Memories of a Slightly different Rudolph movie

Most every American has watched Rudolph the red nosed reindeer during Christmas. But there are two distinct groups who saw slightly different versions of the same movie, my dad has seen both,.

The big difference is in the monster scene!

In one version of the movie, the snow monster, the Bumble, is defeated by Hermey the dentist taking out all his teeth, and then Yukon pushing him off a cliff.

In the other movie, which I have not seen, the monster turns out to have been mean because of a bad toothache, and I don't know what exactly happens here. My Google fu revealed so many references to this one difference from all kinds of people who remember this. I'm confused as to how actual information on this version is missing. I don't see it in Wikipedia or youtube or here on tvtropes, but it's an old movie so I understand how it could slip through the cracks.

Just... Where is it?!? This is weird and I feel like a detective

I thought this was everyone sharing a false memory of how it should have been written.

Remember the 1996 one with Whoopi as the ice queen and a fox voiced by Eric Idle? That one is enjoyably dumb.

Kind of like the how the Wizard of Oz ends with a final shot where it pans under the bed to show the Ruby Slippers in full color against the sepia background. That shot doesn't exist, everyone knows it doesn't exist, but everyone remembers it anyway because that should be the final shot.

That's the only one I saw as a child. That and the sequels to the Rankin Bass one. Never seen the original one in full though.

edited 7th Feb '15 11:27:21 PM by Odd1

Insert witty 'n clever quip here.

What, the one they show every year? You manage to miss that one every time?

Yup. Seen every other one, though. In my experience, I've never even seen it scheduled, but Rudolphs Shiny New Year and Rudolph And Frostys Christmas In July? Seen 'em played a thousand times each.

EDIT: and yet we don't have pages for them...hm.

edited 8th Feb '15 1:58:32 AM by Odd1

Insert witty 'n clever quip here.

I never saw Shiny New Year all the way through, but enough to get the gist of it, I think. I guess what you find depends on what TV channels you get.

As far as I remember, it contains all of that. The Bumble IS mean because of a toothache, and Hermey helps out by removing the offending tooth (I can't remember if he removes all his teeth, though) and at some point Yukon Cornelius did push him off a cliff. I can't remember what order all that occurs in, though. I believe at some point the film may have had a scene or two cut out to make it fit a time slot, which may speak to your confusion. If you want to see the thing uncut, my advice would be to find a DVD copy, rather tha a youtube video which was probably taped off TV.

I remember having a discussion of audience perceptions in a literature class once; turns out, for instance, most people, even those who have read the novel, will tell you that Dracula is killed by a stake through the heart at the end of Dracula, when in fact he's killed when Quincey Morris cuts off his head with his Bowie Knife. Hardly anyone ever remembers that.

I had just read about that on another forum, that everybody leaves out Quincey Morris because it seems so goofy that some cowboy kills Dracula with a knife, never mind that he would be considered the exotic foreigner in that story.

Now as for cuts to Rudolph I have heard of, I know for a long time the "We're a Couple of Misfits" reprise was replaced by another song sequence called "Fame and Fortune", which you could characterize as corporations shifting focus from solidarity between outcasts to wanting to amass riches like good consumer sheeple. But they restored it to the misfits song recently, though perhaps not with all the original visuals. I also heard that the epilogue where the misfit toys get picked up was added after a few years because audiences always felt so bad for them. Can't recall if there were any voice redubs; I did just learn that the classic Frosty the Snowman had the girl's voice redubbed after the first year.

So has anyone else seen the version where Bumble has that toothache and that's why he was so grumpy?

In the video I was trying to link but tvtropes stopped me.. the Bumble has come out of his cave after cornering Rudolph and friends, because Hermey was going oink oink to lure him out, then Yukon drops boulders on the Bumble, and Hermey manages to take out ALL the Bumbles teeth, making him harmless. And Yukon tackles him off a cliff. No mention of a toothache, even at the end the Bumble is toothless. Not on Wikipedia either... My school was right, don't rely on Wikipedia lol

edited 8th Feb '15 5:52:02 PM by xThomas

Maybe you're remembering that scene where Herbie checks his former boss's teeth?

Actually it would be other people. I saw too many references specifically to Bumble toothache so I posted about it wondering if anyone could clear this up.

As for Me? I've only seen the version without bumble having a toothache.

I'd suggest googling the following with results set to 100: bumble toothache rudolph

It's a consistent reference across the majority of results which are usually blogs or forums but there's even a google book bout Christmas on TV that mentions Bumble having a toothache, which makes it either a super common misunderstanding or obscure version that might be worth a mention for tvtropes

edited 9th Feb '15 8:06:30 PM by xThomas

You're probably just misremembering.

Insert witty 'n clever quip here.

Yeah everybody wishes it were just like Androcles' Lion, but actually it's some messed-up monster mutilation!

Umm.. Is this about the contemporary classic by Rankin-Bass, or another version?

If so, I remember seeing the version with a snow monster. Didn't know that there was another version.

Supports cartoons being cartoony!

Well, according to the plot synopsis on Wikipedia, the climax of the story goes as follows:

"Fortunately, Hermey and Yukon arrive and hatch a rescue plan. Luring the monster out of the cave, the pair knock the Bumble unconscious and Hermey extracts his teeth. Rudolph awakens, but he and his family are blocked from their escape by the also awakened beast who blocks the entrance to the cave. Yukon chases the now toothless Bumble to a cliff, driving them both off the edge. Mourning Yukon's apparent death, Rudolph, the Donners, Clarice, and Hermey nonetheless return home. where everyone apologizes for the way they acted while telling them about their adventure. Santa promises Rudolph that he'll find homes for all the Misfit Toys, the Elf Foreman agrees to let Hermey open his own dentist's office a week after Christmas, and even Donner apologizes to Rudolph for being critical about his nose. During the celebration, Yukon returns with a tamed Bumble, now a kinder and gentler monster, and thus reveals he survived because "bumbles bounce!" '

It's not expressly said in the synopsis, but if the notion that a toothache caused the Bumble's ferocity, it's likely mentioned by Yukon when he shows up there at the end. Furthermore, as far as edits go:

"Original 1964 NBC broadcast edit[edit] This version has the NBC "living color" peacock at the introduction. It includes the original end credits, where an elf drops presents which list all the technical credits. It also includes commercials which were exclusively for GE small appliances with some of the same animated elves from the main program introducing each of the products, and closing NBC network bumpers, including promos for the following week's episodes of GE College Bowl and Meet the Press, which were presumably pre-empted that Sunday for the inaugural 5:30 PM (EST) telecast. The College Bowl quiz show was also sponsored by GE.[7] The original does not include Santa traveling to the Island of Misfit Toys, but does include a scene near the end of the special in which Yukon Cornelius discovers a peppermint mine near Santa's workshop. He can be seen throughout the special tossing his pickax into the air, sniffing, then licking the end that contacts the snow or ice. Discarded in 1965 to make room for Santa traveling to the Island of Misfit toys, the audience was left to assume that Cornelius was attempting to find either silver or gold by taste alone.

1965–1997 telecasts[edit] The 1965 broadcast also included a new duet between Rudolph and Hermey called "Fame and Fortune", which replaced a scene in which the same characters sang "We're a Couple of Misfits". Viewers of the 1964 special complained that Santa was not shown fulfilling his promise to the Misfit Toys (to include them in his annual toy delivery). In reaction, a new scene for subsequent rebroadcasts was produced with Santa making his first stop at the Island to pick up the toys. This is the ending that has been shown on all telecasts and video releases ever since. Until sometime in the 1970s the special aired without additional cuts, but eventually more commercial time was required by the network. In 1978, several sequences were deleted to make room for more advertising: the instrumental bridge from "We Are Santa's Elves" featuring the elf orchestra, Rudolph & Hermey's duet reprise of "We're a Couple of Misfits", additional dialogue by Burl Ives, and the "Peppermint Mine" scene resolving the fate of Yukon Cornelius. The special's 1993 restoration saw "Misfits" returned to its original film context, and the 2004 DVD release showcases "Fame and Fortune" as a separate musical number.

1998–2007 CBS telecasts[edit] Most of the 1965 deletions were restored in 1998, and "Fame and Fortune" was replaced with the original "We're a Couple of Misfits" reprise. The "Peppermint Mine" scene was not restored; it has not aired on CBS since the mid 70s.

Starting in 2005, CBS airs the video of the "Fame and Fortune" scene with the soundtrack replaced by an edited version of "We're a Couple of Misfits". The special has been edited to make more time for commercial advertising by shortening some musical numbers.

2008–Present CBS telecasts[edit] "Fame and Fortune" has once again been replaced with "We're a Couple of Misfits". Additional cuts have been made for more commercial time."

edited 10th Feb '15 10:11:23 PM by Robbery

Oh yeah, the peppermint scene, I remember reading about that too but just now thought to look for it.

I wonder how difficult it is to distinguish the taste of peppermint from the actual cold out all around the North Pole.

Dear God, that special has been hacked to pieces and recut so many times over the years. What the hell.

Insert witty 'n clever quip here.

Does anyone remember that year when instead of showing the final song, they switched to some horrible animated Destiny's Child music video of it?

The Peanuts Christmas special was a mite different at original broadcast, too. It was apparently sponsored by Coca Cola, and there was quite a bit of Coke product placement in it. The can Linus snaps off of a fence, for instance, was a Coke can originally. The weird little cut at the end that has puzzled a lot of viewers originally made way for a Coke ad. Subsequent showings were NOT sponsored by Coke, and so the Coke imagery was removed.

Well. Good.

In the days before home video, i guess broadcasters felt they had a stronger mandate to cut, add, and replace content because there was no such thing (as far as audiences were concerned) as an "original." Extended endings certainly get frowned upon nowadays, even when they fix stuff (see also in video games, Mass Effect 3).

Sounds like xThomas's concern falls under the Mandela Effect...