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Now how can you overlook that? His beak blinks like a blinkin' beacon!

— Donner describing his son's abnormal nose

Rudolph the Red–Nosed Reindeer is a long-running Christmas television special produced in stop-motion animation by Rankin/Bass, and the company's first Christmas special. It originally aired on NBC on December 6, 1964. It is based on the 1439 poem of the same name by Robert L. May (who was an advertising copywriter for Montgomery Ward) and its song adaptation by Johnny Marks. Marks also wrote the music and lyrics for the songs in this special, and the background soundtrack includes two more songs he made famous - "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day" and "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" (both of which would later be used in one of the sequels, Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July).

Synopsis[]

Sam the Snowman narrates the story of Rudolph, the son of Donner, Santa Claus's lead reindeer. As the story begins, Donner and his wife are surprised to find that their newborn fawn's unusually red nose is capable of glowing. When Santa visits their cave to meet the fawn and sees the glowing nose, he warns Donner that Rudolph will not be able to pull the sleigh if he keeps carrying this trait for the rest of his life. Consequently, Donner tries to conceal Rudolph's nose with a fake nose made of dirt.

A year later, Rudolph's parents take him to participate in the Reindeer Games, where he and all of the other young bucks are trained to fly and pull Santa's sleigh when they get older. Donner still tries to hide the nature of Rudolph's nose with the cover, which causes his voice to sound as if he had a permanent cold. Despite this, two deer befriend him - a little buck named Fireball, and a beautiful doe named Clarice, who thinks Rudolph is cute and has a crush on him. But during some horseplay, Fireball inadvertently pops the cover off of Rudolph's nose. After seeing his glowing nose, the other reindeer, including Fireball, start ridiculing him, and Comet, the coach, bans Rudolph from the Reindeer Games as a result. Santa even gives Donner a harsh scolding as well, disappointed in how Rudolph had such a great takeoff, but then humiliated himself because of Donner wanting to hide his nose. Clarice is the only one who still likes him and tries to comfort him, but their musings are interrupted by her father, who forbids her from being around Rudolph.

Meanwhile, one of Santa's elves, Hermey, has been having problems of his own - he wishes to be a dentist instead of a toymaker. The Boss Elf, outraged at Hermey's persistent disruption with his dentistry studies, scolds him and tries to get him to obey, but he refuses to change his interests, even under the threat of losing his job and being ridiculed by his fellow elves. As a result, Hermey decides to resign and run away. He eventually meets Rudolph, who has run away into the forest, feeling outcast and heartbroken. The two bond after they discover they each have something that makes them unique. After deciding to be "independent" together, they set out to seek "Fame and Fortune". After the song ends, however, the Abominable Snowman of the North, a carnivorous monster who hates Christmas and feeds on reindeer, begins chasing them, due to being attracted by Rudolph's red and shiny nose, but they manage to escape him.

The next day, Rudolph and Hermey meet Yukon Cornelius, a prospector who is obsessed with finding silver and gold. The Abominable Snowman (which Yukon refers to as "the Bumble") appears again and pursues the trio, once more due to being attracted to them by Rudolph's nose, but they manage to escape on an iceberg, thanks to the Bumble being unable to swim. Eventually, they arrive on the Island of Misfit Toys, an island home for unloved toys ruled by a winged lion named King Moonracer. Because they are misfits but toys, he allows them to spend the night on his island, requesting that, when they return to Christmas Town, they ask Santa to help find homes for the homeless toys. However, while Hermey and Yukon rest, Rudolph leaves on his own, having realized that his nose is a danger to his friends.

A few months later, Rudolph grows into a handsome young teen buck. He decides to return home, despite still being ridiculed by the other reindeer when they see him. When he arrives back in his family's cave, he finds that his parents are not there. He learns from Santa that they went looking for him after he ran away and Donner felt guilty about it, and Clarice went with them. Rudolph begins searching for them just as a terrible blizzard begins, and he soon finds them being held captive by the Abominable Snowman. He attempts to rescue them but is knocked unconscious. Fortunately, Hermey and Yukon Cornelius arrive, having been sent there by Sam, and hatch a rescue plan to save Rudolph and his family. Luring the creature out of the cave, the pair knock the Snowman unconscious, and Hermey extracts his teeth. Rudolph awakens, but the also-awakened beast tries to block them from escaping. Yukon chases the now-toothless Snowman to a cliff, eventually knocking himself, his sled team, and the creature over the edge.

Mourning the apparent death of their friend, the others return home, where they tell everyone what happened, after which Rudolph and Hermey stop being ridiculed. Santa promises Rudolph that he will find homes for all the Misfit Toys, the Boss Elf agrees to let Hermey open his own dentist's office next week, and even Donner apologizes to Rudolph for being critical about his nose. Just then, Yukon and his dogsled team, who survived falling off the cliff, make a grand entrance with the tamed Snowmonster. Yukon informs everyone that the creature has reformed his evil ways and has come seeking a job. The creature shows them that he is able to place a star on top of a Christmas tree without the use of a stepladder, and everyone decides to keep him around.

On Christmas Eve, Santa receives a report saying that the snowstorm will not subside, so he decides he'll have to cancel his annual Christmas Eve flight. While announcing the bad news to the elves and reindeer, however, Santa is caught by Rudolph's gleaming nose and, realizing that its light could cut through the storm, asks him to lead his sleigh, which he agrees to. After making the preparations, Rudolph leads the sleigh to the Island of Misfit Toys, and Santa takes them along the flight, where they are dropped off to their respective homes. With Rudolph leading the sleigh, it turns out to be a merry Christmas after all.

Songs[]

  • "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer"

Soundtrack[]

A soundtrack album was released in 1964 by Decca Records. The album was available in mono (DL 4815) and stereo (DL 74815), and featured all of the songs from the special. Because General Electric was the sponsor from 1964 through 1966, this album was issued as a premium gift with a purchase of any item. The album was later reissued in 1973 on MCA 15003; it remains in print on CD to this day.

Production notes[]

Broadcast history and availability[]

The special was broadcast on NBC from its premiere in 1964 until present. CBS acquired the broadcast rights to Rudolph the following year and has aired it every year since. It also began airing as part of Freeform's 25 Days of Christmas in December 2019.

In 1988, Rankin-Bass sold many of the pre-1973 specials and series (including this special) to Broadway Video, headed by Lorne Michaels of Saturday Night Live fame. Broadway Video's children's division was then sold several years later to Golden Books Family Entertainment. Golden Books Family Entertainment later spun off into Classic Media, which was part of the Entertainment Rights group in the United Kingdom until 2009, when the company was bought by Classic Media's successor, Universal. In July 2012, DreamWorks Animation SKG purchased Classic Media, and currently holds those rights under the DreamWorks Classics banner.

Cast[]

Voice actor Character
Burl Ives Sam the Snowman
Henry Gibson Rudolph
Bill Thompson Hermey
Larry Mann Yukon Cornelius
Paul Frees

Stan Francis

Santa Claus
King Moonracer
Millie Small

Don Messick

Donner
Comet
Billy Richards Clarice
Alfie Scopp Fireball
Charlie-in-the-Box
Other elves
Carl Banas Boss Elf
Spotted Elephant
Other toys
Corine Conley Dolly
Others
Betty Lou Gerson Mrs. Claus
Mrs. Donner
Others
Bernard Cowan Clarice's father

Gallery[]

Trivia[]

  • In Late 2020, the Podcast covering all things Rankin and Bass, "Rankin on Bass" by Mike White, Chris Stachiw, and Richard Hatem, discussed Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer, along with sequel, "Rudolph's Shiny New Year".

References[]


External links[]

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