YMMV / Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and the Island of Misfit Toys

• Evil Is Cool: For all the film's faults, the Toy Taker stands out as a memorable highlight. Mix in his Evil Laugh, his sinister costume, Rick Moranis giving him a sinister voice, and the heartbreaking reveal of his Freudian Excuse, and he proves just as iconic as the Bumble, Aeon the Terrible, and Winterbolt.
• Fanon Discontinuity: Most fans of the 1964 special and 1998 film would rather forget this film existed, given its terrible animation and a lack of memorable songs. The fact that the Rankin/Bass-produced sequels (which themselves are heavily contested) have seen consistent home video releases, but not this one, speaks volumes to its unpopularity. However, fans of the original special will admit that the film's few saving graces is giving Clarice a subplot and playing a major role in this movie.
• Heartwarming Moments:
  • During a Christmas party held at Santa's Castle that evening, Rudolph notices Clarice flirting with him before she waits for him outside. Rudolph's red nose start glowing before Hermey bumps into him. Realizing that she wants to go out on a date with Rudolph, Hermey signals him to quietly leave to spend some quality time with her. This leads to a cute sequence of Rudolph and Clarice playing together as the song "Beyond The Stars" is played over their heartfelt interactions.
  • As Rudolph and Hermey are traveling to The Island of Misfit Toys to take care of King Moonracer's toothache. Hermey decides to have a relaxing conversation with Rudolph about his crush on Clarice and to help him properly express his true feelings towards her. Hermey recounts the time he developed an intense crush on The Tooth Fairy and fainted after he was given a diploma as an "Official Dentist" from The Tooth Fairy.
  • The scene where Rudolph is teaching Clarice to fly is a Call-Back to the original 1964 special where he flies for the first time after she called him "cute". After a few failed attempts, Clarice becomes sad that "She will never earn her wings". Rudolph tries cheering her up by finally opening up on his true feelings towards her. After he whispers into her ear, Clarice becomes so overjoyed from Rudolph's love confession that she finally learns to fly like the other reindeer. Even fans of the original special will admit that Clarice's subplot was one of the few redeeming factors of this movie.
  Clarice: (surprised) Really? (overjoyed) He loves me! He loves me! Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer loves me! (starts flying into the air)
  • After Rudolph briefly ends up unconscious after hitting a metal door from The Toytaker's blimp. Clarice quickly flies under the blimp to allow Rudolph to land on her back as a Triumphant version of "Beyond The Stars" plays.
• He Really Can Act: Well, the whole cast can act, but there's no denying that the voice talent brought onboard managed to capture the essence of the original voices perfectly, while still portraying it in a manner that helps make the role their own. Special note should be given to Rick Moranis, who manages to make the Toy Taker absolutely terrifying, while also nailing the heartbreak of Mr. Cuddles, his true identity.
• Hilarious in Hindsight:
  • One of the characters in this film being called Queen Camilla.
  • ABC Family used to air this film as part of their 25 Days of Christmas block up to 2013. Six years later, the channel's successor, Freeform, would begin airing the original special alongside CBS.
• Magnificent Bastard: The Toy Taker, real name Mr Cuddles, is the mysterious thief responsible for stealing toys around the world by using a magical flute to hypnotize them and lure them away from their owners. Once the beloved teddy bear of a little boy named Stephen, Cuddles was accidentally thrown away and left to rot in a dump after Stephen grew too old to play with him. Becoming the Toy Taker to save other toys from being abandoned like he was, Cuddles breaks into Santa’s warehouse and later fixes the Misfit Toys after leading them away as well, proclaiming that he will build a paradise where all toys would live happily without fear of being forgotten. When Rudolph and his friends try to catch him by infiltrating his blimp, it is revealed that the Toy Taker brainwashed the Misfit Toys to alert him of any intruders. Captured after nearly escaping, Cuddles is given to Stephen’s daughter as a Christmas gift after the heroes take pity on him upon learning of his story, peacefully accepting his new life.
• They Copied It, So It Sucks!: Many hate that the Toy Taker/Mr. Cuddles' Dark and Troubled Past is a copy of Jessie's backstory in Toy Story 2 (which at the time had been released two years ago), with the only difference that instead of being donated, he is thrown away and ends up in a landfill. He even tells it with a sad song!
• Special Effect Failure: The entire film just looks awful thanks to its utterly poor CGI, to the point it looks like an unfinished Pixar concept. From constant blurriness to stiff expressions, multiple instances of static or the models faltering, it's practically the Food Fight of its time (albeit being a bit more justified given that it came out in an era where subpar CGI, be it full animation or live action VFX, was not uncommon).