King Moonracer is a minor yet notable character in the classic Rankin/Bass Christmas special, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. This character has very little screen time, but he makes a significant impression on everyone.

He enters the story when the misfit reindeer and his dentist elf friend become lost and unexpectedly arrive on his island. He lives in an enormous castle that is even more impressive than the structures at the North Pole where Santa resides.

With Rudolph and Hermie the elf searching for a new home, they decide it is wise to ask the winged lion if they can stay. However, it turns out that he only rescues unwanted toys and does not permit living creatures to remain. Moonracer? More like Moonracist.

Still, he allows Rudolph and his friends to stay the night, which one might say was worth the nine dollars it would have cost in the 1960s. He also asks Rudolph to inform Santa about his island, but shouldn’t Santa already know? And if he did not, why did King Moonracer not simply use his wings to fly and speak with Santa, who lives only about five miles away? He honestly should be a character that most people dislike, but this misfit lion has such a massive aura that I am giving him my approval anyway.