| “ | Hello, call me Robbie. Cause I am. | „ |
| ~ Robbie introducing himself to the sleigh team |
| “ | Donner. I love you. Would you make me the happiest reindeer in the whole world?. | „ |
| ~ Robbie proposing to Donner |
Robbie Ignacious Hilary is the son of Rudolph and an unknown female reindeer, the love interest, later boyfriend and eventual husband of Donner, the brother-in-law of Em and the main protagonist of the Robbie the Reindeer trilogy.
Like his father, Robbie has a powerful nose. However whilst his father's lights up, Robbie's nose tracks (e.g places on a globe and Donner's posh yogurts which were eaten by Prancer).
He is voiced by Ardal O'Hanlon (who also plays Father Dougal McGuire and Thermoman) in the original British version and Ben Stiller (who also played Alex) in the American redub.
Appearances[]
Hooves of Fire (1999)[]
Robbie arrives in Coldcester in August to become navigator for Santa Claus's sleigh team. Upon arriving he uses his suitcase as a sledge to get to the sleigh team's lodge but ends up crashing in and gets covered in his luggage, causing two of the reindeer Donner and Prancer to think he is the last of some rare endangered species to which Prancer thinks they should kill, but Robbie is able to introduce himself just in time. He is then greeted by the sleigh team's captain Blitzen who introduces him to the team. Robbie then demonstrates to the team how his nose can track things e.g places on a globe and posh yogurts (yummy donuts in the American version) Donner got which where eaten by Prancer. Robbie isn't pleased when Blitzen tells him that the team just train the other 364 days of the year and asks when the next bus out of town is, to which Prancer tells him that it's April.
Robbie is then shown to his room by Donner (who has developed crush on him) and tells her that his father sent him to Coldcester for character building as he is easily distracted which is proven true when he spots Vixen and falls in love with her, much to Donner's dismay.
Robbie struggles to exercise at the reindeer's gym to which Blitzen tells him not exercise and gives him a cheese burger, fries, a newspaper and a pipe which Robbie accepts, unaware that Blitzen wants him off the team as he was jealous of Rudolph for being more famous than him.
A month after joining the team, Robbie goes to Donner for physio and tells her that he can't concentrate on exercising because he's met a very special reindeer and can't stop thinking about her. At first, Donner thinks that he's referring to her, only to then realise that he's talking about Vixen. Robbie then says that he can't seem to talk to Vixen as he can't talk to girls he loves. Donner points out that he can talk to her to which Robbie says it's because they're mates (British slang for friends) to which a disappointed Donner ties Robbie in knots and leaves him there.
Later, Robbie along with the other sleigh team members attend a party at Santa's house where the new sleigh is revealed which has a stereo, a talking ashtray and a navigation system which makes Robbie believe he is off the team, but Santa assures him that he can still go as Blitzen came up with an idea, to leave behind the most unfit reindeer which Robbies sees as himself.
That night, Robbie gazes up at a painting of Rudolph before being joined by Blitzen who tells him that Santa will put him on the team anyway because he liked his dad and will kick off a reindeer who trained all year and the sleigh will be slow and late but Robbie won't be blamed, his dad will for having him to which Robbie leaves. Later whilst trying to get home, Robbie freezes and is found by elves who at first wish to eat him but after he unfreezes they decided not to and end up giving Robbie a job at their factory which they end up demoting him to being a forklift. Donner arrives there to get multi-gyms and is able to convince Robbie to take part in The Reindeer Games to get back on the team. Robbie agrees to the idea, saying he'll do it for himself, his father and most of all Vixen (much to Donner's disappointment).
Donner tells Robbie that he can't train with the other reindeer as Blitzen will do everything to stop him. Robbie at first doesn't believe Blitzen would do that, considering him to be his best friend, but changes his mind when Donner shows him Blitzen throwing darts and other sharp objects at a pictures of him. Donner tells Robbie that she's looked for a coach and these's only one in the area named Old Jingle (whom Robbie says was old when his father was young) to train Robbie for the event, The Steeplechase.
Robbie arrives at the games and is able to save Santa's baby son from being crushed by a falling walrus which shocks Blitzen. Vixen then tries to use Robbie's crush on her to stop him from taking part in the race as she wants Blitzen to win so he gets famous and takes her out of "this dive" but this fails as Robbie is now in love with Donner. The head elf arrives and tells Robbie that Old Jingle is trapped under his house so Robbie leaves the race to save him and is able to return to the race and catches up with Blitzen who knocks him down. Robbie then uses a technique Old Jingle taught him called the Nose Jump and reaches the finish line at the same time as Blitzen but in a photo it shows Blitzen crossed first. After getting a kiss from Donner, Robbie ends up beating every record in the games. After Blitzen is arrested for cheating by taking drugs, Santa makes Robbie the new captain and gives him the sleigh for the night where he takes Donner on a date to the moon.
Legend of the Lost Tribe (2002)[]
Three years after the events of Hooves of Fire, the Sleigh Team are running a poorly-ran travel business called "North Pole Holidays" (which they up to earn money as Santa is unable to pay them for their Christmas Eve jobs as he gives away presents for free). Robbie shows a group of tourists around mountains but one of the tourists, a penguin falls down the edge of a cliff after putting his weight on a weak fence (which Robbie built poorly) but Robbie manages to save him but ends up falling off the cliff. Robbie is rescued by what he believes to be a Viking and returns to the reindeer lodge (which is being used as an office for North Pole Holidays) to tell Donner (who is now Robbie's girlfriend) about the Viking. Donner tells Robbie that she had to refund the tourists he took around the mountains and also tells him that Vikings haven't existed for hundreds of years, before adding on that he has been in the lodge for 12.3 seconds and hasn't given her a kiss to which Robbie gives Donner a small kiss on the cheek. Unstatisfied, Donner grabs Robbie and gives him a kiss on the lips, much to the disgust of the other reindeer. Just then, Prancer arrives and notices what is happening and awkwardly says that something is going on outside. It is revealed to be a kangeroo and a koala complaining about the chalets (which Robbie had also built poorly) and that there is no snow as they wanted to ski and demand a refund which they get. Later that night, Robbie and the other reindeer share a bath due to not being able to afford the water. When Blitzen is mentioned, one of the reindeer Tapir starts to panic but Robbie calms him down telling him, Blitzen is locked away and won't be out for a long time.
The next day, Robbie comes to Old Jingle and tells him about the Viking he saw but Jingle tells him there no more Vikings before telling him that when he was younger he served as a beard trimmer to a Viking tribe. Just then the doorbell rings and Robbie sees the other reindeer looking shocked and asks if it's a Viking only to find that it's Blitzen who has been released from prison on good behaviour. Blitzen tells them that he is sorry for what he has done but is thrown out and the reindeer barricade the door, but Blitzen then tries to climb through the window but is once again thrown out and Tapir cover the window in bricks. Blitzen finally climbs through the chimney and eventually tells them that he can help them save their business, hearing this, Robbie and the others let him stay. Robbie and the others are told by Blitzen that the tourist want to live in luxury accommodation and draws blueprints for a luxury hotel just before an Internet billionaire rabbit named "Warren Hutch" arrives saying he has come to the North Pole to clear his head and asks if there's a luxury hotel here causing the reindeer to start building the hotel.
After the reindeer build the hotel, Blitzen says they should throw a champagne reception for Warren and tells them that there is champagne in the lobby of the hotel. However when they enter, they find the place empty and Blitzen presses a button and traps them inside the hotel. Robbie asks Blitzen to let them out, but he refuses as they did not get him out of prison and left him to rot, so he made new friends in prison, who are giant rabbits. Warren reveals himself to be a master of disguise named Long Eared Jack. Blitzen then reveals to the reindeer that they have stared to build his new attraction, Blitzen's Reindeer World and says that the tourists hated their holidays but they'll love this.
Whilst Blitzen, Jack and their henchmen are busy drinking and thinking of ideas for the attraction, Robbie, Donner and Prancer find a weak spot (built by Robbie) of the hotel and breakout to find help but as they escape, Prancer breaks a tree, alerting Blitzen and Jack of their escape. When the trio try to plan how they're to defeat Blitzen, Robbie suggest going to find the Vikings only to get a slap in the face from Donner but when Robbie asks her if she's got a better plan, she decides to agree with Robbie and find the Vikings.
The trio set off to find the Vikings but after walking for so long, they decide to set up camp for the night, where Robbie and Donner have normal camping equipment but Prancer brought a disco causing Robbie and Donner to have to sleep with their antlers stuffed in their ears to block out the noise. The next morning, whilst Robbie and Donner are having a disagreement about which way to go, Jack (who had been sent out by Blitzen to find the trio) captures Prancer by pulling him into the ground. Unaware of this, Robbie and Donner continue to argue ending with Donner ending her relationship with Robbie just seconds before Jack pulls her into the ground. Jack tries to catch Robbie too, but he is able to escape by trying to leap across a cliff, but ends up falling down it instead.
Robbie wakes up and finds himself surrounded by a tribe of Vikings who say they are the last tribe in the world who are all called Magnus. Robbie asks them to help rescue his friends from Blitzen and is using them for Blitzen's Reindeer World to which the Vikings reveal that they have a leaflet for it which Robbie reads and discovers that Blitzen is going to turn the reindeer into robots. When Robbie says that the Vikings will be able to help him, they tell him that they can't as they consider themselves cowards as they hid away on the last day of the Viking battle when the other Vikings fought each other. But Robbie says that he's the coward as he didn't tell Donner how much he loved her as he was always thinking about something else and lost her. Robbie tells the Vikings are heroes and can't live the rest of their lives in shame and should join him in battle but before he can say anymore, Jack appears in a glider and takes Robbie back to Coldchester.
Blitzen's Reindeer World is now opened and has the reindeer (controlled by mind control helmets) act as robots and can't feel pain all except Robbie (who is hung above animal traps) as Blitzen wants him to feel every moment of it. Robbie calls out to Blitzen to let his friends go and do anything to him, but Blitzen refuses and tells him to shut up and die. Luckily, the Vikings arrive be save Robbie who then goes off to rescue the other reindeer. Robbie then decides to go after Blitzen but turns down Donner's offer to come with him as he believes it's too dangerous for her. Robbie sees Blitzen (who is using a flying cart) leave so uses a popcorn machine to go after him, after catching up with him, the two reindeer battle. Donner is able to catch up and, oblivious to the fight, tells Robbie they need to talk, but Robbie (as he is being strangled by Blitzen) replies "not now", to which Donner accuses him for taking her for granted. This causes an annoyed Blitzen to stop the fight and ends up convincing Robbie to propose to Donner. But just before Donner can say anything, Blitzen prepares to kill Robbie. But Donner, having accepted Robbie's proposal, defends her now fiancé and punches Blitzen so hard it sends him back to prison. After returning home, the now engaged couple share a kiss before going with the others and have a disco.
Close Encounters of the Herd Kind (2007)[]
Set some amount of time after Legend of the Lost Tribe, on the night before their wedding, Robbie and Donner stargaze where Donner tells Robbie that she's not letting him have a stag night (as last time Robbie had one, the wedding had to be cancelled). After Donner leaves to have a manicure, a green crystal lands in Robbie's hands but he drops it as it is hot just before being knocked down by the impact of a large ball of fire and falls unconscious. He wakes up in his room the next day and prepares to get ready for the wedding and puts on a bow tie and puts the crystal on it unaware that he is being watched. Robbie's bow tie shoots out into goes into the hallway and catches it and meets Donner's sister Em (who's serving as bridesmaid) who threatens to pull every hair off Robbie's body if he does anything to hurt Donner. Just then, Donner comes out of her room in her wedding dress and is happy to see that Em made it, but goes back into her room after seeing Robbie as it's bad luck for the bride and groom to se each other before the wedding. Em then uses a mind eraser to make Robbie forget he saw Donner in her wedding dress and fixes his bow tie.
Later, Robbie along with Prancer (who's serving as best man) are in the cabin's living room (which is being used as the wedding venue) where Prancer notices that he has forgot the rings and distracts Robbie long enough to find them. Just then Donner (being led down the aisle by Em and Old Jingle) arrives and the Vicar starts reading out the vows. Robbie suddenly hears a voice telling him that he's in grave danger and that it's the end of the world, causing him to flee the cabin in panic. Later Robbie flees guilty about leaving Donner just as he hears a notice behind him and thinks it's Em, only to see it's an alien wearing a gold thought amplifier (which allows him to talk without moving his mouth). The alien introduces himself as Gariiiiiii and says that he is an Earth Guardian who protect Earth from outside interference. When Robbie asks him why he is here, Gariiiiiii says that he intercepted a craft belonging to an alien race called the Nargathrons who want to destroy Earth before telling Robbie that the crystal he has is The Nargathron Crystal which is the power source to their ultimate weapon. A dying Gariiiiiii tells Robbie to take the crystal and if the Nargathrons get it, it will be the end for Robbie and those he loves, before fading away and Robbie leaves with the crystal and the thought amplifier.
Later, Robbie meets with Prancer, Tapir and Old Jingle and learns from them that the Nargathrons have captured Donner and they have found Gariiiiiii's ship. Robbie gives Prancer the crystal and tells him, Tapir and Old Jingle to find a way to contact the Earth Guardians before flying away in the ship to get to the Nargathron's ship to rescue Donner. Gariiiiiii's spirt appears and tells Robbie about an instruction manual to control the ship. Just then, a hologram of Old Jingle appears and argues with Gariiiiiii over who should give Robbie advice, but both leave when an annoyed Robbie tells them that he's trying to read the instruction manual. Robbie presses a big red button and it sends the ship into space and arrives outside the Nargathrons ship. He is brought onboard and put in the same cell as Donner.
The Nargathron's leader Queen Vorkana demands the crystal, but Robbie claims to know nothing about it and says that if he did, he wouldn't tell her. But Vorkana hypnotises Robbie into drawing a picture of giving the crystal to Prancer. Afterwards, the crystal is teleported to the ship and Vorkana puts it the ship's computer and sets a countdown to destroy Earth. Whilst Vorkana is gone, Robbie uses the thought amplifier to trick a Nargathron trooper into freeing him and Donner before using him to knock Vorkana away when she returns. More troopers arrive and Donner uses part of her dress to knock them over. Robbie sends Donner back to Earth in Gariiiiiii's ship before trying to stop the countdown. Vorkana returns and attacks Robbie, but he uses the Nose Jump to get over to a control pad that teleports Vorkana to Earth. Robbie struggles to find a way to stop the countdown, just then an Earth Guardian appears on the ships screen warning to prepare for meltdown just before the Earth Guardians destroy the Nargathron ship, making everyone believe that Robbie is dead.
Back on Earth, the Vicar hears a voice telling him to continue with Robbie's vows just as Robbie arrives alive and well wearing the thought amplifier and floats down to the other using the part of the dress Donner used earlier to knock down the troopers and gives the thought amplifier to the Vicar. The Vicar pronounces Robbie and Donner husband and wife and the two reindeer kiss. Later, at the reception, Em comes over to Robbie who thinks she's going to give him another warning only for her to say that why he didn't tell her that he had such a hunky best man before going off to dance with Prancer (who had a crush on Em from the start). Robbie then hears Donner's voice in his head saying that now they are married, they should think about getting a place of their own. Robbie looks down and sees the Vicar holding the thought amplifier and Robbie asks how he did that, perhaps because of he and Donner being married.
Description[]
Robbie has brown fur with brown eyes and antlers with three points on each one. During the Reindeer Games, he wears a white vest with the number 5½ on it with trainers. At his wedding, Robbie wears a black bow tie.
Robbie speaks with an Irish accent in the original British version and an American accent in the American version.
Quotes[]
- She's so beautiful. I have this thing that I can't talk to girls if I love them. (Robbie to Donner about Vixen)
- Well Dad, I blew it. I could have got fit, but I was cocky and I was lazy.
(Robbie to Rudolph's painting)
- Donner, I love you. Would make me the happiest reindeer in the whole world?. (Robbie proposing to Donner)
- You know Vorkana, I'm a tolerant reindeer, but I'm starting to wish you'd just disappear. (Robbie to Vorkana, before he teleports her off the Nargathron ship)
Gallery[]
Promotional[]
Hooves of Fire[]
Legend of the Lost Tribe[]
Close Encounters of the Herd Kind[]
Trivia[]
- In Hooves of Fire, Robbie used his nose to track and later The Nose Jump. However in the two sequels, he only uses it for the Nose Jump. It is most likely that the people in charge of making the sequels forgot to add Robbie's tracking ability or left it out as it did not contribute to the story.
- Robbie is similar to Simba as both are animals (Robbie a reindeer and Simba a lion). Both are the sons of important/famous figures (Robbie's father is Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and Simba's father Mufasa was king of the Pride Lands) and eventually succeed them (Robbie becomes lead reindeer on the sleigh team and Simba becomes king). Both were also at first on friendly terms with the villain (Robbie with Blitzen and Simba with Scar) before learning of their true nature. Another similarity between them is they both fall in love and eventually marry their female friend (Robbie with Donner and Simba with Nala). However unlike Simba and Nala, Robbie and Donner don't have children.
- Robbie is also similar to Scott Howard from Teen Wolf as both are the protagonist and both are at first in love with a girl who isn't interested in them (Robbie with Vixen and Scott with Pamela Wells). Both also have a female friend who has feelings for them that go unnoticed until near the end of the film (Robbie with Donner and Scott with Boof).
- Robbie's age is unknown but in Hooves of Fire, Blitzen calls him child in one scene perhaps meaning that Robbie was a teenager in the first film and in his twenties in the later films.
- In the this film, Close Encounters of the Herd Kind, Robbie's full name is revealed to be Robbie Ignacious Hilary. Something Prancer finds funny as he did giggle when he heard it.