5 ‘Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer’ Facts to Guide Your Sleigh Tonight

Gabrielle Moss December 6, 10:05 am

Rankin/Bass Rudolph — C. 1997 Miser Bros Press/Rick Goldschmidt Archives

Get ready to play some reindeer games once again — Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer airs tonight, Dec. 6, at 8pm ET on NBC, the very same network where the Rankin/Bass holiday classic first premiered in 1964. Watching the special is likely a holiday tradition for you and your family — after all, it is the longest-running and highest-rated Christmas special ever, having aired each December for the past 60 years.

But how much do you really know about Rudolph and the Misfit Toys? Read on to find out everything you never knew about your favorite red-nosed misfit.

1The TV Special (and the Song) are Based on an Ad for a Department Store

Romeo Muller, Jr. with two Animagic figures Arthur gave him. One of the many reindeer and a tree elf from the feature film "Marco"in which he also appeared.

C. 1997 Miser Bros Press/Rick Goldschmidt Archives

Though most think the story of Rudolph began with the song, the tale actually begins at … Montgomery Ward. Copywriter Robert Lewis May was employed by the department store to come up with an upbeat children’s story that they could use as part of a 1939 holiday promotion — Montgomery Ward planned give away free books containing the story during the Christmas season. May settled upon the story of an outcast reindeer. The store ended up giving away more than two million copies of the book, creating a new Christmas legend in the process.

2The ‘Rudolph’ Song Was a Family Affair

Johnny Marks, composer of the music for RUDOLPH, THE RED-NOSED REINDEER, circa November, 30, 1977.

Everett Collection

The “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” song that you’ve known since preschool? That song was actually written by May’s brother-in-law, Johnny Marks. Marks wrote the song in the mid 1940s and was instantly convinced it would be a hit. He was right; the first major recording, by Gene Autry in 1949, sold two million copies. It would go on to be recorded by artists from Ella Fitzgerald to Perry Como to Burl Ives. Speaking of Burl Ives …

3Burl Ives Was a Late Addition to the Cast

RUDOLPH THE RED-NOSED REINDEER, Sam the Snowman, narrator Burl Ives, 1964.

Everett Collection

When dynamic animation duo Rankin/Bass decided to adapt the song and story into their second General Electric Fantasy Hour special, they got Marks to write additional songs, and tapped Romeo Muller and Tony Peters to create the story and the non-Santa and Rudolph characters, like Hermey and Yukon Cornelius.

They then rounded up a cast of lesser-known Canadian voice actors to play the roles (Rankin/Bass were on a budget, and Canadian actors worked more cheaply than U.S. actors at the time). Sam the Snowman was originally voiced by Larry Man, who also voiced Yukon Cornelius.

Ives was brought in at the last second at the behest of NBC and sponsor General Electric, who wanted to have at least one famous face (er, voice) in the cast.

4The Special Moved to CBS Because of an Appliance Company

Rick Goldschmidt Archives/Miser Bros. Press

Rudolph debuted on NBC and re-aired on the network for nearly a decade. But the special has spent the bulk of its life airing on CBS. Why?

General Electric sponsored and financed Rudolph and other Rankin/Bass specials that aired in the same era. Ultimately, the corporation decided what channel the show aired on. CBS aired Rankin/Bass’s Frosty the Snowman in 1969 and was interested in more specials from the company. So ultimately, General Electric moved Rudolph to CBS, where it aired from 1972 to 2023. Universal, who currently own the older Rankin/Bass films, moved the special back to NBC.

5The Real Puppets Used in the Special Are in Japan (Not on Antiques Roadshow)

You may have seen the 2005 episode of Antiques Roadshow where damaged Santa and Rudolph puppets that were supposedly used onscreen in Rudolph are brought in to be appraised. The seller, who said he received them from an aunt who worked for Rankin/Bass, claimed that she was given most of the puppets from the film after shooting wrapped, and that many of the other puppets had been destroyed while being poorly stored in his family’s attic.

After being appraised by the show, the puppets were later purchased by a private collector, Kevin Kriess, who restored them, and they toured the U.S. at Comic Cons and memorabilia shows. They were then sold to another collector, and eventually donated to a puppetry museum.

However, as Rankin/Bass historian Rick Goldschmidt discovered, the original puppets used in the filming of Rudolph never actually made it to the U.S.

Surprised? It makes a little more sense than you might initially think. The Animagic animation process used for making Rudolph took place in animation studios in Japan. Several duplicate puppets were flown to the U.S. for promotional photo shoots, but animators in Japan were still working with the real puppets to complete production until very shortly before the special’s original premiere. There simply wasn’t any time to get the original puppets all the way across the world before the TV special first aired.

So while the discovered Santa and Rudolph puppets were part of the overall promotional effort for the film, the true Rudolph puppets used on the screen never left Japan.