History WesternAnimation / RudolphsShinyNewYear

''Rudolph's Shiny New Year'' is a 1976 StopMotion special created by Creator/RankinBassProductions and first aired on Creator/{{ABC}}. A direct sequel to the studio's own 1964 ''WesternAnimation/RudolphTheRedNosedReindeer'', the special is narrated by Creator/RedSkelton as Father Time.

* WithFriendsLikeThese: Baby Bear declares Happy his friend, but has the distinction of being somewhat nasty in guilt tripping Happy for not "doffing his helmet" during a game of "knights and dragons." This also holds true, albeit to a lesser extent, with literally everyone Happy encounters.

* PteroSoarer: A cute, wyvern-like pterosaur is rescued by Happy at one point when he catches its egg as it falls.

* OneMillionBC: The first island Rudolph visits. It's a tropical isle inhabited by dinosaurs, of course. The year's personification is a caveman who goes by "O.M.", short for "One Million BC". Just go with it.

->''You know Rudolph who guided and pulled Santa's sleigh''\\
''And who saved Christmas by lighting the way''\\
''But there's more to tell''\\
''Rudolph saved the New Year as well!''

''Rudolph's Shiny New Year'' is a 1976 StopMotion special created by Creator/RankinBassProductions. A direct sequel to their own ''WesternAnimation/RudolphTheRedNosedReindeer'', the special is narrated by Creator/RedSkelton as Father Time.

* OnlySaneMan: The only characters who don't laugh at Happy's ears are Santa, Father Time, Ticker, Quart, and the people at the New Year's Eve party.

FatherTime has a problem. Happy, the Baby New Year, has run off (or crawled off, as it were) because everyone was laughing at his big ears. If he's not found in time, the Old Year will never end and it will remain December 31st forever. Rudolph is sent to search for him in the Archipelago of Last Years, where the Old Years go to retire. Every retired Old Year lives on an island where it forever remains the year during which the Old Year was the New Year.

* HumanSnowball: Aeon causes an avalanche that sends Rudolph, O.M., Sir 1023 and "Sev" rolling down the mountain as snowballs. Rudolph melts the snow off him using his nose.

* WingdingEyes: Any time a character laughs at Happy, their pupils turn into upside-down Us.

* GrumpyBear: This is implied to be the case with 1893, who apparently "never heard of" Happy. This may be a reference to [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panic_of_1893 the Panic of 1893,]] making the 1893 island one of the only {{Crapsack World}}s in the entire Archipelago of Last Years.

** The Americans of 1776 hold Fourth of July parades every day when they should still be fighting their war for independence. Also, the Declaration of Independence was actually signed on July 2nd, and the Betsy Ross flag wasn't adopted until June 14, 1777.

* NiceHat: Happy wears a spiffy top hat throughout most of the special. It's implied to be part of the traditional getup for a Baby New Year. He tries to keep it on as much as possible because of his big ears.

''Rudolph's Shiny New Year'' is a 1976 StopMotion special created by Creator/RankinBassProductions. A direct sequel to their own ''WesternAnimation/RudolphTheRedNosedReindeer'', the special is narrated by Red Skelton as Father Time.

Hitching a ride with a whale named Big Ben, Rudolph explores the archipelago, visiting three islands onscreen. He's joined on his quest by their personifications, "O.M" (short for "One Million BC"), Sir 1023 (pronounced "ten-to-three" for the time pun), and "Sev" (short for 1776). There is, of course, also a villain. It's a great evil bird called Eon the Terrible, so named because he's fated to live for exactly one eon. His eon will end with the New Year, so he hopes to capture Happy in order to freeze time and live forever.

* ArtisticLicenseGeography: Eon's island is "due north of the North Pole," even though literally every place on Earth is located ''south'' of the North Pole. Just go with it.

* BigDamnHeroes: Just as Eon is about to attack Rudolph, Big Ben surfaces to confront him. Later, SantaClaus shows up to get everyone back to Father Time before the twelfth bong.

* FeatheredFiend: Eon the Terrible, though it's hard to blame him if you look at things from his perspective.

* ImmortalsFearDeath: Eon's motivation. He's not ''technically'' immortal, but he's clearly lived several millennia - to clarify, he will live "until he is one eon old," and an eon is one ''billion'' years. With the deadline looming, he's ''terrified'' of dying, and thinks he can stave off death by kidnapping the New Year. (And he succeeds, just not the way he figured.)

* ItsAllAboutMe: Eon doesn't care about how important the new year is to everyone; he just doesn't want to die. Understandable, but still selfish.

** Quarter to Five is the one who explains to Rudolph (and the audience) who Eon is and why he wants to find Happy.

* NeverSayDie: Eon the Terrible's lifespan is expiring and is said to "turn into ice and snow" when it ends.

* TakeAThirdOption: Regarding Eon's fate, either he dies (turning to ice) or the New Year doesn't come. [[spoiler: Rudolph assures the audience that Eon's laughing fit at seeing Happy's ears will keep him warm and alive anyway.]]

* VileVulture: Eon resembles a giant buzzard with a serrated beak and is the film's BigBad.

* WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds: If you think about it from his perspective, Eon the Terrible is this. Yes kidnapping an infant and trying to avert the coming of the new year is a jerk move, but Eon can only live for one eon (hence his name) and if the new year comes, that deadline will finally be up and he'll be reduced to ice and snow. In short, Eon isn't so much malicious as he is ''terrified of dying''. [[spoiler:Fortunately, Rudolph and Happy manage to avert that fate for him]].

* YourDaysAreNumbered: Eon is aware that his eon will be up this December 31st and is determined to hold Happy captive so he can continue living forever.