Olive the Other Reindeer the cutest Christmas puppy on TV
Olive the Other Reindeer is the cutest Christmas puppy out there, in addition to being one of the best underrated Christmas specials ever made, so Christmas in July makes for an excellent time to look back on it.
Based on a children’s book with the same title by Vivian Walsh and J Otto Seibold, Olive the Other Reindeer aired on Fox in 1999, produced by Matt Groening of The Simpsons.
The title character is a medium-smallish white and brown dog (possibly a Jack Russell Terrier?) named Olive, voiced by Drew Barrymore, who was still riding the brilliance of Ever After, though the cringe of Never Been Kissed was evident, and would be followed by the mixed reaction to Charlie’s Angels.
The cast also includes The Simpsons’ Dan Castellaneta (who is also the Knicks fan in Space Jam) as a flea, Joe Pantoliano (Cats and Dogs, Racing Stripes) as a penguin con artist, REM lead singer Michael Stipe as a down-on-his-luck bar patron, and Tim Meadows (Mean Girls, Saturday Night Live) as a kind bus driver, among others, with voice acting legends Tress MacNeille, Billy West and Kath Soucie in minor roles.
It’s set in a generic northern American city of indeterminate size (probably located somewhere in the Midwest), and continues through Canada and on up to the North Pole.
Olive the Other Reindeer is an underrated Christmas special starring a determined doggo.
Storyline
Olive is a strange dog – she hates chasing cars, and has a pet flea named Fido. Her doghouse is immaculate, and she can read really well.
When she fears that her owner, Tim, wants a more normal dog, she decides to run away to the North Pole after mishearing a radio soundbite from Santa Claus that Christmas may be canceled since Blitzen is sick.
Along the way, she meets new friends in Martini, a penguin who has a long history of small crimes, and Richard the bus driver, and makes an enemy in a Postman, who wants to banish holidays forever because they make far too much work (which is kind of understandable).
Along the way through Canada, Olive and Martini have several more encounters with the Postman before getting stranded in a bar, where the bartender eventually gives them a ride the final stretch to the North Pole itself.
With some skepticism from Santa, Mrs Claus and the rest of the reindeer, they eventually decide to let Olive fill in as a substitute reindeer, and travel throughout the world delivering presents.
Once back home, Tim explains that Olive is a perfect doggo just the way she is, and Martini gets his job at the zoo back while the Postman is punished for his mischief.
Our thoughts
Even for the late 90’s, the CGI in Olive the Other Reindeer is terrible, and you could tell so at the time. But, perhaps because of this, the voice roles shine, and the offbeat and sly references (Olive’s doghouse imitates Snoopy’s never-seen grandeur, a road sign for Rocky and Bullwinkle’s Frostbite Falls is seen, a key plot device is a present from Deus Ex Machina) makes this wild world seem plausible – humans and animals can talk to each other, and dogs can read, so of course a disillusioned reindeer would burst into song at the bar, right?
(Deep-fried candy canes sound awful, by the way, and Martini’s three-X spelling of Rolex implies that there’s more going on than just dirt-cheap watches. Also, Godzilla exists and the Pope receives a Philadelphia Phillies baseball cap.)
Next. Turner and Hooch TV series is doggone pawesome. dark
Additionally, this was the first time (as far as we can tell) that Barrymore had a voice role, which she would later do in the surprisingly good Curious George movie with Will Ferrell as the Man with the Yellow Hat, and as love interest Chloe the Chihuahua in Beverly Hills Chihuahua.)
What are some of your favorite Christmas puppies from TV and film?