Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer

TV Movie
1964
TV-G
47m

IMDb RATING

8.0/10

38K

YOUR RATING

POPULARITY

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Holiday Animation Holiday Family Stop Motion Animation Adventure Animation Comedy Drama Family Fantasy Holiday

A young reindeer Rudolph lives at the North Pole. His father is one of Santa's reindeer and it is expected that Rudolph will eventually be one too. However, he has a feature which is a setba... Read allA young reindeer Rudolph lives at the North Pole. His father is one of Santa's reindeer and it is expected that Rudolph will eventually be one too. However, he has a feature which is a setback and causes him to be ostracized: his red nose.A young reindeer Rudolph lives at the North Pole. His father is one of Santa's reindeer and it is expected that Rudolph will eventually be one too. However, he has a feature which is a setback and causes him to be ostracized: his red nose.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

8.0/10

38K

YOUR RATING

POPULARITY

1,150

471

See production info at IMDbPro

Rudolph
(voice)
(as Billy Richards)

Burl Ives

Sam the Snowman
(voice)

Larry D. Mann

Yukon Cornelius
(voice)
(as Larry Mann)
…

Paul Soles

Hermey
(voice)

Stan Francis

Santa Claus
(voice)
…

Alfie Scopp

Charlie-In-The-Box
(voice)
…

Janis Orenstein

Clarice
(voice)

Paul Kligman

Donner
(voice)
…

Carl Banas

Head Elf
(voice)
…

Corinne Conley

Doll
(voice)
(as Corine Conley)
…

Peg Dixon

Mrs. Donner
(voice)
…

Bernard Cowan

Abominable Snow Monster
(uncredited)
…

Storyline

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Did you know

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Trivia
Copies of both the Santa and Rudolph publicity photo puppets were found in storage in the attic of a woman that used to work for Rankin-Bass. The puppets were in rather poor condition (Santa was missing his eyebrows and half his mustache, and his legs were broken; Rudolph's iconic nose was missing and replaced with red wax), but amazingly survived being stored in a hot attic since the late 1960's. They have since been restored by Screen Novelties to their former glory and now travel the country to various trade shows and conventions.

Goofs
Although the film was copyrighted and released in 1964, the Roman numerals copyright date in the main titles is shown as "MCLXIV", which would be the year 1164, eight centuries earlier. 1964 is MCMLXIV, in Roman numerals.

Quotes
[Rudolph, Yukon, and Hermey are traveling through thick fog]
Yukon Cornelius: This fog's as thick as peanut butter!
Hermey: [Correcting Yukon] You mean pea soup.
Yukon Cornelius: [after Hermey corrects him] You eat what you like, and I'll eat what I like!

Crazy credits
If you pay close attention to the opening credits, below the credit of "Burl Ives sings", you'll see a small house fly buzzing around on the fake snow!

Alternate versions
The 1964 showing did not have Santa picking up toys from the Island of Misfit Toys at the end. A letter-writing campaign ensued and the new ending was added in 1965. Also in 1965, sponsor General Electric insisted on replacing the song "We're a Couple of Misfits" with "Fame and Fortune", a change that lasted until 1998, when "Misfits" was put back in.

Connections
Featured in A Hollywood Christmas (1996)

Soundtracks
Jingle Jingle Jingle
Written by Johnny Marks
Performed by Stan Francis

User reviews136

Review

Featured review

8/10

Iconic Christmas TV special

Sam the Snowman narrates the story of Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer. His parents, the Donners, try to hide his glowing nose but during the Reindeer Games, his fake nose falls off. He is ridiculed and kicked out of the games. Meanwhile, an elf named Hermey would rather be a dentist than making toys. He runs away and meets Rudolph. They join up with prospector Yukon Cornelius who is looking for gold and silver. They escape the Abominable Snow Monster and discover the Island of Misfit Toys.

This is a classic with two of the best Christmas songs ever; "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" and "A Holly Jolly Christmas". The stop-motion animation has an old fashion charm. It also brings to the world the Island of Misfit Toys. The only minor complaint is that Santa needs to be more jolly. He's a little judgmental on Rudolph's nose early on. It's a small point in what is an imaginative icon.