Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer/Fridge

Fridge Brilliance

• I just recently realized something about the Island of Misfit Toys segment of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. Namely, most of the misfit toys do not have any problems with them. A lion with wings or a cowboy riding an ostrich would be a cool toy, all Charlie-In-The-Box has to do is change his name, a polka-dotted elephant would be an acceptable stuffed animal, the squirt gun that shoots jelly just needs to replace its ammo, and dolly had nothing wrong with her at all. Others only had minor problems, such as the train with one set of square wheels or the swimming bird, that Santa could easily fix. Then I realized that that was the point. Just because they are misfits doesn't mean that they are bad, which, by the way, is the aesop of the whole movie. I am impressed they could back that up in such a subtle manner. - User:Stinkoman 87
  • This Troper was under the impression that King Moonracer (the winged lion) was not a misfit toy so much as a supernatural creature-being who took in misfit toys. And as for the misfit toys...
    • Don't replace the squirt gun's ammo—a jelly squirt gun would make breakfast awesome.
    • A swimming bird is not that weird (especially if Morgan Freeman starts narrating).
    • As for the cowboy riding an ostrich... heck, that's just weird enough to be cool. Or a sequel to Joust.
    • Charlie-in-a-Box... what's in a name?
    • I was in Toys R Us today, and in the stuffed animals section I saw critters so psychedelically colored they made a polka-dotted elephant look tame by comparison.
      • Here's an idea! Somehow link the polka-dotted elephant to PINK ELEPHANTS ON PARADE!!!
    • The train needs its caboose wheels fixed, but that's not too much of a problem.
    • What was the doll's "flaw", anyway?
      • Word of God says she was depressed from feeling unloved, which is not easily fixed.
• The full cut shows that Yukon Cornelius kept licking his pickaxe because he was prospecting for peppermint, and found it at the very end. Most people would think that mining for anything in the Arctic Circle would be crazy (since there is no tectonic plate up there that would contain minerals), especially when it is not something that you mine in the first place. That means that, like Hermey and Rudolf, Cornelius was a misfit that was vindicated in the end.

Fridge Horror

• In the end credits, the elves are dropping off the Misfit Toys to new homes. One elf picks out the Bird, takes a look at him, and the umbrellas he's been giving to the other toys, puts the umbrella away, and tosses the Bird down. And then you remember the Bird was a misfit because it couldn't fly.
• If we know Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, and Blitzen, why wouldn't we be able to recall the most famous Reindeer of all?
  • He died of nose cancer.
• The Misfit Toys are supposedly just toys that were unloved that ended up on the island—but think about it. At the end when they are shown being re-delivered to the kids, they don't really fix up any of the toys' problems (elephant having spots, or train having square wheels, for instance) -- so, wouldn't the toys just end up on the island again for their faults?
  • No, because Santa knows where to find the weirdo children who will love them despite (or even because of) those faults.
  • How is the squirt gun that squirts jelly a "misfit", anyway? Either it's because somebody filled it with jelly (so stop doing that—problem solved), or because it creates jelly (which most people would consider a good thing).
  • Why didn't the "Charlie in a Box" just rename himself Jack?
  • And add to that, what was wrong with the doll? Her misfit-ness was never described, and she looked perfectly normal. So why was she there?
    • When Jules Bass was asked this question, he replied, "I dunno -- maybe she was an alcoholic?"
    • On an episode of Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me on NPR, the hosts claimed the official reason was because she had emotional problems. See Word of God below.
  • Yukon is seen carrying what appears to be a revolver for the majority, if not the entire span of the film. He had plenty of situations where a gun would be handy. Why does he have it if he never uses it?
    • Maybe he only had the bullets that he fired into the air when he first showed up? He mentioned needing to buy gunpowder.
    • He's a prospector that apparently works in general above the Arctic Circle. Maybe it's a flare gun.
    • Because popping a cap in the bumble's ass wouldn't be appropriate for a Children's Christmas special.
    • Because the Bumble is friggin' huge. Shoot him all you want with those revolvers, unless you can get a bullet in his eye he's just going to get annoyed, not injured.
• Hermey says he doesn't want to make toys. The head elf tells him he's an elf, and elves must make toys. Then when the break whistle goes off, he tells Hermey to stay and finish his work or he's fired. Why exactly did he think would Hermey care about being fired, when he wants to quit? And how is it possible to fire an elf as a toymaker if they don't have a choice about doing it to begin with?
  • The boss probably couldn't comprehend that an elf would ever want to be fired. As far as he knew, elves were elves, they were always elves, and they enjoyed being elves. That was his entire thing: He couldn't wrap his head around an elf wanting to be anything else.
  • As for the firing threat, it was probably jut a motivator. He says "DO THIS, OR YOU'RE FIRED!" and most elves would get their ass in gear, because Hermie was literally the only one to ever not want the job.
• There is no security to protect any of the reindeer from the Abominable Snowman, not even the ones that pull the sleigh.

Fridge Logic

• Why do elves need to "practice" being elves?
  • They seem to be practicing things like singing, making toys, and greeting Santa. Seems normal enough.
• If toys are assembled by elves, does that include the misfit toys? And if so, why would an elf deliberately create a toy that was too weird to be loved or played with?
  • Off day?
  • A jerk elf.