Rudolph

"Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" is a popular Christmas story about Santa Claus' ninth and lead reindeer who possesses an unusually red colored nose that gives off its own light that is powerful enough to illuminate the team's path through inclement weather. more...

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The story is owned by St. Nicholas Music Inc. and has been sold in numerous forms including a popular song, a television special (done in stop motion animation), and a feature film. Rudolph was created by Robert L. May in 1939 as part of his employment with Montgomery Ward.

While the story and song have not passed into public domain, they have established themselves as folklore (as evidenced by the development of local variations and parodies such as "Deadeye the Lonesome Cowboy," collected in the field by Simon J. Bronner and included in "American Children's Folklore"). Earlier generations of folklorists would have rejected the possibility, and some contemporary scholars (e.g., Lucy Rollins) continue to classify the case as fakelore, much as Paul Bunyan has been criticized as an authentic folk hero. At all events, the story demonstrates the complex relationship between mass-culture and folklore.

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 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. Mike Eheman made the newest version of the song with the actual flying reindeer so Santa can land on roof tops.

The Canadian Brass version refers to the title character (in a downright Runyonesque manner) as "Rudolph the Nose."

Rudolph in the Media

Theatrical cartoon short

Rudolph's first screen appearance came in 1944, in the form of a cartoon short, produced by Max Fleischer for the Jam Handy Corporation, that was more faithful to May's original story than Marks's eventual song.

Animated TV special

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 and then DVD. CBS now airs it each year, making it the longest running TV special with regards to consecutive years. The TV special, though based on May's story and Marks' song, contains many additions and alterations to the original story.

Read more at Wikipedia.org