“When I sat down six years ago to write this book, it was out of a need for my own family that I couldn't find a positive Christmas tradition that also didn't stress me out as a parent,” author Adam Reed said of his hit children’s book and plush set Reindeer in Here, which becomes an animated holiday special premiering tonight on CBS. “I tried to write a story that I felt would be unique and different and you would fall in love with the characters at the most magical time of year and hopefully someday become a Christmas classic. And when I sat down with my illustrator, and we were looking at different reindeer, there was one reindeer that we focused on specifically, and that one reindeer had one antler smaller than the other. And that is the hero of our story, Blizzard or Blizz. And the reason is because he's a different reindeer. Every child at some point in their life feels different, because being different is normal, and our film celebrates the uniqueness of every child and, of course, shows that Christmas wishes really do come true.”
(CBS)
During a recent press conference to promote the animated special, which airs following a broadcast of the Rankin/Bass classic Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, author and executive producer Adam Reed was joined by director Lino DiSalvo, who previously worked at Walt Disney Animation Studios as a supervising animator on the Prep & Landing specials and Tangled, and served as head of animation on Frozen. “At Disney, I would oversee a couple hundred people, and I think the crew on our show was less than 200 people,” Lino revealed. “As an animator becoming a director and working on a holiday movie, I'm thrilled. I loved it.”
Along with the new special comes a refreshed version of the book and plush set from Simon and Schuster. “It was very important that we not only elevate it, but we kept it classic,” Adam Reed shared about the updated edition. “We want this to be a Christmas classic to outlive us all, like Rudolph. So for us, we wanted something that was contemporary but also had classical feels to it and felt hand-painted. And I’ve got to give Lino all the credit for that. He was the one that said, ‘Look, it's CG-looking, but we're going to hand-paint all these elements.’” Lino DiSalvo gave more insight into how a hand-painted esthetic was applied to the computer-animated special. “A lot of times in CG, you'll put this default fur on a character, and it's very challenging to art-direct the silhouette of the characters. The two things that's very common and which makes illustration so appealing is when you handcraft and suggest fur in silhouette, you do the little drawings of a tuft of fur on the elbow. When you watch Blizz, you'll notice that he has these little hero elements on him that really stand out and are handcrafted. And the other is a lot of the times, when two textures meet on a CG character, they kind of blend together. And I wanted to celebrate, again, what illustration artists would do, which is maybe use a dry blush to blend in the textures. So when you look at Blizz again, if you look at the top of his nose, there's a dry brush stroke there. I really love the idea that the movie is handcrafted and very high quality. We take pride in that.”
The two executive producers also take pride in the special’s voice cast, which includes Adam Devine, Jim Gaffigan, Melissa Villaseño, Henry Winkler, Donald Faison, Jo Koy, Gabriel Bateman, Brooke Monroe Conaway, and Candace Cameron Bure. “I've dreamed of being a part of a classic animated movie for a very long time,” Candace Cameron Bure revealed, a name synonymous with TV Christmas movies. “When I was offered and pitched this project, it was just even more magical for the fact that it was Christmas and it's for children. I'm a mom of three and I've written several children's books myself. So just the culmination of everything was a no-brainer and just a delight to be a part of. I'm happy to be a part of people's Christmas traditions hopefully for years to come.” Candace voices Pinky, an all-pink reindeer friend of Blizz who is part of the line of plush toys available at Target. “I have the little Pinky plush right here,” the actress shared, holding up her cuddle buddy during the press conference. “All my nieces and godchildren are going to get this.”
(CBS)
“This movie and the Reindeer in Here tradition is really to celebrate the uniqueness of every child and show that Christmas wishes really do come true, not only at the most magical time of year, but year-round,” concluded Adam Reed. “This movie, we have created not only to be a Christmas classic that I hope outlives us all, but also is meant for the whole family. This is not just for children. It is funny. It works for adults. It works for children. You can really sit down with your entire family.”
Gather the family around your TV tonight at 9/8c for the premiere of Reindeer in Here on CBS. The special will also be available to stream live and on-demand on Paramount+. You can find Reindeer in Here products at Target.
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