I'm old enough to have seen the original version, which was more of a "Rudolph" cross-over. In the original version there's an epilogue scene during the closing credits in which the kids ask the Fred Astaire character, "So what happened to the Burgomeister?" and Fred chuckles and says (with a wink to the audience, "Oh, he was paid a visit by a friend of mine from the North Pole, and was persuaded to 'retire.'" We see the Burgomeister hear a knock on his palace door one night, and he says, "Who is it is thise hour?"
The door opens and in comes a bearded, lumberjack-type person driving a dog sled with a bundle on it. "Ta-dahh!" the newcomer announces. "It's Yukon Cornelius--in person! And I have a Christmas present for you!" He kicks the bundle off the sled and the Burgomeister gleefully unwraps it--only to find his chief of staff dead, with his Junker-style spiked helmet driven through his heart.
"What is this?" the Burgomeister asks horrified.
"A message from Santa," Yukon says.
"What . . . message?"
"This," Yukon Cornelius says, whipping the six-shooter from his belt and pointing it the Burgomeister's head. "Santa thinks you've been very naughty, so instead of a toy he sends you a little lead. Ho-ho-ho!" And he shoots the Burgomeister right between the eyes.
Some parents and media m,watchdog groups protested the scene as too violent and it was taken out for later airings.
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PhineasAppleby
9 years ago
Great re-imagining of a MAD TV Rudolph/Godfather/Goodfellas parody that ran about twenty years ago.
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