“Someday, I’d like to be a dentist!” Burl Ives singing “Silver and Gold.” The Bumble places the star at the top of the Christmas tree.
The sights and sounds of the beloved Rankin/Bass TV special Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, celebrating its 60th anniversary this year, are now a part of our holiday season, and it’s hard to imagine this time of year without them. Rick Goldschmidt, official Rankin/Bass historian/biographer and author of such books as The Enchanted World of Rankin/Bass and The Making of the Rankin/Bass Holiday Classic: Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, said, “Rankin/Bass specials have become iconic. They’re not just TV specials, DVDs, or Blu-rays in your collection; they’re as important as the Christmas tree and the wreath and getting together with family for the holiday.”
Originally airing sixty years ago today, on December 6 of 1964, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer now returns to the network where it originally aired, NBC, tonight at 8:00 PM EST.
The Studio who brought us this beloved perennial, Rankin/Bass, are two names who would become synonymous with Christmas specials, bringing other familiar Christmas carols to life in such classics as Frosty the Snowman (1969) and Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town (1970).
Rudolph, however, was Rankin/Bass’ first foray into Christmas specials and remains one of their most popular. It was, of course, based on the 1949 song written by Johhny Marks, which was, in turn, based on a 1939 story written by Robert L. May and published by the Montgomery Ward department store.
In 1960, Arthur Rankin and Jules Bass founded the Studio that bore their name (it was originally named Videocraft International, Ltd.) and produced stop-motion animated commercials for General Electric, which were well received. Rankin/Bass began planning a television special.
In creating Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, a number of fortuitous events occurred, as Goldschmidt noted. “When Arthur started Videocraft International, he always had a brownstone in New York, which doubled as his residence and office. Apparently, Johnny Marks was one of his neighbors. Arthur was a very sociable guy; he went to a lot of parties, and Johnny Marks was at a lot of the same parties.”
From this relationship, Rankin convinced Marks to use his song Rudolph as the basis for the special, and another connection helped bring the famous red-nosed reindeer to the small screen. “Larry Roemer, who was given the director’s credit on Rudolph, had a friend at NBC who was able to get specials on the network,” added Goldschmidt. “So it all came together very quickly.”
Chief assistant animator Hiroshi Tabata at work for Japanese subcontractor MOM Film Studio and Chief Animator Tadahiyto Mochinaga. PHOTO: ©2001 Miser Bros Press/Rick Goldschmidt Archives.
Expanding the story of Rudolph from a song that runs about three minutes to a TV show that runs about an hour fell to one of Rankin/Bass’ many creative wizards, writer Romeo Muller.
As he did with all of his work for Rankin/Bass, Muller created a story that’s become holiday mythology for many. “He’s responsible for the longevity of the specials,” said Goldschmidt. “The writing is unlike most writing because it’s always this underdog character with these misfits, and then they succeed in the end.” Goldschmidt also notes that Muller brought a lot of his persona to the stories he crafted. “Romeo was a real-life Santa Claus. He loved kids; he loved going to schools and reading his stories. He loved old comedies. He also came from a background where he never really grew up, and there was still a kid in him.”
Narrated by Sam the Snowman (the comforting voice of Burl Ives), Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer relays the tale of the title character (voiced by Billie Mae Richards), the son of Donner (Paul Kligman), who is the lead reindeer for Santa’s (Stan Francis) sleigh.
Rudolph, born with a glowing red nose, is laughed at and shunned by his fellow reindeer, who won’t let him play in any of their reindeer games. The only one who shows kindness to him is a young doe named Clarice (Janis Orenstein). Rudolph meets up with one of Santa’s elves, Hermey (Paul Soles), who is also a misfit, as he yearns to be a dentist, not an elf. Both feeling out of place, they venture off together, meeting with Yukon Cornelius (Larry Mann), an eccentric prospector.
On the adventure, they escape the Bumble, a giant, abominable snowman, and wind up on the Island of Misfit Toys, where they meet cast-aside toys, such as a Charlie-in-the-box (Alfie Scopp).
Rudolph and his newfound friends save his parents and his girlfriend Clarice from the Bumble, and when they all venture back to Santa’s workshop, they find that all is fogged in. Santa can’t make his Christmas Eve flight until he notices Rudolph’s nose, and from there, he “goes down in history.”
In addition to the popular title song, the special features music by Maury Laws and several other, now familiar, songs by Marks, including “There’s Always Tomorrow,” “We’re a Couple of Misfits,” “Fame and Fortune,” “Silver and Gold,” and “Holly Jolly Christmas.”
Along with its story and song, the look of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer is another charming element of the special. This was thanks to artist Antony Peters, whose character designs added spark to Rankin/Bass’ stop-motion animation, aptly dubbed “Animagic” by the Studio.
“He brought a simple style that I love,” said Goldschmidt of Peters’ work, adding, “Visually, it has a 60s look that it’s hard to replicate nowadays.”
In the six decades since its debut, Rudolph has endured through every holiday season. NBC aired the special each year until 1971, and it switched over to CBS from 1971 through 2023 before returning to NBC this year.
The original TV Guide Close-Up from December 6th, 1964
As popularity for Rudolph continued to grow through the years, merchandise, including plush toys, figurines, and Christmas ornaments, became ubiquitous each season. This year, we even saw a nine-foot high Bumble available at Lowe’s, perfect for any front lawn.
The characters from Rudolph now even make appearances at theme parks such as Sea World, Busch Gardens, and Sesame Place.
All of it is a testament to the fact that, sixty years after its premiere, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer still shines bright as an essential part of everyone’s holiday season. As Goldschmidt noted, “It has a warmth to it. It’s been on for sixty years, and it’ll go on another sixty years.”
Thanks to Rick Goldschmidt, here are some of the rare commercials and interstitials that were part of the original broadcast in 1964:
Stop back next week for an anniversary celebration for another Rankin/Bass Christmas classic!
Michael Lyons is a freelance writer, specializing in film, television, and pop culture. He is the author of the book, Drawn to Greatness: Disney’s Animation Renaissance, which chronicles the amazing growth at the Disney animation studio in the 1990s. In addition to Animation Scoop and Cartoon Research, he has contributed to Remind Magazine, Cinefantastique, Animation World Network and Disney Magazine. He also writes a blog, Screen Saver: A Retro Review of TV Shows and Movies of Yesteryear and his interviews with a number of animation legends have been featured in several volumes of the books, Walt’s People. You can visit Michael’s web site Words From Lyons at: 
My family moved into our own house in the summer of 1965, and we bought a new colour TV set at that time. So my still-vivid memory of watching “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” on an old RCA black-and-white set in my grandfather’s house is undoubtedly of the special’s 1964 premiere. (I had not yet turned four, and the Bumble really scared me.) It became an annual TV ritual for my family, like “The Wizard of Oz”, “The Ten Commandments”, and Rodgers & Hammerstein’s “Cinderella”. By the time I was in high school I had all the songs, and practically every line of dialogue, committed to memory. “Haven’t you ever seen a talking snowman before?” “Eat, Papa, eat!” “We don’t need any chewing dolls!” “Let’s be independent together!” “I’m cude! I’m cude! I’m cude!” “Bumbles bounce!”
When I was a senior, a friend and I spontaneously acted out whole scenes from the special the next day in school. That friend eventually became a dentist, and every December he decorates the waiting room of his office with pictures of Hermey the elf. “Hermey says: Brush after every meal!” That sort of thing. My friend does a spot-on imitation of Hermey, and his young patients love it.
Some years ago, one of the original Animagic figures of young Rudolph that had survived the ravages of time was sold at auction for a small fortune. When I saw a photograph of it, I was amazed at how tiny it was, small enough to fit in the palm of one’s hand. By the time I was old enough to understand how stop-motion animation worked, I had formed the idea that the Animagic puppets used to film the special must have been life-sized. The world that Rankin and Bass created was so real to me that I couldn’t imagine them being anything less.
Someone has written that Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer, Frosty, and the Grinch are the only significant additions to Christmas lore from the twentieth century. The TV specials of the 1960s did much to establish their iconic status in our culture. With Rudolph, however, it mostly comes down to the song. Its merry tune and charming little story have become more widely familiar than Irving Berlin’s “White Christmas” (which for many years was the best-selling record of all time) and even, in all probability, most traditional Christmas carols. “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” has been translated into many languages, and I can attest that the German (“Rudolf mit rotem Näschen hatte eine Lampe rot…”) and Japanese (“Makka na o-hana no tonakai-san wa…”) are very faithful to the meaning and spirit of the original.
As for this post, well, I can only echo the immortal Comet: “MAG-NIFICENT!”
Wonderful memories, Paul! And thank you for the nice words! Happy Holidays!
I remember vividly this original broadcast, though I was only four years old at the time. I remember the electric thrill when the orchestra played the first instrumental bars of “Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer.” I also recall my delight at the elves, who were in some of the commercials as well. In those days there was less demarcation between the story and the commercials–some shows, even at that date, were still incorporating the sponsor’s products into the storylines.
The use of Burl Ives was a masterstroke. He provides such a genial, friendly narration to the story that it draws the audience in. At the time, he was very popular and well-known. I know this because even at that tender age, I knew who he was and recognized that the snowman was an animated version of him. Our entire family watched, spellbound, for the whole show. I remember being very afraid that Rudolph would not be able to withstand the blizzard and that the Misfit Toys might not get rescued. So, of course, I was relieved at the outcome. My whole family also really loved “A Holly Jolly Christmas” and we would often sing it to each other, sometimes mistaking the words as “Jolly Jolly Christmas.”
Years later, my mother told me she would like to have a soundtrack album of the Rudolph score. It so happened that there was such an album available in stores that year, so I bought it (having by then advanced to junior high school age) and she was delighted all over again. It was a welcome addition to our cherished collection of Christmas albums that we listened to year after year.
The joy that special brought to our little family could not be measured. One more little anecdote to drive home the point: When I was in the fifth grade, I’d had a very rough day at school and I was very depressed and discoureged. That evening the Rudolph special was rebroadcast, and my mother pointed out to me, while comforting me that, “There’s always tomorrow for dreams to come true.”
Clarice plays a major role in the story and even has her own song, yet she’s left out of the ad above in favor of “Elf”. I guess even back then, ad execs were worried about something being targeted to children looking too “girly”.
“We’re a Couple of Misfits” was, of course, replaced by “Fame and Fortune” after the first airing, when it was decided to add a bit of time to the end in order to show Santa going to the Island of Misfit Toys. I can’t remember where I read it, but a couple of decades ago one commentator lamented the restoration of the earlier song to the special, saying that “Fame and Fortune” was the better song. I won’t make any judgment as to the relative merits of the songs, but I do think “We’re a Couple of Misfits” is a better fit for the characters and the special as a whole. As a lifelong misfit myself, I’m grateful for the Rankin/Bass specials and Romeo Muller’s writing that so frequently celebrates being a misfit.
An excellent overview, Michael. Thank you for writing this.
Rick Goldschmidt was a fine choice for someone to interview. He knows more about this special than anyone else.
I guess there are not that many people who worked on it who are still with us,
Thank you, Don!
Also recall that first broadcast, with bit player elves posing by GE gift items in the commercials. Still think it odd that Hermy seemed to be the only male elf with hair.
For boomer kids the holiday season was also the animated special season on network television. Many instantly became perennials, accumulating beside the new entries which always included a Rankin-Bass or two. There was a wave of comic strips and other established properties testing the waters in the wake of Charlie Brown, ultimately leading to the pilot for the Simpsons. Not all ran during the holiday season, but that seemed to be the favored spot.
The age of the animated special as an Event has largely passed, but they’re still being produced in quantity — less a staple of network television than of home video and newer platforms. The SpongeBob stop-motion special directly parodies the Rankin-Bass formula and Disney’s CGI “Prep and Landing” at least nods in their direction. The movie “Elf” had a takeoff on Sam the Snowman. The movie was adapted into a stage musical, and THAT became a stop-motion special.
The big three Christmas animated specials for me are Rudolph, the Grinch and A Charlie Brown Christmas. Frosty’s not even in the same league.
Hey, DAVE! Frosty’s got a big place ion my heart and so the other three you mention!
Very nice article, Michael!
When I was taking some night classes to study animation at Chicago’s Columbia College over 30 years ago, Richk Goldschmidt was one of the students there. He had some good animation skills, let me tell you that! I believe he sculpted some figures from RUDOLPH THE RED-NOSED REINDEER for Rankin-Bass licensed Christmas ornaments for Hallmark. They are beautiful! By the tme I found out about Rick’s book on the special, it was out of print and going for big bucks. I hope he can get the book back into print again!
Thank you, Leonard! I didn’t know that about Rick – that’s great. Such talent.
Just saw that last night on NBC, for the first time in… something like 50 years? Loved it.
My goodness, I actually remember that song “We’re a Couple of Misfits”!
However…
To me, it’s not Christmas without “A Charlie Brown Christmas.”
I guess I should check my spelling on “Rick”.
Some of the Rankin-Bass prints of holiday classics look like they need some massive restoration. I hope RUDOLPH THE RED-NOSED REINDEER gets some for a new Blu-Ray release. The “Fame and Fortune” song is fine, but “We’re a Couple of Misfits” was the original song and should be perfectly restored. Why not put the “Fame and Fortune” song as an “extra” along with any interviews, “behind the scenes” inteviews, etc. for a “Special Edition”?
The Golden Books/Sony DVD of Rudolph includes “Fame and Fortune” as an extra. Makes the special seem more complete. I had a vague recollection of the song but when the original was switched out and then switched back again, I had sort of forgotten it. It’s nice to have it available. As to which one is the better song, I leave that to experts. I think it’s great to have them both.
I haven’t watched the special on TV since buying the DVD over a decade ago. Did the NBC airing provide anything that the previous year’s airings lacked?
Ultimately, the production is top notch. I have always disliked the way the scenes transition between spoken dialog to singing. It doesn’t fade in, the dialog doesn’t do a particularly do a good job of justifying the songs. They are just kind of like needle drops.
Rudolph: I get them next time.
Clarice: THERE’S ALWAYS TOMORROW FOR DREAMS TO COME TRUE.
Klondike: SILVER!!!!
Snowman: You know that Klondike really likes silver and gold. Silver and gold!
I mean, when you get to the end of the show, Klondike finds peppermint… why on earth was he screaming about silver and gold to begin with when he loses his mind about peppermint at the end? My 5 year old brain still is irritated by this.
The NBC airing was a bit of a disappointment for me. Although the special has clear demarcations for where the commercials go, this broadcast interrupted scenes right in the middle for commercial breaks that lasted so long that viewers could lose the thread of the plot. On the plus side, it looked and sounded really good, a nice, clear print. But if only they wouldn’t tamper with it. Not sure of the running time, if they were able to fit it into an hour slot, because by the time I tuned it out, it was already 8:22 and the first flying session hadn’t finished. I’m wondering if it had to run to 9:30 to get it all in, or if the commercials caused more of the special to be lopped off. In any case, it’s easier to watch it if there are no commercial interruptions. (I had hoped that maybe this broadcast might follow the original broadcast and replicate the original commercials for their historical value, but clearly that did not happen.) What was great was to see the original interstitials and commercials reproduced above. At least here we can pay sincere homage.
Typo. Should have read “I’m wondering if it would have run to 9:30 to get it all in”
BADIDEASOCIETY: Haven’t you ever met people who get flipped out over something for a big chunk of their lives and never seem to attain it? What happens is that once they do, they either lose their crazy interest in it and find something else to persue – or they’re sane enough to find “a new favorite thing” that isn’t so hard to attain!
What I’ve always liked about Yukon Cornelius is that he’s such a colorful and energistic character – like the good-hearted, but bombastic adventurer Carl Denham from the orginal KING KONG (1933). Luckily, unlike Denham, Cornelius tames “The Bumble” and the giant creature seems to like being a force of good. Of course, he couldn’t have done so without Hermey, the dentist!
It’s hard to believe that I was six years old when I first saw it – 60 YEARS ago! It still holds up!
LEONARD: Certainly. I’m still thinking about the Rudolph special with my childish mind. Yukon (not Klondike…oops) was one of my favorites. That one tiny detail used to bug me. The sled dogs hitching a ride while he drags the sled is one of my favorite moments in the show.
These days, when I watch it, I think about some of the limitations of stop-motion where Hermie can’t even be bothered to touch his paint brush to the toy train (I imagine trying to have a character paint an object in the scene would have been a massive pain in the rump) or how the Charlie in the Box’s mouth barely moves (like Tadahiro Mochinaga made an error in design planning or the model was not built to speak).
I didn’t even realize until I was an adult and saw a Mochinaga Exhibit in Japan that most of the characters weren’t “clay” like Gumby but more of a model with sculptable elements affixed to their faces.
I just wanted to echo how much the Rudolph special was a part of my family’s Christmas celebrations when I was a kid. It even made the jump to being a favorite of my own children all of these years later.
I have to say that Rankin/Bass’s “Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town” personally comes very close to matching Rudolph’s special. The Winter Warlock and Kris Kringle singing “One Foot in Front of the Other” is as memorable of a song as any other Christmas time TV fare. Stop-motion was and remains a wonderful form of animation.
I have always loved the Christmas specials Rankin Bass created and certainly there’s no doubt Rudolph is the first that comes to mind when it comes to Christmas animation. My family and I never go a year without Rudolph, that it’s always been one of our favorites.
Also as a retail worker myself, I can speak from experience that Rudolph merchandise is among the first to fly off the shelves alongside other iconic favorites, The Grinch and Peanuts, so it’s no surprise to hear they would sell a huge Bumble at Lowe’s! It’s always a real treat to see how it continues to resonate with audiences even to this day.
Thanks for another great read, Michael!
I always found it funny that GE, a company known for its light bulbs (among other things), sponsored a special about a reindeer with a glowing nose. And I even thought the Head Elf’s nose was shaped like a light bulb! Subliminal advertising? 😉