one of the best-ever names for a holiday special ( sure as hell beats frosty returns ) hits home video a year after its tv premiere , in this animated production from simpsons creator matt groening . based on a book by j . otto seibold and vivian walsh , olive's a hip dash of christmas humor and fun amidst specials that have just made little kids cry all these years . see , olive's not really a reindeer - she's a dog . a strange dog . voiced by drew barrymore , she speaks english to her owner tim ( jay mohr ) , doesn't dig for bones , and won't chase cars . while listening to the radio on christmas eve , she hears that santa may cancel his delivery , as blitzen is injured . he announces ( in a 90's soundbite ) , that he'll just have to rely on " all of the other reindeer . " olive is so caught up in the holidays , she thinks santa is talking about her . even her pet flea can't believe it . once it's set that she's really a lonely misfit -- a holiday story staple -- she's off to the north pole with a shifty penguin named martini ( the matrix's joe pantoliano ) . they catch a " mauvehound bus " driven by a weirdo named richard stands ( snl's tim meadows ) , who once thought the pledge of allegiance was for him ( say it out loud ) . but it's not just an easy bus trip that'll get olive to santaland . our villain is a demented mailman ( simpsons veteran dan castellaneta ) who just goes postal during the holiday season due to the weight of the all his deliveries . he'd love for santa's cancellation to hold up , so he's on his own quest to stop olive and company . as with any good simpsons episode , groening's writer -- simpsons and david letterman staffer steve young -- fills the story and landscape with bad puns and inside visuals that welcome the adults into the action just as much as the kids . the laughs don't have the stinging irony of the simpsons , but they are certainly playful enough to hold most viewers' interest . as is the animation , a freaky mix of multi-dimensional backgrounds and flat characters . it looks like a strange combination of a kid's video game and a set of colorforms , giving it a splashy , original look . there are a few musical numbers that whiz by , most notably the postman's lament about delivering the mail ( the best lyrics in the feature ) , and a ditty headed by rem's michael stipe , singing as schnitzel the reindeer . just a few minutes into olive , i wondered why drew barrymore was voicing our hero . she's not really a voice actor , and doesn't sound too expressive . then i read that she and partner nancy juvonen are also executive producers on this special . drew may want to audition a few others next time . but , like most of olive , drew's voice grew on me . this is a special that's hard not to enjoy , and it thankfully avoids any sappy finale . it may not enter the pantheon of holiday classics , but it's just too damn cute not to watch once a year . especially when olive wags that little tail . that's great . 
