Robbie the Reindeer: Legend of the Lost Tribe
December. 13,2002Follow Robbie as he sets out to discover a mythical tribe of lost Viking warriors to help him save his friends from another dastardly plot by the evil Blitzen and his new-found partner-in-crime The White Rabbit. Robbie is having girl trouble too - Donner is feeling neglected and decides to give Robbie an ultimatum. Can Robbie save the day, keep his girl and unravel the mystery of the Legend of the Lost Tribe?
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Reviews
Absolutely Brilliant!
I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.
Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.
It’s sentimental, ridiculously long and only occasionally funny
My wife and I just ordered the new DVD with the original Robbie (Hooves of Fire) and this one on it. We have the older release with only Hooves of Fire, and absolutely LOVED that one. We were both shocked and disappointed at how bad this one is!! The story is weak, but worse yet the witty scripting from the original is completely absent. I gave it a 4 for the first minute or so of the movie - after that it's probably a 2 or even a 1.Oh, and the "addition" of new voices for the US version is appalling! I was SO relieved when I found the audio setup item which lets you switch to the original British voice talent!! I only wish I could tell the DVD to NEVER EVER play it with the US voicing again. I actually liked several of the US voice actors, but it just seems wrong if you've seen (and heard) the original with its British cast. It is, after all, a British comedy, and I kind of expect the British accents.
Simba4 has it totally wrong! This is a classic piece of light-hearted frivolity and shouldn't just be assumed as child viewing due to animation. That said, there's no harm in kids viewing it. I'd like to at this point make clear that I watched the British(original) version and must say that Americans probably won't appreciate it. It's has multiple levels of humor including irony. (Enough said I think) I don't believe the American version will have done justice to it. Ask them to remake the Ladykillers and see what happens. Whoops! Silly me - they actually did do that. Adrian Edmondson (unlisted I notice) is excellent as EVER! Brilliant, fun, festive silliness!
I read one of the user comments in Hooves of Fire and saw the 8 out of 10 rating and got my hopes up for this one. I can't begin to explain what a bad movie this is. It's certainly not for kids. And it's a waste of good clay too! The version I saw had Britney Spears as the girl reindeer (with breasts, no less). The story line is awful...renegade reindeer gone bad who comes back and imprisons his fellow reindeer by cruelly tricking them. Two of them escape and enlist the help of a long-lost tribe of tiny Norsemen. This is a holiday show?? This is good cheer?? Yikes...I couldn't turn it off fast enough. My 7-year old didn't like it either and said take it back to the video store.
Some time has passed since the race in `Robbie The Reindeer' and the group of reindeers have set up a tourist business offering guided tours. When an accident occurs on one such tour Robbie believes he was saved by a long lost tribe of Vikings - supposed to have been wiped out years ago. No one believes him and they are more concerned with the business losing money. When the evil Blitzen is released from prison 50 years early he promises to help them turn things around but double crosses them with the help of a master of disguise rabbit. Robbie escapes and goes to the Viking tribe to help him and his friends overcome Blitzen.This programme will need to work hard to build the same Christmas anticipation as Wallace & Gromit did. On several occasions the BBC's big thing was the newest W&G short to be shown. Last year Robbie The Reindeer was the next shot at a clever comedy animation and it hit big with clever jokes and good voice work. Here the bar has dropped a little but it is still worth a look. The plot is a little more floppy and doesn't work as well and the jokes are funny if not hilarious.The makers have tried to recreate the same magic but it doesn't always come off. It's telling that the sports commentators from the original, Des Yeti and Alan Snowman, have a brief cameo - they were the best bit of the last one. However it is still funny and has plenty of surreal moments and a funny (if straightforward) movie pastiche of Return of the Jedi's forest chase on Endor.The voice work again is of an excellent calibre and you almost wish the animation had made better use of them. O'Hanlon is again good as a slightly more aware reindeer version of his Father Dougal. Coogan is great in a few roles and Horrocks et al do well in support. Alistair McGowan is again on hand for some brief impressions and a strange but enjoyable role is available for an instantly recognisable Jeff Goldblum (who is noticeable absent from the booths in the final credits).This series needs to get better for next Christmas if the BBC want it to compete with W&G as the most anticipated Christmas animation, but aside from that it is well made, different and funny if not as funny as you'd want. Overall a quality animation to raise the mood after the Queen's speech.