Clarice (pronounced "kla-REES") is the tritagonist of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, and the title character's girlfriend. Like all the does in the special, she is lighter in color than the bucks and is distinguished and recognized by the red polka-dotted bow atop her head that resembles Minnie Mouse's. She was added to the storyline by Arthur Rankin, Jr. as a means of expanding the special beyond the confines of the original poem and the song based on it.
Appearances in Christmas specials[]
Clarice tells Rudolph that she prefers his real nose.
Clarice is introduced at the start of the Reindeer Games scene as one of several does who are watching the proceedings. She takes an interest in Rudolph, who, on the advice of his new friend Fireball, shyly walks over to her to meet her. Rudolph, who is wearing a false nose to hide his glowing red one, has difficulty speaking, and she gently asks if he is having trouble with it. Before he leaves her side to participate in "take-off practice" (meant to determine the flying ability of the yearling bucks), he musters the courage to ask if he could walk her home; she accepts and then tells him that she thinks he's cute. He is so smitten that he flies faster and farther than any of the others. But after his actual nose is exposed, he is laughed out of the games by everyone except Clarice. She tells him that she has no problem with his nose, actually preferring it over the false nose, and tries to cheer him up with the song "There's Always Tomorrow". As they begin their walk home, however, they are intercepted by her father, who forbids her from "being seen with a red-nosed reindeer." This leads the heartbroken Rudolph to run away from home.
The older Clarice, seen later in the special.
Against her father's warning, Clarice, along with Rudolph's parents, Donner and his wife, goes off into the wilderness searching for him, only to get captured by The Abominable Snowmonster of the North. She later appears as his prisoner, along with Rudolph's parents, but he arrives to rescue them. They return home where she reunites with her father, who later apologizes for his mistreatment of Rudolph from earlier. During the song "A Holly Jolly Christmas", Clarice waits under the mistletoe and Rudolph kisses her cheek. At the end of the show, she and Rudolph's parents watch him help guide Santa's sleigh through the storm (this scene was cut from NBC and CBS' later broadcasts due to the Misfit Toys' subplot getting an onscreen resolution, but is reinstated on most DVD releases as well as in Freeform's broadcasts).
Clarice makes a brief cameo during the flashback to Rudolph's youth at the beginning of Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July. Oddly, the flashback depicts her being the one who accidentally causes his nose to be revealed instead of Fireball, though she still follows him after he is laughed out of the Reindeer Games. Later, during his song, "No Bed Of Roses", an autographed photo of her is shown falling off his wall.
Clarice in Rudolph and the Island of Misfit Toys.
Clarice has a significantly more prominent role in the direct-to-video feature Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and the Island of Misfit Toys. One of its subplots involves her struggling to learn how to fly. Rudolph steps in and coaches her, accompanied by the song "Beyond the Stars". She also serves as moral support to him while he is deciding whether or not to have a nose job, stressing to him that she loves him just the way he is. In response, he admits his love for her, which causes her to fly with heartfelt joy, similar to how he reacted to her calling him cute in the first special. Later in the film, she assists him in his plan to stop the Toy Taker, at one point coming to his rescue when he falls after hitting his head on the Toy Taker's blimp.
Trivia[]
- Zoey from the 1998 film Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer: The Movie is very similar to Clarice, in that Zoey is Rudolph's girlfriend and is one of the few characters to accept him.
Gallery[]
External links[]
| Reindeer | |
| Santa's team | Dasher • Dancer • Prancer • Vixen • Comet • Cupid • Donner • Blitzen • Rudolph (Rankin/Bass version) |
| Others | Annabelle • Arrow • Barnaby • Blizzard • Blizz • Bucky • Clarice (her father) • Dart • Delphi • Fireball • Fred • Frost • Gargoff • Gift Givers of the Grove (Alice • Aurora • Bori) • Gobie (His friends • Grandfather) • Grandpa • Grandsanta's Pet Reindeer • Holly • Jonni • Leader • Lenni • Lightning • Mitzi • Mrs. Donner • Mrs. Prancer • Nic • Niko • Old Jingle • Olive • Oona • Prancy • Pinky • Renny • Robbie • Roger • Rusty • Saga • Santa Claus's Reindeer's Great-Great-Grandchildren • Scratcher • Schnitzel • Sparkle • Striker • Sven • Tapir • Thrasher • Tobias • Zoey (Her father and mother) |