Santa Claus receives a letter from his friend
Father Time asking for help to find Happy the
Baby New Year before midnight on New Year's Eve or it will be December 31, permanently. Santa sends
Rudolph out to find him due to the snowstorm currently happening outside. A gigantic vulture named Eon the Terrible is supposed to live for only one eon, after which he will turn into ice and snow and disintegrate. As this particular eon will end January 1 of the New Year, he plans to kidnap Happy to keep the year from ending and stop time, thus preventing his predestined death. General Ticker, a military clock, and the great Quarter-Past-Five, (or Quart for short), a camel with a clock in his hump, bring Rudolph to Father Time's castle beyond the Sands of Time. Father Time speculates that Happy, who ran away due to his large ears being laughed at when they were first seen by Nanny Nine O'Clock, is hiding out in the "
Archipelago of Last Years" where the Old Years retire and rule over an island styled to resemble the year over which they ruled. When Rudolph is attacked by Eon on the ocean while heading to the archipelago, he is saved by a whale named Big Ben, who transports Rudolph across the ocean. Upon arrival in the archipelago, Rudolph first travels to the island belonging to a
caveman named One Million B.C., or "O.M." for short. O.M. inhabits an island
anachronistically inhabited with dinosaurs and other prehistoric creatures. As Rudolph and O.M. search for Happy, who left after his hat fell off while saving a baby
Pterodactyl and revealed his ears, they repeatedly encounter Eon. After other off-screen visits to the islands of 4000 B.C., 1492, 1893, and 1965 have been completed without success, Rudolph and O.M. head for the island of 1023 (pronounced "ten to three," as in the time 2:50), which is ruled by a long-bearded Scottish
knight named Sir 1023, whose island is filled with
medieval trappings along with several
fairy tale and
Mother Goose characters. Meanwhile, Happy befriends the
Three Bears, but becomes upset when he is forced to remove his hat while playing a game with Baby Bear and exposes his ears to them, causing him to leave again. The group then travels to the island of 1776, which reflects
Colonial America and is ruled over by 1776 (or "Sev" for short), who resembles
Benjamin Franklin. After Happy's apparent rejection following the daily Independence Day parade, Eon kidnaps him and takes him to his lair on the Island of No-Name which is said to be located "due north of the North Pole". The group leaves the archipelago in pursuit of Eon, and attempt to rescue Happy. However, upon being awakened by the sound of O.M. tumbling, Eon thwarts them by sending an avalanche down on the group and trapping them inside giant snowballs. Managing to break himself free using his nose, Rudolph climbs up to Eon's nest where he finds Happy, who refuses to leave. Rudolph shows Happy his nose and tells him his own story of being bullied because of his nonconformity before he asks Happy to let him see his ears. Happy does so, and Rudolph, like everyone else before him, laughs at the sight. Happy once again gets upset, but Rudolph explains that the sight of his ears had made him feel so wonderful that he had to laugh, just like it had done with everyone else. With this declaration, Happy shouts out with joy, but causes Eon to awaken. Rudolph quickly tells Happy to take off his hat and leave it off for good. At the sight of Happy's large ears, Eon bursts into uncontrollable laughter which sends him tumbling down the side of the mountain and into the remaining snowballs, freeing O.M., 1023, and Sev. Rudolph realizes that Eon is now filled with warmth and happiness that it is impossible for him to turn to ice and snow. Santa arrives and the gang returns to Father Time's castle with Happy before the New Year, which is designated "19-Wonderful". ==Archipelago of Last Years==