By Jesi Smith
“What kind of Santa would condemn all the Misfits to an island by themselves?” asked my 16 year old with disgust.
“Santa is prejudiced against the handicapped toys,” chimed in my younger daughter.
One of my sons agreed saying, “Yeah, Santa wouldn’t even accept Rudolf… until Rudolf could do something for him.”
Poor Rudolf, even his parents were embarrassed and rejected him until he was found to have some use in their eyes. My children were having a very serious discussion about “Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer” that caught my attention.
I thought they were making fun of one of my favorite Christmas classics by analyzing its hokey animation and plot, but after listening to their discussion I realized that I had grown up with a lie – that even toys that are broken in ‘mind’ and body are worth less than those who are whole.
Did you know Santa did not save the Misfit Toys in the original 1964 stop motion animation “Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer?” According to the article ‘10 Things You Didn’t Know About Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer’ by Amanda Ferris, angry letters from children demanded the Misfit Toys be helped and thus the short scene that showed Santa and Rudolf making good on their promise to go back to the island and deliver the Misfits to homes was added and has been shown since 1965.
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