Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and the Island of Misfit Toys
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 This movie belongs on the Island of Misfit Movie Sequels.
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Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and the Island of Misfit Toys is a 2001 American-Canadian Christmas computer-animated adventure musical film produced by Golden Books Family Entertainment, Colorland Animation and Tundra Productions, and released by GoodTimes Entertainment. It was a sequel to the 1964 Rankin-Bass special and the 1998 Goodtimes film.
Plot
Rudolph, not satisfied with being a "novelty act" performing tricks with his nose, travels with Hermey to the Island of Misfit Toys to give King Moonracer a root canal dental treatment. A storm sends Rudolph and Hermey to Castaway Cove where Rudolph considers having his nose made more normal-looking by a hippopotamus named Queen Camilla. Meanwhile, the evil Toy Taker is stealing all of the toys from the island, including Santa's workshop, claiming that he's saving them from the inevitable fact that children eventually outgrow their toys and throw them away. Rudolph has a plan to foil the Toy Taker's by disguising themselves as toys. The Toy Taker's blimp arrives and manages to steal them along with the Misfit Toys, all except for Bumble, who is too big to fit into the blimp so he follows on a floating iceberg. Rudolph tries to talk to a new misfit toy, a kite who is scared of heights and wakes him up from his hypnosis, but fails. The Toy Taker hears all the chatter, and realizing there are intruders, catches Rudolph, Clarice, Yukon, and Hermey. They head back into the blimp, with Yukon chasing after the Toy Taker, Hermey piloting the blimp, and Rudolph and Clarice doing their best to wake up the toys from their hypnosis. Yukon finally chases the Toy Taker up to the top of the blimp. When a boomerang who doesn't come back swoops by Yukon, he loses his balance and falls. Rudolph and Clarice confront the Toy Taker, with Rudolph's nose blinding him during the confrontation.
The Toy Taker flees and parachutes his way down to Yukon's peppermint mine in hopes of escaping Rudolph and Clarice. Due to the holes in the blimp, Hermey loses control. Luckily, Bumble is there to save the blimp before any further damage can be made. The reindeer are still chasing the Toy Taker in the mine and Rudolph captures him. However, the Toy Taker tries to escape again, but Yukon manages to lasso him up with Hermey's dental floss. Upon removing the Toy Taker's coat and hat, it is revealed he is none other than a teddy bear named Mr Cuddles. He apologizes and tells them he used to belong to a boy named Steven, who outgrew him and threw him away. After this, he became the Toy Taker to save the other toys from also being thrown away. Santa explains that while it is true that some children outgrow their toys, he knows Steven is looking for him. Rudolph and his friends agree to bring Mr Cuddles to Queen Camilla to repair him and cheer him up. Rudolph also considers about turning his nose normal, but decides to keep it the way it is. Santa leaves to deliver the presents and Mr. Cuddles gets returned to his owner. Santa tells him that Steven didn't mean to throw him away, but was saving him as a family gift. He then places him in the bed of Steven's new daughter who awakens and cuddles him. Steven walks into the room to check on his daughter and smiles as Santa and Rudolph fly off into the night.
Why Christmas Is Ruined And Gone Forever
- Lack of continuity: This is supposed to take place after the events of the first film, yet Rudolph still looks like a child.
- In fact the prequel was made in stop-motion animation, yet this garbage was made in computer animation.
- There was already a sequel to the original special called "Rudolph's Shiny New Year", which should have taken place after that as well.
- Animation errors and clipping objects, such as King Moonracer already opening his mouth for Hermey, and when Hermey decides to look in, he closes it in refusal.
- Rudolph is very out-of-character in this film because he wanted a "normal nose", yet he is famous for his red nose, showing that it is okay to be different from the others. He also has double standards since at the end he still wants his red nose.
- False advertising: The Island of Misfit Toys is shown only a few times, and Rudolph doesn't even get the chance to stay there for long! The title should have been called The Rescue of the Toys.
- The CGI animation may be cheap, lazy and unfinished, even for 2001 standards.
- Even the CGI animation hasn't aged well ranging from poorly made in Maya and 3ds Max to just plain weird.
- It's unbelievable that a 2001 CGI-animated movie like this has cheap animation, considering that Recess: School's Out, Shrek, Atlantis: The Lost Empire, The Happy Cricket, Spirited Away, Monsters, Inc. and Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius which all came out the same year as this film and has animation thirty times better than this.
- Some forgettable and annoying songs (especially the "Island of Misfit Toys" song).
- Scoop the Snowman, The Toy Taker & Mr. Kite gives a creepy vibe throughout the entire movie.
- Most of the film's new characters don't feel right on a film with Rankin/Bass Characters in it.
- The Toy Taker's origin story is a ripoff of Jessie's in Toy Story 2.
- Rarely even follows up the events of the 1964 special, or even the 1939 book.
Redeeming Qualities
- The ending is heartwarming, in which Santa gives the Toy Taker to his owner's sweet baby daughter.
- The voice acting is decent. In fact, Scott McNeil does a great job at replicating Hermey and Yukon Cornelius' voices from the original.
- The Toy Taker's villain song is decent.
- It feels more true to the source material, unlike Frosty Returns & Here Comes Peter Cottontail: The Movie.
- The CGI animation may be cheap, lazy and unfinished, but it has good qualities where Christmas wishes came true.
- Some characters have passable designs, like the animals and creatures from the prequel at the start of the film for example.
- In fact, what's more, is that the CGI animation was done by four animation studios.
- Dan Krech Productions (who animated The Nuttiest Nutcracker and 3-2-1 Penguins! as well as Scourge of Worlds: A Dungeons & Dragons Adventure)
- TPS Animation Studios (who animated the station IDs and commercials of Canadian-French media)
- Nelvana (who did some CGI shows, Rolie Polie Olie, Miss Spider's Sunny Patch Friends, The Backyardigans, Handy Manny and Z-Squad)
- Sparx Animation Studios (who did some visual effects in live-action films, animated sequences of French media, and did the rigging for the original TV specials of Bratz and Butt-Ugly Martians)
Reception
The film currently holds a 5.5/10 on IMDb, and 42% of audiences liking the film on Rotten Tomatoes. It has gain somewhat of a cult following for fans and viewers who grew up with it.