It's true Santa isn't depicted as the benevolent, big, jolly fellow he's seen to be. I think this depiction shows Santa as an imperfect human being. Sort of a henpecked, grumpy old man. After all, is Santa jolly ALL the time?
Sure he's flabbergasted at Rudolph's shining nose. This is unusual, so of course he wouldn't understand it and wouldn't foresee any practical use for it. After all, exactly how useful was Rudolph's nose before the storm? Even Rudolph felt bothered by it.
When Rudolph's nose is exposed at the reindeer games, I admit Santa was out of line for telling Donner he should be ashamed of himself.
The Elves Song... Santa was clearly pre-occupied with other things on his mind, so they obviously picked a bad time to perform for him. Santa Claus is a busy man, don't forget. Planning all those stops around the world in just ONE night. That can't be too easy to do. On top of that, Mrs. Claus is nagging him to eat and eat because the children expect a fat Santa.
Santa's just being a critic. Harsh, but honest. Santa Claus would not lie.
Finally, Santa saying that without Donner he wouldn't be able to get his sleigh off the ground. That isn't being selfish. He's thinking about all the children of the world who would be disappointed without toys for Christmas.
In the end, "even Santa realizes that maybe HE was wrong." Santa is only human.
"We'll have to cancel Christmas" was basically his way of saying "cancel the trip". Saying "cancel Christmas" was more effective I guess.
You know, I wonder how he drops all his weight after Christmas is over. When we first see him, he's basically a skinny bean pole dressed as Sherlock Holmes. Maybe he gets liposuction.
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johandav
14 years ago
"Santa Claus is a busy man, don't forget. Planning all those stops around the world in just ONE night."
Stops?!
The man just keeps flying his sleigh and has his elves dropping toys at random as they pass over houses. The only stop we see him make is when he shows up at the Island of Misfit Toys. That's another classic Santa moment - he's left these toys abandoned there, apparently for years, and when he lands the only thing he says is "Well, let's be on our way."
Good ol' Kris Kringle, the king of small talk.
“Hmm . . . well, it needs work. I have to go.”
*slams door*
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ExplorerDS6789
14 years ago
"The man just keeps flying his sleigh and has his elves dropping toys at random as they pass over houses. The only stop we see him make is when he shows up at the Island of Misfit Toys."
I'm guessing R/B did that for a number of reasons: time, budget, just needed a tag sequence. Don't forget, they only had a set budget to make this. Billie Mae Richards and Paul Soles were only paid $300 for playing Rudolph and Hermey respectively, so there was only so much they could do. Had this been made in, say 1975, they might have included a more detailed way of Santa delivering the toys. They only had so much to work with.
"That's another classic Santa moment - he's left these toys abandoned there, apparently for years, and when he lands the only thing he says is "Well, let's be on our way."
I don't think Santa even knew about the misfit toys. If you recall, Charlie-in-the-box says it's King Moonracer who searches the earth for unloved misfit toys and brings them to the island. Santa just makes and delivers the toys, he doesn't control whether or not a child actually likes them.
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Obnoxiously-Adorable
13 years ago
The thing about Santa not knowing about the Island of Misfit Toys is how can he not know?? He's supposed to know where every child in the world lives, and is therefore in every nook and cranny of the earth....so how does he miss an ISLAND every single year?
Not only that, if he 'makes the toys', did he make the misfit toys too? How did the train get square wheels? Who paired up a cowboy with an ostrich? I'm thinking backstory. Hermes wasn't the first disgruntled elf, there was another, one nobody talks about-one with a wicked sense of humor.
´¨*¨)) -:¦:-
¸.•´ .•´¨*¨))
((¸¸.•´ .•´ -:¦:-
-:¦:-Oooh, sparkly!
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ExplorerDS6789
13 years ago
"so how does he miss an ISLAND every single year?"
Because no children live there.
"Not only that, if he 'makes the toys', did he make the misfit toys too? How did the train get square wheels? Who paired up a cowboy with an ostrich? I'm thinking backstory."
Factory rejects. There could be many interesting backstories surrounding those toys. You could be right, there might have been some disgruntled elf or a very inexperienced one who made those toys.
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pioneergrrrl (2411)
5 years ago
The toys are 'disabled' they are brought to the island by King Moonracer for their own 'protection'. It is assumed they would not be able to perform the duties of 'regular' toys...but they are lonely and desperately also want to be played with by children.
The families watching this in the 1960's and 1970s would understand this as commenting on the institutionalization of people w disabilities. The toys are supposed to represent people w disabilities.
It's a very stark and powerful movie. It unfortunately loses some meaning today bc of how society has infact changed. People are not locked up and away just bc they have disabilities.
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jschillig
12 years ago
Also, that tag sequence wasn't part of the original show. I believe it was added to the second airing in reponse to Rankin and Bass getting flooded with letters asking for the Misfit Toys to be rescued.
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sailorspysedna
10 years ago
I agree; I now see King Moonracer as like a father sort of figure who adopts these toys. I think the kids who get these misfit toys will probably love them.
But I say geez, what is it with people of this generation acting like this and disliking the special saying "oh, everyone's a jerk!"? Are we becoming a bunch of overprotective crybabies?
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gcarras (2772)
6 years ago
It has a low budget kind of look., but that's why it's a classic, still an hour with ads.
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sailorspysedna
10 years ago
I completely agree with most of this, but I think the reason that Santa was telling Donner he should be ashamed of himself was because of the covering the nose thing. Notice that when Santa said that, he wasn't angry at Rudolph, but at Donner. All he said about Rudolph was that he felt pity for him, and he had a nice takeoff, and he looked a bit sad. If it was the ashamed way as most people I believe misinterpret, then that part with Donner feeling how bad he treated Rudolph would make no sense. I think the reason he's thin is because he's busy in an unhealthy way😁.
I do agree that he was sad about cancelling the trip also.
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sailorspysedna
10 years ago
I would say however, that even if Santa is crabby at parts during the movie, he still is the jolly fat man in the red suit that we all know at Christmas.
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