Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
"Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" is a popular Christmas story owned by St. Nicholas Music Inc. that has been sold in numerous forms including a popular song, a television special, and a feature film.
Rudolph's biography
Rudolph is one of Santa Claus's flying Christmas reindeer that pull his sleigh. He has a magical "red nose" that provides a light to guide Santa through the dark night of Christmas eve.
Rudolph's origins
Rudolph's story was originally written in verse by Robert L. May for the Montgomery Ward chain of department stores in 1939 and published as a book to be given to children in the store at Christmas time.
According to the story, Rudolph is the son of Donner, one of Santa's eight original reindeer (who were first mentioned in the famous poem A Visit from St. Nicholas). Rudolph was born with a glowing red nose, which made him a social outcast among the other reindeer. However, one Christmas eve it was too foggy for Santa Claus to make his flight around the world. About to cancel, Santa suddenly noticed Rudolph's nose, and decided it could be a makeshift lamp to guide his sleigh. Since then Rudolph has been a permanent member of Santa's team, and is welcomed by the other reindeer.
The song
Johnny Marks, May's brother-in-law, decided to adapt May's story into a song, which through the years has been recorded by many artists (most notably by Gene Autry in 1949), and has since filtered into the popular consciousness.
The song contains these lyrics:
- You know Dasher and Dancer
- And Prancer and Vixen,
- Comet and Cupid
- And Donner and Blitzen,
- But do you recall
- The most famous reindeer of all?
- Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
- Had a very shiny nose
- And if you ever saw it
- You would even say it glows
- All of the other reindeer
- Used to laugh and call him names
- They never let poor Rudolph
- Join in any reindeer games
- Then one foggy Christmas Eve
- Santa came to say
- "Rudolph, with your nose so bright,
- Won't you guide my sleigh tonight?"
- Then all the reindeer loved him
- As they shouted out with glee:
- Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer,
- You'll go down in history!
In the U.S., the song is sometimes performed (usually by children) in a humorous manner with additional lyrics. These lyrics are to be recited as a sort of response at the end of most of the lines in the song. Sample lyrics follow (responses in bold):
- Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (reindeer)
- Had a very shiny nose (like a lightbulb)
- And if you ever saw him (saw him)
- You would even say it glows (like a lightbulb/flashlight)
- All of the other reindeer (reindeer)
- Used to laugh and call him names (like Pinocchio)
- They never let poor Rudolph (Rudolph)
- Join in any reindeer games (like Monopoly)
- Then one foggy Christmas Eve
- Santa came to say (Happy Birthday!), or (Ho-ho-ho!), or (in his underwear!), or (G'day!) - Australian version
- "Rudolph, with your nose so bright,
- Won't you guide my sleigh tonight?" (all right!)
- Then all the reindeer loved him (loved him)
- As they shouted out with glee: (Yippee!) or (Hooray!)
- Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, (reindeer)
- You'll go down in history! (like George Washington) or (like Columbus) or (like Elvis) or (like Wayne Gretsky) or (like The Flintstones) etc.
Or, as it was sung on The Simpsons:
- Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
- Had a very shiny nose
- And if you ever saw it
- You would even say it glows (like a lightbulb)
- All of the other reindeer
- Used to laugh and call him names (like shnozzola!)
- They never let poor Rudolph
- Join in any reindeer games (like Strip Poker)
- Then one foggy Christmas Eve
- Santa came to say:
- "Rudolph get your nose over here,
- so you guide my sleigh today." - Homer couldn't remember the lyrics correctly and probably just made it up as it came.
- Then all the reindeer loved him
- As they shouted out with glee:
- Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
- You'll go down in history! - Bart then ends the song with: like Attila the Hun before Homer cuts off Bart's singing by choking him.
The 1960 version produced by Alvin and the Chipmunks is done in a straightforward way, except that Rudolph joins the boys, and it is clear from his voice that he is "stuffed up" with a head cold, as he is unable to say certain words correctly, and this is presumed to be the explanation for his nose being red:
- Rudolph with your dose so bright
- Won't you guide my sleigh todight?
The popular song "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" in its Finnish translation, Petteri Punakuono, has led to Rudolph's general acceptance in the mythology as Joulupukki's, the Finnish Santa's, lead reindeer. However, Santa's reindeer in the Finnish version do not fly.
Rudolph in the media
Theatrical cartoon short
Rudolph's first screen appearance came in 1948, in the form of a theatrical cartoon short, produced by Max Fleischer for the Jam Handy Corporation, that was more faithful to May's original story than Marks' eventual song.
Animated TV special
Main article: Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (television special) Template:Spoiler
The reindeer debuted on NBC in 1964, when Rankin/Bass produced a stop motion animated TV special of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer that became a popular hit in itself. This version was re-broadcast many times over the years, even after it was finally released on video. CBS now airs it each year, making it the longest running TV special.
It is narrated by Sam the Snowman (Burl Ives), who tells that when Rudolph was first born, he had a red light-up nose. Donner, Rudolph's father, wants to hide it, but Rudolph's not the only one who's different. One elf, Hermey, wants to be a dentist instead of a toy-making elf. Hermey and Rudolph take off together and meet Yukon Cornelius, who is seeking silver and gold. They have to beware of the Abominable Snow-monster (whom Yukon refers to as the Bumble), and stumble upon the Island of Misfit Toys, populated with toys such as a "Charlie-in-the-box", a train with square wheels, and a cowboy who rides an ostrich. They want to stay on the island, but King Moon Racer, ruler of the island, says it is for toys only. Rudolph's family is looking for him, and Hermey, who wants to be a dentist, defeats the Bumble by pulling out all his teeth. When they get back to the North Pole, the toothless Bumble puts the star on top of the tree. When there is a strong fog, Santa relies on Rudolph as a beacon, and Rudolph gets them to the Island of Misfit Toys and at the end, the toys are given homes (they are dropped out of the sleigh behind the credits via umbrellas).
In 2001, a sequel to the Rankin-Bass original special was produced, entitled Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and the Island of Misfit Toys, produced entirely with computer animation, as opposed to traditional stop-motion animation; however, care was taken to make the computer-generated characters resemble their stop-motion counterparts from the original special as much as possible.
Animated feature-length film
An animated feature film remake of the fictional story of Rudolph was produced in 1998, entitled Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer: The Movie, but this version of the story paled in comparison with the Rankin-Bass classic, both in terms of quality and box-office revenue. It only saw a limited theatrical release before quickly being sent to home video.
References
Two BBC animations carry on the legend by introducing Rudolph's son, Robbie the Reindeer. However, Rudolph is never directly mentioned by name.
Satirical references
In his novelty song, Santa Claus is Watching You!, Ray Stevens has the camel named "Clyde" (of A-hab the A-rab fame) leading the reindeer instead, because "Rudolph sprained his hip in a Twist contest!"
Mad TV also produced a twisted version of the 1964 classic by incorporating the story into a Martin Scorsese remake reminiscent of The Godfather where the other reindeer were Santa Clause's hitmen and Santa was the ringleader of a snow-based crime syndicate. They entitled it Raging Rudolph.
The Reindeer Monologues are a satirical play in which each of the eight original Reindeer from The Night Before Christmas each perform a monologue. Rudolph does not have a monolouge, due to the fact that he has been molested by Santa. This causes him to have a nervous breakdown.
See also
External links
- Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer Classic Christmas & TV website with Rankin/Bass Lyrics & Gallery, Coloring Pages & Games
- History of Rudolph
- Rudolph the Red-Nosed Radio
- The Legendary Role of Reindeer in Christmas