86 Fun Facts About Rudolph

Who created the character of Rudolph, in 1939?

Robert L. May, a copywriter at a Chicago mail-order retailer, wrote the Rudolph booklet in 1939 as a work assignment: his employer wanted a Christmas giveaway of its own.

Which department store commissioned the original booklet?

Montgomery Ward, the Chicago mail-order chain, had been buying Christmas colouring booklets to give away and in 1939 decided that producing its own would be cheaper.

Which two names did the author consider before settling on Rudolph?

The author first tried Rollo and Reginald, rejecting Rollo as too cheerful and Reginald as too British, before settling on Rudolph.

How many copies did the store give away in the first year?

The store handed out 2.4 million copies of the booklet in the 1939 Christmas season; wartime paper shortages then halted reprints until 1946.

What gave the author the idea for the glowing nose?

The author said a dense fog rolling in off Lake Michigan, seen from his Chicago office window, gave him the idea of a reindeer with a glowing nose.

Why was the red nose idea initially rejected?

In 1930s popular culture a bright red nose meant a drunkard, and management took some convincing.

Which illustrator's sketches convinced management to approve the story?

Denver Gillen, an artist in the store's art department, sketched live reindeer at Lincoln Park Zoo; his lively drawings persuaded management to approve the project.

In which poetic metre is the original story written?

The author wrote the booklet in anapestic tetrameter, the galloping da-da-DUM metre of 'A Visit from St. Nicholas', so it scans like a Christmas Eve poem.

Which publisher issued the first mass-market edition, in 1947?

Maxton Books printed the first commercial edition in 1947, the year the store that had owned the booklet signed its copyright over to the author.

What was the 1954 sequel called?

The author's 1954 sequel was titled Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer Shines Again; it followed the 1939 booklet by fifteen years and was again written in verse.

Which unpublished 1947 sequel finally appeared in 1992?

Rudolph's Second Christmas was written by the author in 1947 but sat unpublished for 45 years until Applewood Books issued it in 1992.

Who wrote the 1949 song that made the character famous?

Johnny Marks, the author's brother-in-law, turned the booklet into the 1949 song; the later television special took its title and much of its story from it.

Which song do the elves perform for an unimpressed Santa?

The elves rehearse 'We Are Santa's Elves' and perform it for Santa, who walks out muttering that it needs work and he has to go.

Which sponsor backed the special's first broadcast?

The umbrella title on air was The General Electric Fantasy Hour.

Which studio made the 1964 special?

Videocraft International, the New York company of Arthur Rankin Jr. and Jules Bass, produced the special; the firm was later renamed Rankin/Bass Productions, the name most people know.

What is the stop-motion process used in it called?

Rankin/Bass branded its stop-motion puppet technique 'Animagic' and used the name on its later puppet specials such as Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town.

In which city was the special's animation actually shot?

The animation was shot in Tokyo by Tadahito Mochinaga's MOM Production studio, which Rankin/Bass used for its early stop-motion specials.

Which folk singer voiced Sam the Snowman?

Burl Ives, the folk singer behind 'A Little Bitty Tear', voiced Sam the Snowman and sang 'A Holly Jolly Christmas' in the special.

Which actress voiced the title character?

Most of the cast were Canadian, recorded over two days at RCA Studios in Toronto.

In which city were the voices for the special recorded?

The voices were recorded at RCA Victor's studios in Toronto, where Rankin/Bass cast mostly Canadian radio and television actors for its 1960s specials.

What job does Hermey the elf want instead of making toys?

Hermey wants to be a dentist rather than make toys; the head elf mocks the idea, so he walks out of the workshop and later meets Rudolph on the ice.

What is Yukon Cornelius searching for?

Yukon Cornelius is prospecting for silver and gold, and keeps tossing his pickaxe and licking it to taste for either; he never strikes any.

Who rules the Island of Misfit Toys?

King Moonracer, a winged lion, rules the Island of Misfit Toys; he flies around the world each night gathering unwanted toys and bringing them to the island.

What job does the tamed monster do at the end?

Yukon explains that its bouncing ability had saved all their lives on the way home.

Which network aired the special annually starting in 1972?

CBS took over the special in 1972, after its first years on NBC, and made it a fixture of its December schedule.

What did the special's broadcast network unveil in 2005?

In 2005 the network aired a digitally remastered version of the special, restored from the original film elements with a cleaned-up picture and soundtrack.

On the Island of Misfit Toys, the cowboy rides which animal?

The cowboy on the Island of Misfit Toys rides an ostrich instead of a horse; the island's other residents include a train with square wheels and a spotted elephant.

In the 2020s, which rights holder controlled the Rudolph story?

The Rudolph Company, LP, the author's family rights company, controlled the Rudolph character and story through the early 2020s, with Character Arts handling licensing and DreamWorks Classics owning the television special.

Where does Rudolph sit among Santa's reindeer?

Rudolph is the ninth and youngest of Santa's reindeer; the other eight were named in the 1823 poem, and the special presents him as Donner's newborn fawn.

What does his nose do for the team?

Rudolph's glowing nose lights the path through bad weather: on a foggy Christmas Eve, Santa asks him to lead the sleigh so the team can see where it is going.

Which two Rankin/Bass sequels followed the original special?

Rankin/Bass followed the original with Rudolph's Shiny New Year (1976) and Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July (1979), both also made with stop-motion puppets.

What is the scientific name of the real reindeer?

The reindeer is Rangifer tarandus, named by Linnaeus in 1758; in Canada and Alaska the same species is known as caribou.

What makes reindeer unique among deer species?

Reindeer are the only deer species in which females may grow antlers; the share of antlered females varies between herds, and males' antlers are larger.

Which is the smallest subspecies of the real animal?

The Svalbard reindeer, isolated on the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard, is the smallest subspecies, with short legs and a stocky body suited to the cold of the far north.

What is a female reindeer called?

A female reindeer is a cow, a male is a bull and a young one is a calf, the same terms used for cattle.

Which regions are reindeer native to?

Reindeer are native to Arctic and subarctic Eurasia and North America, ranging from Norway across Siberia to Alaska and Canada; some herds migrate hundreds of kilometres each year.

In which year did NBC begin airing the special annually again?

NBC brought the special back in 2024 after more than half a century on a rival network; NBC had carried its earliest airings.

Whose recording of the Rudolph song hit No. 1 on the US charts at Christmas 1949?

Gene Autry's recording topped the Billboard chart the week of Christmas 1949, selling 1.75 million copies that first season, and went on to sell over 12 million.

In the 1964 special, what is the name of the doe who tells Rudolph he is cute?

Clarice, the doe who tells Rudolph 'I think you're cute', so thrills him that he takes a huge leap at the reindeer games, just before his false nose pops off.

How does Donner first try to disguise his newborn fawn's glowing nose in the special?

When that fails he fits Rudolph with a prosthetic nose, which works right up until the reindeer games.

Which of Santa's reindeer serves as the coach who expels Rudolph from the reindeer games?

Comet runs the reindeer games and, after Rudolph's nose is exposed, bars him from joining in; Paul Kligman voiced both Comet and Donner.

Which song was cut from the special in 1965, replaced by 'Fame and Fortune', and restored in 1998?

'We're a Couple of Misfits', the duet Rudolph and Hermey sing after running away together, was replaced by the newly written 'Fame and Fortune' in 1965 and put back in the 1998 broadcast.

Which scene was missing from the 1964 broadcast and added in 1965 after viewers wrote in?

The 1964 broadcast ended without Santa collecting the misfit toys, and viewers complained; a new scene of Santa's sleigh picking them up was animated for the 1965 repeat.

Because of a missing Roman numeral, the special's copyright notice gives its year as what?

The notice reads MCLXIV, which is 1164: the M that would have made it the correct year was dropped, and the slip was carried into later prints of the special.

The restored original Rudolph and Santa puppets sold at auction in November 2020 for how much?

The pair fetched $368,000 at a Profiles in History auction in November 2020; they had once been appraised at about $10,000 on Antiques Roadshow and were later donated to Atlanta's Center for Puppetry Arts.

Arthur Rankin Jr. later said the misfit toy Dolly for Sue was a misfit because she was what?

Arthur Rankin Jr. said on NPR that Dolly for Sue was clinically depressed after being abandoned by her owner Sue; no physical flaw was ever written for her.

Rudolph's creator was asked for a festive animal story with a hero like which gentle storybook character?

Ferdinand the Bull had just been released as a Disney short film, so the boss who ordered the 1939 giveaway asked for a cheery outsider animal in the same mould.

What did the retailer that owned Rudolph do with the story's copyright in 1947?

Gave it to its author: the store's president signed the rights over free and clear from January 1947, letting an employee buried in medical debt finally profit from Rudolph.

Which rock and roll pioneer recorded the 1958 single Run Rudolph Run, a sequel to the original Rudolph song?

Chuck Berry wrote it himself, but the writing credit went to the composer of the original Rudolph song, who held a trademark on the reindeer's name.

Rudolph's sleigh-mates Donner and Blitzen take their names from Dutch and German words meaning what?

Thunder and lightning: the 1823 poem that named Santa's team first called the pair Dunder and Blixem, after a Dutch oath, and later printings gave them a German spelling.

Which star crooner turned down the Rudolph song before its release, then recorded his own hit version in 1950?

Bing Crosby passed on the song, as did Dinah Shore, before a singing cowboy took it to No. 1. Crosby's own version still reached the pop top twenty.

In the 1964 Rudolph special, what does Santa announce moments before he notices Rudolph's glowing nose?

Christmas is cancelled, Santa declares, because a huge snowstorm has grounded the sleigh. One look at the glow changes his mind and puts Rudolph at the head of the team.

A 2012 medical study explained Rudolph's red nose by finding that reindeer noses are unusually rich in what?

Blood vessels are a quarter denser in a reindeer's nose than in a human's, the researchers found, which keeps the nose from freezing and helps regulate the brain's temperature on a sleigh run.

In which British sci-fi series' 2014 festive special does Santa park Rudolph like a car and switch off his nose?

Doctor Who put a live-action Rudolph, glowing nose and all, beside Donner and Blitzen in the episode Last Christmas, with Nick Frost playing Santa.

Which festive standard by the composer of the Rudolph song is sung by the snowman narrator of the 1964 special?

A Holly Jolly Christmas was first meant for prospector Yukon Cornelius. The producers gave it to the snowman once they had hired a famous folk singer to narrate.

Which part of a real reindeer, Rudolph's wild cousin, changes colour from gold in summer to blue in winter?

Its eyes change because the reflective layer behind the retina turns from gold to blue, sharpening the animal's vision through the months of continuous winter darkness.

The singing cowboy who first recorded the Rudolph song rejected it at first; who talked him into recording it?

His wife persuaded him to cut a tune that had only been pitched as a B-side, and the single went on to become the first No. 1 hit of the 1950s.

Counting every cover version, the Rudolph song trails only which festive classic in total record sales?

White Christmas is the only seasonal song to outsell it: with covers included, sales of the reindeer's tune are put at more than 150 million records.

In the 1964 Rudolph special, what exposes Rudolph's glowing secret to the other bucks at the reindeer games?

His false nose pops off while he celebrates with the other bucks, and the coach promptly bans him from the games.

In the 1964 Rudolph special, how do Yukon Cornelius and the snow monster survive their fall from a cliff?

The beast bounces: Yukon walks back in alive to explain that the creature's springiness saved them both, and he brings it home tamed.

Why does the 1964 Rudolph special follow the famous song rather than the original 1939 storybook?

Its writer had no copy of the book: Romeo Muller said he would have preferred to adapt it but could not find one, so he built Hermey, Yukon and the rest around the song.

Paul Soles, the voice of Hermey in the 1964 Rudolph special, later voiced which superhero in a 1967 cartoon?

Spider-Man was his in the web-slinger's original animated series, launched three years after he played the elf who would rather not make toys.

At the reindeer games in the 1964 Rudolph special, what skill do the new fawns learn while Santa scouts them?

Flying is the lesson, because Santa is scouting for future sleigh duty. Rudolph takes off better than anyone once a doe calls him cute.

Which Hollywood star voices the wicked ice queen Stormella in 1998's Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer: The Movie?

Whoopi Goldberg plays the queen who vows to bury Christmas in a blizzard if anyone crosses her ice bridge. John Goodman voices Santa in the same film.

In the 2001 film Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and the Island of Misfit Toys, who is the thieving Toy Taker?

A discarded teddy bear named Mr. Cuddles is under the coat, walking on stilts. Thrown away when his boy grew up, he steals toys to spare them the same fate.

A 2015 scholarly article argued that Rudolph's nose suits murky nights because of which property of red light?

It pierces mist better thanks to its long wavelength, an anthropologist wrote, whereas the ultraviolet light that reindeer can also see would scatter and blind the team.

What job did Rudolph's creator hold at the Chicago department store that gave the story away in 1939?

Advertising copywriter: he later wrote that instead of producing the great American novel he had dreamed of, he was describing men's shirts for the catalogue.

Why did a Chicago retailer commission the first Rudolph story instead of buying its usual holiday giveaway?

To save money: the store had been buying booklets to hand out each December and reckoned that one produced in-house would be cheaper.

As he drafted the 1939 story, Rudolph's creator tested each new part by reading it aloud to whom?

His young daughter Barbara, then four, heard every section as it was finished. He completed the poem that August, weeks after her mother died.

Why did the popular Rudolph giveaway booklet of 1939 not return to stores until 1946?

Wartime paper limits prevented a reissue until 1946, when the store handed out another 3.6 million free copies.

Rudolph's creator and his illustrator studied real deer at which zoo before the 1939 story was drawn?

Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago was a Saturday research trip for the pair, who wanted a better idea of what the reindeer should look like.

Which comic-book publisher issued a Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer annual every year from 1950 to 1962?

DC Comics, then called National Periodical Publications, ran thirteen Rudolph annuals and brought the title back in a giant format in 1972.

Which beloved picture-book artist illustrated the 1958 Little Golden Book version of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer?

Richard Scarry illustrated the retelling years before his Busytown books made him famous. The storybook's plot is similar to that of Rudolph's 1948 cartoon.

Where did the lost Santa and Rudolph puppets from the 1964 special resurface after years in a family attic?

On Antiques Roadshow, where a nephew of the producers' secretary had them appraised. She had given the puppets to the family's children as toys, and attic heat melted several others.

Which singer had a huge hit with Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree, written by the composer of the Rudolph song?

Brenda Lee's evergreen came from the same pen as Rudolph: the songwriter, born to a Jewish family, made a speciality of festive standards.

In which novelty act's 1960 cover of the Rudolph song does Rudolph himself sing along with a head cold?

The Chipmunks gave Rudolph a guest vocal with a stuffy nose, a joke about why it is red, and took the record to No. 21 on the Hot 100.

Rudolph's 1964 special is the longest-running US holiday special; which rival classic arrived a year later?

A Charlie Brown Christmas followed in December 1965. Rudolph has been telecast every year since 1964, longer than any other festive special in the United States.

In a 1979 Rankin/Bass feature film, Rudolph shares top billing with which other song-born holiday character?

Frosty the Snowman joined him for a summer circus adventure, the only time Rankin/Bass animated the snowman as a stop-motion puppet rather than a drawing.

In Rankin/Bass's 1976 sequel, Rudolph must find a runaway baby who is hiding which embarrassing feature?

Enormous ears made everyone laugh at Happy, the baby due to take over as the calendar turns, so Rudolph wins his trust by sharing his own story of being teased.

In the 1964 special, why does Rudolph slip away alone at night from the Island of Misfit Toys?

To protect his friends: he worries that his glowing nose puts Hermey and Yukon in danger, so he leaves that night and does not come home until he is a grown buck.

Which bestselling 2005 economics book was co-written by a great-nephew of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer's creator?

Freakonomics co-author Steven Levitt is a grandson of the creator's sister, and the songwriter who set Rudolph to music married another of those sisters.

In the BBC stop-motion special Hooves of Fire, what is the name of Rudolph's son, who joins Santa's sleigh team?

Robbie's famous father is never named in full, presumably to steer round the Rudolph trademark. Jealous old captain Blitzen plots to keep the newcomer off the team.

Olive, the Other Reindeer, a 1999 special named after a misheard line of the Rudolph song, stars whom as Olive?

Drew Barrymore voiced the little dog who sets out to replace a grounded Blitzen, and she was also an executive producer alongside Simpsons creator Matt Groening.

Rudolph's creator graduated in 1926 from which Ivy League college, where a professor later studied the red nose?

Dartmouth is where he majored in psychology and met Alfred Adler's ideas about overcoming feelings of inferiority, a theme that runs through the outcast reindeer's tale.

Which animation pioneer directed Rudolph's 1948 screen debut, a short cartoon made to promote a department store?

Max Fleischer, the studio boss behind Betty Boop and Popeye, made the eight-minute film for the Jam Handy company, a year before the famous song existed.

Which veteran comedian narrates Rankin/Bass's 1976 Rudolph sequel in the role of Father Time?

Red Skelton tells the tale as the old timekeeper himself, sending Rudolph through islands where old years go to retire, pursued by a giant vulture named Eon.