Misfit Toys - What's wrong with the doll?

[Pooh67_68]

Agreed, I always thought... gee even santa is prejudice.
And I actually thought that back when I was a lot younger.

Not to get off topic, but Santa is SOOOO mean in this story.

 

[daisax]

I thought it made Santa look bad, too, even as a child. Fromt he song and the story, I just assumed the abuse was going on behind Santa's back -- not that he was an active participant. That was just plain screwy to include.

Still, he does apologize in the end, and it's one of my favorite shows, mostly because of the great lines which my friends and family use all year long.

"Let's be independent TOGETHER!"

"EAT, Papa, EAT!"

"Bumbles BOUNCE!"

And my personal favorite is the sound effect when Clarice blinks her eyes at Rudolph -- my friends and I would say "BLink Blink" and bat our eyes suggestively when talking about a guy that interested us.

"Any doe would be proud to be seen with you!"

 

[Swedish Meatball]

I never thought the Elephant with spots was a misfit. I always wanted him as a present from Sanata.

 

[moon]

Thank you!

Santa makes fun of Rudolph, laughs at him for a physical difference and won't let him play with the others. Only when Rudolph can do something to benefit him does he even start to be nice to him. I really do not like the show. My children have seen it but I am always talking about how Santa is inappropriate and how he should have behaved.

Yes, I know it is just a story but still....

Agreed, I always thought... gee even santa is prejudice.
And I actually thought that back when I was a lot younger.

ITA with both of you. It's amazing how if you think about it, Santa sets the tone for all the abuse and suffering Rudolph has to endure. It has to be the only Christmas story for children where Santa is portrayed as a jerk. This Santa is the opposite of what he is supposed to represent.

I thought it made Santa look bad, too, even as a child. Fromt he song and the story, I just assumed the abuse was going on behind Santa's back -- not that he was an active participant. That was just plain screwy to include.

Still, he does apologize in the end, and it's one of my favorite shows, mostly because of the great lines which my friends and family use all year long.

"Let's be independent TOGETHER!"

"EAT, Papa, EAT!"

"Bumbles BOUNCE!"

And my personal favorite is the sound effect when Clarice blinks her eyes at Rudolph -- my friends and I would say "BLink Blink" and bat our eyes suggestively when talking about a guy that interested us.

"Any doe would be proud to be seen with you!"

I guess that's the reason I wach it and try to overlook the nasty Santa and the sexism mentioned by a PP.

Love all the lines you mentioned, but my favorite is the one by Yukon Cornelius "Even among misfits you're misfits" It's actually pretty sad, but it cracks me up every time just the same

I also love the background scenery, and the way it all looks. I wonder how they made it. they look like puppets but their eyes and other things seem animated. I like the look of these specials much more than the computer animated stuff you see today.

 

[java]

I thought originally there was an explanation- like she was crying something other than tears I am vaguely remembering a Dolls that walk and dolls that talk but who wants a doll that cries? Or am I imagining it from the way back original. Maybe she is just emo?

 

[clarabelle]

Not to highjack -but my DD was watching "Snoopy come Home" the other day with tears rolling down her face.
I watched a few minutes with her (after hugging her and asking didn't she just want to turn it off??) it was truly a horrible story. With everyone being mean to Snoopy and Snoopy in turn abandoning Charlie Brown.
Truly -what was up with the cartoons made in the 60's??

 

[SydneyBristow]

We were trying to figure this out last night, the only thing we could think of was she had no nose. LOL

 

[friendofgusgus]

Madeline often has no nose, either. We laugh about it often in our house!


(Yes, we are weird...)

 

[MomofKatie]

"Let's be independent TOGETHER!"

"EAT, Papa, EAT!"

"Bumbles BOUNCE!"

And my personal favorite is the sound effect when Clarice blinks her eyes at Rudolph -- my friends and I would say "BLink Blink" and bat our eyes suggestively when talking about a guy that interested us.

"Any doe would be proud to be seen with you!"

We like what Rudolph says as he takes off after talking to Clarice- "I'b cuuuuuuute!!! She says I'b cuuuuuuute!!" We use this line a lot around our house.

 

[sdarwkcabemanmy]

We do too.
I"M CUUUUUUUUUUTE! She said I"m CUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUTE!

 

[jaymindrew]

I'm watching Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer with my kids for like the 100th time! It's obvious what's wrong with most of the toys on the Island of Misfit Toys. But what's wrong with the doll? Do they say it and I've been missing it all these years? My husband and I have had our theories over the years but we're still just not sure. Any ideas?

Quote from CVS Misfit Doll Toy - "I'm a little rag doll who just wants a friend. I think that will help my broken heart mend".

The producer of Rudolph (Arthur Rankin Jr) says Dolly's problem is psychological depression after being abandoned (same answer as in Wikipedia). Before this, she must have been rejected by every little girl.

The one who abandoned her might have gotten her as a Christmas gift but didn't want her either, neglected her, and finally tossed her out. Dolly's depression was likely SITUATIONAL, caused by no one wanting her, feeling hopelessly unloved, and being abandoned (a.k.a. Post Traumatic Stress perhaps).

Going back to the CVS Misfit Doll quote above, the only thing "broken" about her was her broken heart caused by no little girl wanting to befriend her.

But Rudolph and Santa find her a little girl to belong to, and Dolly winds up being the first toy delivered that Christmas Eve (shown just before the credits roll at the end of Rudolph).

 

[rie'smom]

Quote from CVS Misfit Doll Toy - "I'm a little rag doll who just wants a friend. I think that will help my broken heart mend".

The producer of Rudolph (Arthur Rankin Jr) says Dolly's problem is psychological depression after being abandoned (same answer as in Wikipedia). Before this, she must have been rejected by every little girl.

The one who abandoned her might have gotten her as a Christmas gift but didn't want her either, neglected her, and finally tossed her out. Dolly's depression was likely SITUATIONAL, caused by no one wanting her, feeling hopelessly unloved, and being abandoned (a.k.a. Post Traumatic Stress perhaps).

Going back to the CVS Misfit Doll quote above, the only thing "broken" about her was her broken heart caused by no little girl wanting to befriend her.

But Rudolph and Santa find her a little girl to belong to, and Dolly winds up being the first toy delivered that Christmas Eve (shown just before the credits roll at the end of Rudolph).

I thought originally there was an explanation- like she was crying something other than tears I am vaguely remembering a Dolls that walk and dolls that talk but who wants a doll that cries? Or am I imagining it from the way back original. Maybe she is just emo?

I thought there was something wrong besides depression too. It's tickling my brain but I can't remember what it is.

 

[clarabelle]

Welcome to the Dis

 

[luvmy3]

OMG, I just asked dh this last night while we were watching it. I have watched Rudolph every year since I was a kid and it never occurred to me until last night that there really isn't anything wrong with her

 

[winnapooh]

I thought originally there was an explanation- like she was crying something other than tears I am vaguely remembering a Dolls that walk and dolls that talk but who wants a doll that cries? Or am I imagining it from the way back original. Maybe she is just emo?

As I was reading this thread, I was thinking the same thing. I swear I remember there being something about her crying. But I just watched this on DVD last night and there wasn't anything about it.

 

[MomofKatie]

She does cry during the scene at the end of the show- there are a few toys gathered around a fire, and they are sad that it looks like Santa has forgotten them again. They say that Rudolph promised Santa would come, but they suppose he did his best. Arthur-in-the-Box says they might as well go home to sleep- he would dream of going to a child at Christmas. The Dolly starts crying and says, "I haven't any dreams left!". Of course, just then, they see Santa's sleigh in the sky, Rudolph's red nose shining.

Of course, this doesn't answer the question of why she was on the island, but shows she's probably clinically depressed...

 

[Luv Bunnies]

I think this would be a perfect time to re-launch the doll under a new name:

Depressed Dolly...Unemployed and Unloved!

I'm sure they could sell millions!

 

[DisneyAddict_M]

I'm sure she's just misunderstood.

 

[jaymindrew]

As I was reading this thread, I was thinking the same thing. I swear I remember there being something about her crying. But I just watched this on DVD last night and there wasn't anything about it.

I agree with what Arthur Rankin (Rudolph's producer) said. He said she was abandoned by a little girl and suffered depression from being unloved. But there's more that the Rudolph adds to Dolly's plight. Charley-In-The-Box says that a Misfit toy is one that NO little girl or boy loves. Dolly was likely rejected by every child, and the one who abandoned her was the last draw . . . the one that made her depressed (a.k.a. "noone loves me").

I don't think "crying" was the reason, although she DID cry just before Rudolph and Santa arrive. Hermey the Elf's boss even says "we have dolls that cry, talk, walk, blink, etc . . .", which must have been the type of things that little girls wanted dolls to do. Dolly could do all these things (including crying), given the fact that she is shown to be a unique rag doll . . . being alive and sentinent, so it had to be something else.

There's been many other valid theories I've heard (behind the official psychological one) that could be at play . . . which might have led to Dolly's depression. People have said, "She has no nose", "Her dress is Tacky", "She says HOW DO YOU DO instead of MAMA", "She's a rag-doll instead of a real-looking doll" and many others. I personally believe that these and others might have been the differing/relative "reasons" that each little girl had for not wanting Dolly . . . all leading to Dolly being on the receiving end of CONSTANT rejection. Dolly's depression then was borne out of feeling "I'm not good enough for any little girl" and "I'll never be wanted", no matter what she did or didn't do. The final abandonment from the little girl that Arthur Rankin mentions kind of cruelly "summed up" these notions in Dolly's mind and made her "give up" on ever being loved . . . UNTIL RUDOLPH AND SANTA FINALLY COME THAT FOGGY CHRISTMAS EVE at the end of the Rudolph story, and find her a happy home.

 

[jaymindrew]

I think this would be a perfect time to re-launch the doll under a new name:

Depressed Dolly...Unemployed and Unloved!

I'm sure they could sell millions!

Perhaps, if our current recession comes into play.