After the success of Rankin/Bass’s 1964 holiday hit, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, everyone’s favorite shiny-nosed hero returned for a second adventure, this time to help Father Time find the missing Baby New Year. After facing continual humiliation over the size of his ears, Baby New Year, whose name just happens to be Happy, runs away from home. Father Time explains to Rudolph that unless Happy is returned by midnight on New Year’s Eve, the new year cannot begin, and they will be forced to live out December 31st forever.

The villain of this holiday tale is Aeon, a large buzzard who is destined to turn into ice at the end of the year.

Aeon would rather the year go on forever, and he sets out to make sure Happy is continually humiliated, and always on the run.

Much like the first story, Rudolph encounters a series of unique beings along his journey. As soon as he sets out, Aeon tries to attack him, and a giant whale named Big Ben rises to save him. With Big Ben’s aid, Rudolph journeys to the island home of caveman, One Million B.C. (O.M.) Rudolph discovers that he just missed Happy. O.M. and Rudolph travel through time together for two days, but have no luck finding Happy.

O.M. and Rudolph stumble across a knight named 1023, who sets out with Rudolph out of a sense of chivalric duty and together they journey through numerous fairytale stories, learning once again that they only just missed Happy, who was scared off when the fairytale creatures laughed at his ears. Happy runs away again, arriving in 1776, where he meets a Ben Franklin-esque character, who befriends the baby. Unfortunately, the villagers laugh at Happy and scare him right into the clutches of Aeon, who carries Happy off to a mountaintop.

When Rudolph does finally manage to meet up with Happy, it’s the sharing of his own story and his struggle to overcome the constant teasing on account of his shiny, red nose that convinces Happy that it’s okay to be different; in fact, being unique makes him special. The baby is restored just in time for the new  year to begin, and celebration ensues.

One of the great things about this classic tale is the ending, as no matter who you are, everyone tends to feel at times like they stand out from the crowd, and learning that it’s okay to be different is a valuable lesson for people of all ages. You can almost always catch Rudolph’s Shiny New Year on television during the holidays, but if you can’t wait, you might also consider adding it to your holiday DVD collection.