I remember watching and enjoying this special when it aired on the Disney Channel in the 1980s. That being said, "Have A Happy New Year" and "It's Raining Sunshine" are ear worms, despite being a bit fragmentary in nature. There are a LOT of songs in this special, but most of them are not particularly memorable, which keeps me from rating it a "classic" like the 1964 Rankin Bass "Rudolph" special.
bicentennial, after all).īaby Happy meets Baby Bear (of the Three Bears) on 1023's island I like the idea of the Archipelago of Last Years a lot and also quite enjoyed the creativity employed with bringing in fairy tales on 1023's island and the 4th of July on 1776's island (1976, the year this special first aired, was the U.S. Morris says, there is an awful lot going on here - perhaps too much, but it's still a fun journey. This is a fun special, although perhaps not required annual viewing. Rudolph tells Happy his "origin" story and we get a new cartoon short that accompanies the "Rudolph" song. There's an interesting bit of "traditional" animation that appears near the end. "The moving finger writes, and having writ, moves on. The lyrics about the passage of time are very poignant, I appreciate them more in my 40s than when I first heard them. The new songs by Johnny Marks aren't as good as his classic Christmas songs, but they're enjoyable. This story here may not be as good as the 1964 Rudolph special, but the "animagic" is even better than the original. Thou looketh for the wee babe Happy?.comest with me, comest! We seeketh!" Gorshin's exhortations as 1023 still make me (literally) laugh out loud. It's nice to hear Billie Mae Richards voice Rudolph again, and Paul Frees and Frank Gorshin are great in multiple roles.
The business about each past year having its own island and each year having a personification is either very imaginative or very convoluted (depending on your perspective). Will Rudolph find Happy and get him back home before the New Year? Aeon also continues his search for Happy and continues to divert Rudolph's search. Rudolph is eventually joined by a caveman named One Million BC ( Morey Amsterdam), a knight known as 1023 (Gorshin again) and even a Ben Franklin-ish fellow called 1776 on his journey. He is rescued by a whale named Big Ben ( Harold Peary) and they make their way to the islands. Rudolph sets out for the Archipelago in a sail boat, only to be attacked by Aeon once more. It contains island for every year, the "Baby New Years" of each year retire to the island and it remains that year forever. Father Time says Happy can be found in the Archipelago of Last Years.įather Time explains about the Archipelago of Last Years Rudolph can relate, since his nose was also laughed at. He tells them Happy ran away because his ears were larger than average and caused people to laugh at him. If Rudolph can't find Happy, Aeon will live on forever.įather Time looks a lot like Red Skelton (who voices the character)
His "aeon" is up and he will turn to snow and ice when the new year arrives. They're suddenly attacked by a giant vulture named Aeon the Terrible (Frees yet again). They encounter a Camel named Quarter Past Five ( Frank Gorshin), who offers them a ride across the desert.Īeon the Terrible swoops towards Rudolph and friends With the guidance of General Ticker (Frees again), one of Father Time's foot soldiers, Rudolph embarks on his journey, through snow and ice and a desert called the Sands Of Time. General Ticker and Rudolph making their way to Father Time's castle
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