolph's friend and love interest), Glitter, and Schoolroom Doe
 * Debbie Lytton provides Zoey's singing voice
 * Vanessa Morley as Young Zoey
 * Whoopi Goldberg as Stormella
 * Carmen Twillie provides Stormella's singing voice
 * Garry Chalk as Blitzen (Rudolph's father)
 * Debbie Reynolds as Mitzi (Rudolph's mother), Mrs. Claus and Mrs. Prancer
 * Richard Simmons as Boone
 * Alec Willows as Doggle and Prancer
 * Lee Tockar as Ridley, Vixen and Milo
 * Matt Hill as Arrow (Cupid's son and Rudolph's cousin and rival) and Donner
 * Christopher Gray as Young Arrow
 * Elizabeth Carol Savenkoff as Aurora
 * Cathy Weseluck as Sparkle
 * Paul Dobson as Dasher (Rudolph and Arrow's uncle)
 * Terry Klassen as Dancer
 * Colin Murdock as Comet (Rudolph and Arrow's uncle)
 * David Kaye as Cupid (Arrow's father and Rudolph's uncle)
 * Tyler Thomson as Schoolroom Buck

Reception
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer: The Movie received mixed reviews. Rotten Tomatoes gave the film a 40% approval rating, based on 5 reviews. The audience gave a more positive score of 59%.

In North America
on November 20, 1999, GoodTimes Entertainment released the film on VHS and DVD. in 2003, GoodTimes re-released the film on DVD.

on October 30, 2008, Gaiam, Inc. released the film on DVD, but only in Widescreen.

on December 1, 2018, Universal Pictures Home Entertainment released the film on DVD and Blu-ray. the film is Re-mastered and Restored for the first time, and is taken from PAL masters (resulting in a slightly higher audio pitch than normal). the reason a PAL use is on the Universal DVD and Blu-ray release is that DreamWorks' The Boss Baby losing Best Animated Feature to Disney/Pixar' Coco on March 4, 2018 at the 90th Academy Awards. However, Both the 2010 DreamWorks Animation and the GoodTimes logos are were kept in a normal pitch. Despite that, the entire film remains normal-pitched on all streaming platforms, including Netflix and Hulu (due to being sourced from NTSC DVD masters).

Books
In 1998, four books based on the film were released.


 * Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer: A Retelling of the New Animated Movie, which was based on the film's plot.
 * Rudolph Save the Sprites, which served as a sequel and saw Rudolph and Zoey search for the missing Sprites of the Northern Lights.
 * Rudolph's Special Day in Santa's Workshop, which features an infant Rudolph getting a tour of Santa's Workshop.
 * Christmas Town: Rudolph's Sing-A-Long Book, featuring lyrics to the film's songs.