Rudolph Is The Original Cinematic Superhero | The Odyssey Online
Start writing a post
Arts Entertainment

Rudolph Is The Original Cinematic Superhero

Don't believe me? Just watch "Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July" and "Rudolph's Shiny New Year."

77
Rudolph Is The Original Cinematic Superhero

It's Christmas time. It's time to cut down trees and hang up ornaments, decorate the house, buy presents and send your love to those most important. But it's also the time of year when all the "Rankin & Bass" holiday specials come out. Most people grew up watching these movies, but for me, they defined my childhood. My mom has almost everyone on DVD.

WE'RE A COUPLE OF MISFITS ~ Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeerwww.youtube.com

Most of you might be thinking, that's not that impressive, there's only a few. No, there's a lot. Ever hear of "The Leprechaun's Christmas Gold," "Pinocchio's Christmas," or "The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus"? Well, we have them. I grew up in a Christmas Wonderland thanks to these movies. I still regularly quote these films, not just at Christmas time but throughout the year.

With the tradition being to watch these movies, we started to go through the list. We stated with "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer." The movie tells the story just like you know it. Rudolph was born with a red nose, and the reindeer picked on him. But after his coming-of-age tale, he guides Santa's sleigh.

Rudolph's Shiny New Year - Trailerwww.youtube.com

But then "Rudolph's Shiny New Year" comes out. It's a sequel of sorts, and Rudolph is sent on a new adventure, where he has to save...well, he essentially has to save the world, because the new year baby, dubbed Baby New Year, ran away. And without the baby, the new year can't happen!

An unrelated story, that takes our hero back into the swing of things.

Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July, We're a couple of misfitswww.youtube.com

And like any real trilogy, the third installment in Rudolph's legacy, "Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July" dives deeper into his origin. Like any trilogy of today, the third film tends retcon, and re-establish the hero's beginnings.

In this movie, we learn of Winterbolt, an evil Wizard who terrorized the world with the winter cold. In order to stop him, The Queen of the Northern Lights, Lady Boreal puts him in a deep slumber. In order to combat his potential return, Lady Boreal visit's newborn Rudolph and gives him the power of his nose and places a winter mark on his hoof of a snowflake.

This wasn't established in the first movie! He was just born with a red nose! But like true, superhero fashion, his origin story gets deeper.

Not only that, however, did you notice the title of the movie? Rudolph and who? Frosty. This is also Frosty's third movie. That's right. 37 years before Marvel released "Captian America: Civil War," which not only acts as another "Avengers" movie, as well as a sequel film to both "Captian America" and "Iron Man" franchises, so does "Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July."

Dean Valentine - Sharks Don't Sleep ("Captain America: Civil War" Trailer Music)www.youtube.com

The last time we saw Frosty, you might assume was in "Frosty The Snowman." You would be incorrect. We last saw him in his second film, "Frosty's Winter Wonderland." In that, Frosty is made a bride by the town children and gets married. In this third film, we meet his and Crytal's (his wife) children, Chilly and Milly.

We even see the hero's pitted against each other (kind of). Winterbolt comes back and tries to set the heroes against each other. Frosty's family turns on Rudolph, and Rudolph takes the fall for something he was tricked into doing (I'm intentionally being vague so that you go see it!) and he loses his winter mark. This mark, Lady Boreal exclaimed would fade if he ever used his powers for evil and he would lose his red-nose. Winterbolt managed to trick him into doing so, but rather than admit this, allows everyone to think he "broke bad" in order to keep Frosty from melting! (Like the "Breaking Bad" reference?).

Breaking Bad Main Title Theme (Extended)www.youtube.com

More than that, Frosty then sacrificed himself so that Rudolph can have his powers back. There is heartache! There's drama! There's emotional turmoil!

This movie serves as possible not only the first double third installment but has crossovers of two prominent characters and establishes the Rankin/Bass Cinematic Universe as taking the same strides Marvel takes today. It's safe to say that this movie is rather ahead of its time. It acts as a third act in a trilogy for two separate film franchises, and it dives deeper into the origin of the superhero, like any third installment. In this movie, Rudolph is the troubled aged Batman, and Frosty is the young and ready to sacrifice Robin. Yes, Batman and Robin are different from the MCU, but that analogy works better here, while the MCU analogy makes the most sense to describe how great, the Rankin and Bass Christmas movies really are.

The Batman Theme Songwww.youtube.com

Report this Content
This article has not been reviewed by Odyssey HQ and solely reflects the ideas and opinions of the creator.
Lifestyle

11 Things Summer Nannies Can Relate To

There are plenty of obstacles that come when taking care of kids, but it's a very rewarding experience.

683
kids in pool

As a college student, being a nanny over the summer is both enjoyable and challenging. Underneath the seemingly perfect trips to the pool or countless hours spent playing Monopoly are the obstacles that only nannies will understand. Trading in your valuable summer vacation in return for three months spent with a few children less than half your age may seem unappealing, but so many moments make it rewarding. For my fellow summer nannies out there, I know you can relate.

Keep Reading...Show less
girl thinking
thoughtcatalog.com

There are a lot of really easy, common names in the U.S. and while many of those simple names have different spellings, most of the time, pronunciation is not an issue that those people need to worry about. However, others are not as fortunate and often times give up on corrections after a while. We usually give an A+ for effort. So, as you could probably imagine, there are a few struggles with having a name that isn’t technically English. Here are just a few…

Keep Reading...Show less
Daydreaming

day·dream (ˈdāˌdrēm/): a series of pleasant thoughts that distract one's attention from the present.

Daydreams, the savior of our life in class. Every type of student in the classroom does it at least once, but most cases it is an everyday event, especially in that boring class -- you know the one. But what are we thinking while we are daydreaming?

Keep Reading...Show less
Jessica Pinero
Jessica Pinero

Puerto Ricans. They are very proud people and whether they were born on the island or born in the United States by Puerto Rican parent(s). It gets even better when they meet another fellow Puerto Rican or Latino in general. You’ll know quickly if they are Puerto Rican whether the flag is printed somewhere on their person or whether they tell you or whether the famous phrase “wepa!” is said.

Keep Reading...Show less
girl

If it hurts now, it'll hurt again. Not because you're gullible or naive, only because you fall fast, hard, and you do it every time.

We fall each and every time with the complete and utter confidence that someone will be there to catch us. Now that person we SWORE we were never going to fall for has our hearts, and every time we see them our palms start sweating. The butterflies in our stomach start to soar and our hearts are entirely too close to bursting out of our chests.

Keep Reading...Show less

Subscribe to Our Newsletter

Facebook Comments