Olive the Other Reindeer Retrospective

What do Matt Groening and the Holiday season have in common? Plenty, as a matter of fact. The very first episode of The Simpsons was a Christmas Episode. The first episode of Futurama was a New Year’s episode to kick off the new millennium. And, believe it or not, Matt Groening produced a Christmas special based on a lovable children’s book in 1999 called Olive the Other Reindeer.

No, you did not read that wrong. Based on the book of the same name written by Vivian Walsh in 1997, Olive is a story about a dog who winds up saving Christmas. It’s got some pretty good-looking animation, an impressive cast, and best of all, it doesn’t take itself too seriously and just has fun with the kooky premise.

A Very Silly Premise, but a Fun One

The special tells the story of Olive, a talking dog who deeply loves Christmas. Unfortunately, when one of Santa’s reindeer gets injured on Christmas Eve, it looks like the holiday might get canceled. Mishearing Santa’s line of “all of the other reindeer” as “Olive the other reindeer,” the lovable Jack Russell Terrier gets it in her head that she’s being asked to help. Sp together with a con-artist penguin named Martini, Olive travels to the North Pole to save Christmas. But she’s also being chased by a mean postman who hates Christmas and will stop at nothing to destroy the holiday forever.

Like I said before, the premise for this special isn’t meant to be taken very seriously. It’s a very silly idea, it knows it’s a silly idea, and it doesn’t really care. All Olive cares about is that you enjoy yourself and have a merry Christmas. And, despite being obscure when compared to other holiday classics, this forty-five minute special is pretty enjoyable.

Firstly, there’s the unique art style used. Compare Olive the book and Olive the TV special, and you’ll notice that the two are almost exactly alike in appearance. DNA Productions, the company that also did the animation for Jimmy Neutron and Barnyard, went out of its way to recreate the art style using in the original book. As a result, it feels less like a traditional animated special and more like a children’s book in motion, if that makes sense. It’s pretty unique, in that regard.

Some Great Casting Choices

Secondly, there’s the cast behind the film. Besides this being one of many examples where the late Ed Asner played Santa, we have Olive. Played by none other than Drew Barrymore, the famous actress brings this infectious optimism to the character the titular character. Despite acknowledging that she might have misheard what Santa said, Olive is determined to help because she knows how important Christmas is to everyone. Then we have her companion, Martini, a penguin played by Joe Pantoliano. Martini is a cynical con penguin who got fired from the Zoo for smuggling in items to the other animals. He’s a good contrast to Olive, serving as the grounding rock in the face of her seemingly impossible goal.

However, the character who really steals the show is the Postman, played by Homer Simpson himself, Dan Castellenata. He hates Christmas because the stress of all the mail he has to deliver is too much for him. And to be fair, you can’t help but feel bad for him. Christmas is a nightmare for those in the delivery service industry. But that doesn’t stop him from having the best song in the entire special.

Matt Being Matt

Lastly, even though this special is meant for kids, it seems that Matt managed to get in some of his trademark humor into it. There are a few jokes that kids won’t get, but the adults who go back and watch will. Plus, if you look, you can find an Easter egg for The Simpsons in the special (it was in the song I just added!)

As good as Olive the Other Reindeer is, though, good luck trying to watch it on TV. It hasn’t been aired since the 2010s, having bounced around Fox, Nickelodeon, and Cartoon Network during that time. However, you don’t need to watch it on TV. The whole special is already up on YouTube for free, both with commercials and commercial-free. And, since it’s the holiday season, I’m going to let you watch it right here! Hope you enjoy!

And here’s one with all the commercials!

Enjoy!