Olive the Other Reindeer deserves to a Christmas classic
Between the Hallmark rom-coms, the litany of Peanuts specials, and all those films with a goofy guy who must do something to save Christmas, media becomes inundated with fluff as we enter the holiday season. Sifting through the stew can be difficult when not limited by the confines of television schedules. Before, a somewhat unknown IP would be discovered simply because it was what was on TV.
Such is the case of the oft-forgotten, Emmy-nominated TV special Olive the Other Reindeer produced by Simpsons creator Matt Groening. The special first aired after an episode of Futurama in December 1999, a type of television event the shift to streaming has since buried. Instead of being just another piece in an ocean of film and TV, Olive the Other Reindeer got the space necessary to allow people to discover its silly, star-studded story. It’s the sort of well-rounded, original animated special that is hard to find now.
Related
The special begins as many others do: in song! Olive, an anthropomorphic Jack Russell Terrier voiced by Drew Barrymore, dances and sings around her small snowy city in anticipation of Christmas. As the song plays out, we see a mixture of 3D animated objects in the background, like the buildings and cars, while the people and anthropomorphic animals appear flat. It’s quaint when compared to animation now, but Olive the Other Reindeer was a vital part of the shift in animation, rendering even its 2D-looking characters in 3D CGI software. Even now, the mixed style makes Olive stand out; it evokes a sense of ’90s nostalgia with its sometimes clunky 3D environmental design, with storybook-inspired character design helping it feel timeless. DNA Productions, who worked on the special, would go on to animate the
Read more on polygon.com
