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The Dolly in 'Rudolph' Is Actually on the Island of Misfit Toys for a Heartbreaking Reason
Distractify ^ | December 3, 2022 | Allison Cacich

Posted on 12/10/2022 6:01:55 PM PST by DoodleBob

It’s been 55 years since Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer first premiered on NBC, and watching the beloved TV special is still a Christmastime tradition for many families.

You couldn’t ask for a more inspiring gang of outsiders than Rudolph, wannabe dentist/elf Hermey, and everyone’s favorite prospector, Yukon Cornelius. After being cast out by their respective tribes, the trio turns to each other for companionship.

One question that has plagued the stop motion animation classic for years is why the doll, known as Dolly for Sue to some, is on the island. She never reveals what’s "wrong" with her, and nothing is physically off about her appearance. It took until 2005 for fans to finally get an answer.

Why is the doll a misfit toy in Rudolph?

We first see Dolly for Sue — "the kind that will even say 'How do you do?'" — during "The Most Wonderful Day of the Year," which introduces the audience to the island’s lonely, yet hopeful inhabitants.

Though Dolly appears joyful throughout the song, producer Arthur Rankin Jr. revealed in an interview with the Archive of American Television that she ended up on the island due to depression and low self-esteem. Yikes, that’s heavy.

"I always say, well, she has psychiatric problems. She was under the care of an analyst," Arthur admitted. He elaborated on that point in a 2007 chat with NPR’s "Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me," stating that Dolly felt unloved after being abandoned by her owner (who was presumably Sue).

Dolly’s "issues" were first hinted at on the Dolly for Sue Stuffins sold by CVS in 1998. A tag attached to her body read: "I’m a little rag doll who just wants a friend. I think that will help my broken heart mend."

Arthur also revealed that the mystery surrounding Dolly’s presence on the island stems from the fact that she was a last-minute addition to the broadcast. The producers felt they needed a misfit toy that young girls could relate to (remember, it was a different time back then).

As the special underwent revisions over the years, Dolly got more screen time and lines, making her lack of a physical defect more apparent.

Two years before his death, Arthur was asked about what makes Rudolph timeless. "I really don’t have an answer to that," he confessed. "I think because it was the first special of its kind… I think that, in looking for something to watch for Christmas, parents put their children in front of the television.

"And as the audience grew, so did the children that watched it," he added. "They grew up to become mothers. And they grew up to become grandmothers! And they also put their children and grandchildren in front of the television set… To many people, Rudolph means Christmas."

We don't know where Santa would be without him!


TOPICS: History; Society; TV/Movies
KEYWORDS: dolly; misfits; rudolph
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1 posted on 12/10/2022 6:01:55 PM PST by DoodleBob
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To: DoodleBob
Sadly Dolly grows up to be a harridan, a veritable shrew, a woke Democrat voter, consuming a plethora of psychiatric meds.

2 posted on 12/10/2022 6:06:51 PM PST by Governor Dinwiddie (LORD, grant thy people grace to withstand the temptations of the world, the flesh, and the devil.)
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To: Governor Dinwiddie

Wasn’t she doing White House press conferences for President Retard?


3 posted on 12/10/2022 6:08:16 PM PST by NWFree (Somebody has to say it 🤪)
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To: DoodleBob

She has no nose.
I think he was being silly with his explanation.
But yeah they are unloved toys so I guess Sue discarded her. Don’t think the doll needed a therapist.


4 posted on 12/10/2022 6:09:13 PM PST by Williams (Stop Tolerating The Intolerant)
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To: DoodleBob

Somehow, I think we’re being fed a line of utter codswallop.


5 posted on 12/10/2022 6:10:40 PM PST by NorthMountain (... the right of the peopIe to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed)
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To: Governor Dinwiddie

On the contrary, Dolly was kicked to the curb by the leftists because she refused medication. It was only when a weaponized Santa sleigh lead by Rudolph, a strong individualist who saves Christmas, lands on Christmas Island and finds a home for the Deplorable Misfits.


6 posted on 12/10/2022 6:12:58 PM PST by DoodleBob ( Gravity’s waiting period is about 9.8 m/s²)
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To: Mermaid Girl; Salamander
Speaking of Misfits...


7 posted on 12/10/2022 6:14:03 PM PST by DoodleBob ( Gravity’s waiting period is about 9.8 m/s²)
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To: DoodleBob
"the kind that will even say 'How do you do?'"

So she wasn't a "Hello" Dolly?

8 posted on 12/10/2022 6:14:53 PM PST by P.O.E. (Pray for America.)
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To: DoodleBob
I don’t care why Dolly is on that island. I have more important things to think about.
For example, what’s the deal with that snowman moving around without having any legs?


9 posted on 12/10/2022 6:16:40 PM PST by Leaning Right (The steal is real.)
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To: DoodleBob
Thanks so much for the clarification. I stand corrected!

I must have been thinking of the Jen Psaki doll.



10 posted on 12/10/2022 6:17:13 PM PST by Governor Dinwiddie (LORD, grant thy people grace to withstand the temptations of the world, the flesh, and the devil.)
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To: DoodleBob

Old joke:

“My doll has no nose!”
“How does she smell?”
“Terrible!”


11 posted on 12/10/2022 6:17:16 PM PST by ClearCase_guy (No one is as asleep as the "woke". They define the term "useful idiot".)
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To: Leaning Right

The original Yukon Cornelius had a pistol tucked in his waistband. Later drawing do not show the pistol.


12 posted on 12/10/2022 6:19:42 PM PST by mware
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To: DoodleBob
We first see Dolly for Sue — "the kind that will even say 'How do you do?'"

The world is in great need of her sweet, polite greeting.

Dolly should be cloned.

13 posted on 12/10/2022 6:20:16 PM PST by Ezekiel (🆘️ "Come fly with US". Ingenuity -- because the Son of David begins with Mars ♂️, aka every man)
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To: Governor Dinwiddie
Exactly.


14 posted on 12/10/2022 6:21:30 PM PST by DoodleBob ( Gravity’s waiting period is about 9.8 m/s²)
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To: mware

Always thought Yukon was modeled after Victor French ( Mr. Edwards from Little House)


15 posted on 12/10/2022 6:22:34 PM PST by mware
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To: DoodleBob

Hahahaha...Idiocracy...love it. Makes me grin every time I see a reference to it!


16 posted on 12/10/2022 6:24:01 PM PST by rlmorel (Nolnah's Razor: Never attribute to incompetence that which is adequately explained by malice.)
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To: Leaning Right

“what’s the deal with that snowman moving around without having any legs”

I always thought it had something to do with the three revolving heads of a Norelco shaver.

(Major sponsor when I was a kid)


17 posted on 12/10/2022 6:26:02 PM PST by shoff (Vote Democrat it beats thinking!)
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To: Leaning Right
He lost them in the war.

The left wanted him to bash America.

Instead he accepted a Presidential appointment to Santa, to ensure only Christmas Justice is delivered to enemies of liberty.

This is why John Kerry gets coal every Dec 25.

18 posted on 12/10/2022 6:26:16 PM PST by DoodleBob ( Gravity’s waiting period is about 9.8 m/s²)
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To: mware

> The original Yukon Cornelius had a pistol tucked in his waistband. Later drawing do not show the pistol. <

Yukon Cornelius seems to be kind of a goof. So I guess he lost his pistol.
Moral: Don’t keep your pistol in your waistband. Buy a decent holster.
👍

Just kidding. It’s wokeness run amok, again.


19 posted on 12/10/2022 6:31:00 PM PST by Leaning Right (The steal is real.)
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To: Governor Dinwiddie

Funny, I always thought that Hermey was gay.....even when I was a kid.


20 posted on 12/10/2022 6:31:50 PM PST by China Clipper ( Animals? I love animals. See? There's one there, right next to the potatoes!)
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