Robbie the Reindeer: Hooves of Fire

Puppet-animated in the style of Nick Park's work (Wallace & Gromit, Chicken Run), this new holiday special--co-written by Richard Curtis (Bridget Jones's Diary, Notting Hill), featuring the voice talents of Robbie Williams and Jane Horrocks, with music by Mark Knopfler (Dire Straits)--tells the heartwarming tale of Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer's heir apparent: son Robbie. When Robbie arrives at the North Pole and learns that off-season (i.e., the other 364 days of the year) is spent in intensive weight-training, our hero--who is a wee bit lazy, leaning toward chubby, and hopelessly in love with a sweet little vixen named Vixen--begins to fall behind the pack, aerobically speaking. Learning that the reindeer team is chosen on the basis of placement in the annual reindeer games (a detail that rival and Rudolf-hater Blitzen keeps secret from the newbie), Robbie gets cold hooves, and ends up taking a job on the toy assembly line with the elves, until he meets a Yoda-like figure named Old Jingle, who helps put Robbie back in the running. Cool animation, offbeat humor (check out Santa's wife's beard and mustache), and a winning story make this a real holiday treat. Recommended. Aud: P. (R. Pitman)