Ranking the worst villains of your favorite Rankin Bass Christmas Specials

Starring in: Rudolph’s Shiny New Year, 1976

Voiced by: Paul Frees

What’s his Christmas beef? Despite coming from one of the more underrated holiday specials released at the end of Rankin/Bass’ creative streak, Aeon the Terrible stands out as one of its most intriguing villains. Sure, he’s an ugly, giant vulture with no friends, no joy, and no love for Christmas, but he also harbors a deep, understandable motivation we can all get behind… he doesn’t want to die!

Rudolph’s Shiny New Year tells the story of a runaway baby king who must be returned to his throne at the stroke of midnight on New Year’s Eve or else the following year won’t start. Aeon doesn’t want the baby to be found because he is rapidly approaching the end of his lifespan and will turn to ice and snow if the New Year is allowed to continue! I mean, when your time is up, it’s up, but I can understand why he would pursue the baby.

However, the North Pole’s newly crowned superhero, Rudolph, takes up the tasking of finding him on a cold, dark night, but Aeon proves to be a powerful foe. Only with aid from a group of retired kings and a giant whale named Big Ben is he able to locate the baby and confront Aeon.

Lump of coal? Aeon locates the baby before Rudolph does and carries him off to his lonely iceberg deep across a frozen ocean. Along the way, he convinces him that nobody will ever love him. Verbal abuse is bad enough, but upon his closing monologue, Aeon declares that this helpless child will be forced to forever live as his slave.

Is there any coming back from this?

Finding the Christmas Spirit: Upon the advice of Rudolph, the young baby reveals to Aeon his greatest weapon… those giant ears! Aeon laughs himself silly for the first time in his life, and Rudolph boldly declares that there is no way anybody could turn into ice and snow with so much warmth in their heart.

We never see Aeon again after this declaration. Are you sure about that, Rudolph?

Article source: https://www.technobuffalo.com/2017/12/23/ranking-the-worst-villains-of-your-favorite-rankin-bass-christmas-specials/