Hooves of Fire
| "Hooves of Fire" | |
|---|---|
| Robbie the Reindeer episode | |
| Episode no. | Season 1 Episode 1 |
| Directed by | Richard Goleszowski |
| Written by | Andy Riley, Kevin Cecil and Richard Curtis |
| Production code | BBC |
| Original air date | 25 December 1999 [1] |
Hooves of Fire is one of three animated BBC Christmas comedy television specials, filmed using stop motion techniques, and presented in aid of Comic Relief.
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer's slacker son, Robbie, arrives at the town of Coldchester in the North Pole in August to be the navigator for the sleigh team.
Robbie has a nose that's like a GPS and can detect anything. Donner, a female reindeer, has taken an interest in Robbie and vies for his affections, but alas, he's fallen for Vixen, who doesn't return his affections.
However, Robbie has an enemy in the sleigh team's captain and Vixen's boyfriend Blitzen, who was his father's arch-rival. He encourages Robbie to carry his lazy ways, and even hands him a pipe, a newspaper and a cheeseburger with large fries. Blinded by Blitzen's kindness, Robbie is unaware that in fact, Blitzen wants to rid Robbie from the team.
A very hip and fashion-conscious Santa Claus (nicknamed Weirdy Beardy, by the reindeer), throws a party - complete with singing by Seal (an actual seal) - to show off his new sleigh equipped with a talking ash tray and new navigation system. Fearing his place on the team gone, Santa assures Robbie that he still has a place, granted he is fit and in shape. Realizing that he isn't, Robbie sadly leaves the team, after Blitzen tells him that they'd blame his father for a possible late Christmas.
Robbie, outside, is later picked up by a group of elves who discover him after he's been frozen in an icecube. He begs to stay with them, and is hired as an assemblyman, where after failing to paint lipstick on a doll, ends up stuffed inside a box, prompting the head elf to demote him to sweeping.
Robbie's lack of concentration gets him demoted to being a forklift, after they discover him using spare toy parts to make new toys: Sebastian Musclewhale and OctoMonkey. Donner arrives at the elves' factory and discovers Robbie and reveals Blitzen's true intentions and convinces him, that if he wants his place on the team, he can compete in the Reindeer Games. After looking for "Wise Old Coaches Who Can Save The Day" in the phone book, Robbie and Donner visit to Old Jingle, a mad old coach, who lives in a teetering house on the top of Pointy Mountain. He decides to take Robbie on as a pupil. In his celebratory happiness, his house slides down the hill. Old Jingle convinces Robbie that if he wants to pull the sleigh, he must win one key event: the Steeple Chase.
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