SpunkySelfTwitter It’s an especially fun movie from a director and cast who are clearly having a good time allowing themselves to let loose.

Tayloriona Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

Kamila Bell This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

Marva-nova Amazing worth wacthing. So good. Biased but well made with many good points.

Stompgal_87 I remember seeing the first half of this at Christmas when I was about 13 and up until now the only part I could remember was the mention of the 4th of July in Olive's opening song. Also I actually thought Olive was a reindeer but she is really a dog and an endearing character who was superbly voiced by Drew Barrymore who was particularly recognisable in this special. This morning when I was flicking through the channels, I caught this towards the end on E4 so I watched it from the beginning on E4 +1 and I found it more substantial and entertaining that time around.The animation style is unusual but it matches the cover illustration of the book (I haven't read it, I just saw its cover whilst looking at it on Amazon) and the character movements are smooth. While I thought the lip-sync was initially basic, it turned out to be more detailed than I remembered. Although the backgrounds look as through they were rendered using cheap CGI, they were quite vibrant. Further to the characters, the postman is a decent villain who has a sudden change of personality but it was comical when he disguised himself as a waitress. Fido's mishearings of Santa saying he had to "make do with all of the other reindeer" and Tim apologising to Olive through the window of her kennel as she hides were essential parts of the story and Martini the penguin is funny. In addition to Barrymore as Olive and Dan Castellanetta (best known for his role as Homer Simpson in my all-time favourite animated sitcom) as the postman, other well-known cast members include Michael Stipe (REM's frontman) as Schintzel the reindeer, Matt Groening (one of the special's executive producers and creator of 'The Simpsons') as Arturo the Elf and Edward Asner (who later provided the voice of Carl in Disney and Pixar's bittersweet adventure 'Up') as Santa. All songs but 'Merry Christmas, After All,' which was initially forgettable but was likable the second time around due to its rock 'n' roll feel and accompanying around-the-world sequence, are memorable, especially Olive's opening song and the incidental music is magical and whimsical if generic and slightly repetitive in parts. The story has several twists and turns if some parts are clichéd but it is very different from the stories of many other Christmas specials and when I told one of my university classmates about this special, it kind of reminded her of the storyline of 'Annabelle's Wish' (due to Olive and Annabelle both wanting to be reindeer) that I should finish watching someday because it is so far so good. Although I felt that Olive should have worn the headband with antlers during Santa's sleigh ride rather than towards the end, I still found this a cute and amusing part of the film.Anyway, here's my verdict. I found this a slightly bizarre yet adorable and underrated animated Christmas special with its brightest spots being the character animation, the storyline, the dialogue, the voice acting and the majority of the music. 8/10.

Rectangular_businessman "Olive, the Other Reindeer" was a cute Christmas special produced by produced by Matt Groening's The Curiosity Company, the same company behind the excellent animated series "Futurama". However, unlike "Futurama", this was an animation for the whole family, being aimed at kids, but I think that adults will find this to be quite enjoyable too.The animation style from this special, despite being simplistic, was also very cute and well made, with very appealing designs and a neat use of colors.The characters were likable and funny, the songs were catchy and the voice acting (Done by Drew Barrymore, Edward Asner, Dan Castellaneta, Joe Pantoliano and Matt Groening)was pretty good, making this a totally worth-watching experience.

j1j Somewhere in the middle of this movie, our main character is in a bind in a mail truck. Looking around, she finds a package, addressed to her, that helps get her out of it. The sender? Deus ex Machina. It is quite common for children's movie makers, especially in the animated genre, to try to be modern, hip - to push the limits of their audience. The results are usually just vulgar - anyone who ever watched 8 Crazy Nights, regardless of their opinions on the rude, contrived piece - can't help but wonder if it is appropriate for all children, at least those whose behavior we have to live with. Olive is witty, funny, and original, and yet there is no smart- alecky kid, no fart jokes - it's interesting because it's tightly written, well-crafted, and voiced by excellent people. Several people have written about Ms. Barrymore's voice in it - it's laughable to imply that she had meant to create a refined, beautiful sound, as well as a bit sexist. No one questioned that Dan Castellaneta (read: Homer Simpson) also sings an off-key silly song - but Drew Barrymore is compared to Alicia Keys? No, if a Dog - no, a dog who was eager, sweet, and unflappably lovable - had a speaking and singing voice, hers would be it. Altogether, I can think of no modern Christmas or holiday special (Martini, Olive's penguin friend, is Jewish, somehow), that succeeds in being warm, smart, and interesting all at the same time. There is no preaching, no moralizing, and yet, it leaves you feeling good about being good, almost the same way the Charlie Brown Christmas Special did just over 40 years ago. There's a fine line between sappy and sweet, rude and witty - Olive the Other Reindeer stands firmly on the good side of that line.

pmaczoni This is the cutest Christmas story I have ever seen. I saw this on TV about six years ago but I missed the first part of it. After that I didn't see it again on TV. I was happy when it came out on DVD. I was finally able to buy it and finish watching it. I found it so wonderful that I started buying this DVD to give to people as a Christmas present. I don't think anyone has been disappointed. It is now a annual event to watch Olive. It's one of the few Christmas stories that is just happy. No scary Abominable Snowman, no scary Grinch, no melting snowman and crying children---Just Happy. The people who made this seemed to truly care about making it something special. I am very surprised that so few people have voted on this. It's great for kids and adults.