Highest quality release of Rudolph The Red-nosed Reindeer on DVD

[wackyoverkhaki]

OK, there are different releases of Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer on DVD and I was just wondering which one is of the highest quality. I want the original unabridged 1964 version. Some of the releases I hear are of scratchy quality and/or have omitted scenes. Can anyone help me out here?

[Jon Cooke]

OK, there are different releases of Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer on DVD and I was just wondering which one is of the highest quality. I want the original unabridged 1964 version. Some of the releases I hear are of scratchy quality and/or have omitted scenes. Can anyone help me out here?

I assume you are talking about the Rankin/Bass stop-motion TV special? The version included in The Original Television Christmas Classics box set (along with R/B's Frosty, Santa Claus is Comin' to Town, and Little Drummer Boy) is complete.

[Stoons]

I assume you are talking about the Rankin/Bass stop-motion TV special? The version included in The Original Television Christmas Classics box set (along with R/B's Frosty, Santa Claus is Comin' to Town, and Little Drummer Boy) is complete.


I found some interesting reviews about "The Original Television Christmas Classics box set" below: Here are 5 of them


1. [When I first saw this collection in the store, I just had to buy it!! Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer is my all time favorite Christmas special! The others in this collection are great also, especially Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town.
On a more troublesome note, I was reading some about the original production of Rudolph and found some interesting info. First of all, nowhere on this package does it credit Rankin and Bass. Also, there is a cover of Burl Ives' classic song by (of all people) Destiny's Child. I'm not a fan of theirs anyways, but this is almost sacrilege! I also found out that this version is different from the version that originally aired in 1964. The next year (1965) some songs were changed and some scenes cut. There were also deleted scenes that were never even included in the original airing that add to the continuity of the movie. For instance, Yukon Cornelius always licked his pick. Why does he lick his pick if he's looking for silver and gold? Apparently because in the uncut version, he's looking for peppermint!![...].]



2. [The first 3 titles are great. Frosty Returns has completely different illustrations than the Original Frosty. It was so bad we decided to watch Frosty the Snowman a second time. I loved The Little Drummer Boy when I was little, but the quality of this DVD was so poor I wouldn't watch it again. This came w/ a music CD too (it's very pathetic...sounds like it's made for kids, but thankfully kids don't like it, because it's torture to listen to). I recommend checking out the prices of the first 3 movies individually, before buying this.]



3. [I find it extremely hard to believe that in this day and age with all the technical expertise for restorations of classics no one bothered to restore these to their pristine condition. C'mon people!!! How tough is it to get a good master copy or at least dust off the one you are using. One thing about DVD. It sure shows off all the dust and dirt and white fibers.
Also it is apparent that the scenery is always changing colors throughout the movies; like the copy they used was sitting in the trunk of a car in the desert for a couple of years before they found it for this collection. Holy smokes. If they can restore old Charlie Chaplin dissolving nitrite films to pristine condition why not these???!!!! I am disappointed that these classics that we grew up with and loved have been so poorly prepared and transfered to dvd. I love the movies. I hate the condition.]



4. [I just want to let everyone know that the versions that they are selling this year (2005) of this set look exactly the same as least year's (2004) but have been altered! Some special content has been cut! Rankin's introductions are among the cuts. True, these intros were horribly corny and he failed miserably at trying to be intellectually profound in them but still it was part of the set's charm! Also, there are advertisements at the beginning of the discs now that can't be skipped!!!! If you're going to buy this set (which is otherwise great) do yourself a favor, go to ebay and buy a copy of last year's release. You can recognize it because it's packaged with a Rudolph figure.

The alterations are the only reason I rated this so low.]



5. [Now dont get me wrong, the ONLY reason to buy this DVD set is because of the classic Christmas shows... and on that end this is an excellent collection! HOWEVER! Whats the deal with the horrendous CD enclosed...when I saw a Christmas CD was included I excitedly bought the DVD and opened it in my car to listen to some christmas classics... put to my horror I hear the classics torn apart by some horrible singer (and his wife!) I cant imagine its that hard to put the show versions or at least decent songs on a CD... but other than that its a great DVD]

[Treadwell]

Some of that isn't quite accurate from what I've read. (And I have the set, too).

In the '64 airing, Hermy and Rudolf's duet was a reprise of the Misfit song. The following year, it was replaced with "Fame and Fortune". Other bits were removed from the show here and there to make room for a new scene of Santa rescuing the misfit toys.

On the DVD, all the removed footage, the original duet, and the toy rescue are present. "Fame and Fortune" is presented as an extra. It's interesting to see the Hermy puppet change noticably when the new footage begins--they apparently had to remake him.

Picture is better than it looked throughout most of its TV broadcast history, in which the same print was shown year after year no matter how much it faded and collected dirt. That worn print was ultimately transferred to videotape, probably mid-80s, so at least it didn't get any worse year to year. It did get edited, though. Finally, the restored version was unveiled in the late 90s, but subsequently it's been edited again for the broadcasts.

I read somewhere that the original picture elements of The Little Drummer Boy could not be found, so they had to make do with a 16mm dupe they found. Audio sounds much too good to be from that print, though, so apparently the original audio stems had survived. It looks as good as can be expected under those circumstances.

Yeah, the Frosty sequel is awful. I saw it once on TV and will never watch it again, not even on my DVD.

In short, I recommend this set.

[Jon Cooke]

I thought the picture quality of Rudolph, Frosty and Santa looked quite good.
I must have the 2004 edition, since my copy has Arthur Rankin introducing the Rudolph and Frosty shows.

I noticed the most recent edition of the set (from this past 2006 holiday season) had a bonus disc containing R/B's Cricket on the Hearth.