Oh, No! They’re Alive!

For more than forty years now, the Christmas season has brought around one inevitable media event. Ok, several. It's a Wonderful Life, Miracle on 34th Street, A Christmas Story and a number of other holiday flavored movies barrage all of us. But the one I'm posting about is one that every child is forced to watch, year after year after year. Then later are forced to watch it again and again with their own children. I'm talking about the stop-action puppet film, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. And the New York Times carries the horrible news:

Santa and Rudolph are alive. And they have been restored and are on display.

“The response has been overwhelming,” said Stacy Shaw, development director for the center. “People have been driving from Florida and places to see the puppets.”

The pair, made of wood, felted wool and wire, are thought to be two of the last surviving figures of the thousands made by Japanese puppet makers in the 1960s for the Rankin-Bass animated film production company, led by Arthur Rankin Jr. and Jules Bass.

Shortly after “Rudolph” was completed, the tiny Rudolph and Santa puppets were taken home by a Rankin-Bass employee. She gave them to her children, who fed Rudolph crayons and red Play-Doh. Over time, his glowing red nose was lost and his felt fur deteriorated. Santa’s fluffy white eyebrows and half his mustache vanished.

In 2005, the nephew of the original rescuer found the puppets in a family attic and brought them to be appraised on the PBS series “Antiques Roadshow.” Created for about $5,000 each in 1964, they were valued at $8,000 to $10,000 for the pair. The family sold both figures to Kevin A. Kriess, the president of TimeandSpaceToys.com and a lifelong fan of the Rankin-Bass films. Mr. Kriess declined to reveal the purchase price, but said he had promised the family he would restore the puppets and show them publicly.

The misfit toys are off the island! Run for your lives!