''Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer'' is a 1948 animated short film produced and directed by

Max Fleischer Max Fleischer (born Majer Fleischer ; July 19, 1883 – September 25, 1972) was an American animator, inventor, film director and producer, and studio founder and owner. Born in Kraków, Fleischer immigrated to the United States where he became ...

for

Jam Handy Henry Jamison "Jam" Handy (March 6, 1886 – November 13, 1983) was an American Olympic breaststroke swimmer, water polo player, and founder of the Jam Handy Organization (JHO), a producer of commercially sponsored motion pictures, slidefilms (l ...

based on the 1939

Robert L. May Robert L. May (July 27, 1905 – August 11, 1976) was an American retailer. He was best known for creating the fictional character Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. Early life Robert Lewis May was born in Arverne, Long Island, New York, and grew ...

poem of the same name, about a flying reindeer who helps

Santa Claus Santa Claus, also known as Father Christmas, Saint Nicholas, Saint Nick, Kris Kringle, or simply Santa, is a Legend, legendary figure originating in Western Christianity, Western Christian culture who is said to Christmas gift-bringer, bring ...

Plot

In the "hills", several reindeer children are busy having a fun time: ice skating, tree climbing, leap-frogging, even decorating a Christmas tree. One young reindeer decorating a tree spots a red object and, curious, tickles it with a leaf. It turns out to be Rudolph, who flops out of the tree with a sneeze. The reindeer who revealed him teases him over his shiny red nose, which hurts his feelings. When he tries to wrap the nose to hide it and join the others on the ice, another snatches the cover away. Rejected and saddened after being teased and made fun of by the other reindeer children, Rudolph returns home where his mother greets him and tries to cheer him up by reminding him to hang his stocking for Santa. He quickly does so, imagining Santa giving him a lot of toys, and quickly goes to bed, though his sleep is incredibly fitful, saddened by the other reindeer's teasing and taunting. Meanwhile in the North Pole, Santa Claus peeks out of his workshop and takes notice of the heavy fog, noting that it would be tough to get though on his own. When the grandfather clock strikes midnight, Santa quickly rushes in to get his reindeer and get ready for the travel ahead. As they travel, Santa warns that they'd have to fly low to get through the fog, only to crash into some trees. The Reindeer get loose and they try again. Over a town, Santa and the reindeer nearly crash into an airplane and, a little later, crash onto a rooftop. The reindeer and sleigh are stuck on the roof, but they're able to break free. Reaching Rudolph's house, Santa gives presents to a set of reindeer children, but is caught off-guard by the light in Rudolph's room, only to learn that it's Rudolph's shiny red nose. Surprised by this, he gets an idea and wakes Rudolph. Rudolph attempts to hide his nose, but Santa stops him and tells him of his perils. Agreeing to help him, Rudolph leaves a note for his parents before joining Santa on his journey, leading the other reindeer throughout the rest of the night. The next morning, news of Rudolph's journey reaches his hometown and all the other reindeer race to a stadium where Santa appoints Rudolph as the commander-in-chief. Blushing from head to toe, Rudolph bashfully tells everyone "Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night".

Voices

Paul Wing Paul Wing (August 14, 1892 – May 29, 1957) was an assistant director at Paramount Pictures. He won the 1935 Best Assistant Director Academy Award for '' The Lives of a Bengal Lancer'' along with Clem Beauchamp. Wing was the assistant director ...

Production

This 8-minute animated interpretation of the Christmas poem preceded

Gene Autry Orvon Grover "Gene" Autry (September 29, 1907 – October 2, 1998), nicknamed the Singing Cowboy, was an American singer, songwriter, actor, musician, rodeo performer, and baseball owner who gained fame largely by singing in a crooning s ...

's 1949 song " Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer" and the later more famous animated 1964 version by Rankin/Bass. It was based on

's 1939 story, rather than the song. The 1964 special more closely resembles the song rather than the original story. The short was created to advertise

Montgomery Ward Montgomery Ward is the name of two successive U.S. retail corporations. The original Montgomery Ward & Co. was a world-pioneering mail-order business and later also a leading department store chain that operated between 1872 and 2001. The curren ...

department stores, publisher of the original story. The original release included a credit for the company, and lacked the famous song, with the opening credits instead playing over an instrumental version of "

Silent Night, Holy Night "Silent Night" (german: "Stille Nacht, heilige Nacht", links=no, italic=no) is a popular Christmas carol, composed in 1818 by Franz Xaver Gruber to lyrics by Joseph Mohr in the small town of Oberndorf bei Salzburg, Austria. It was declared an ...

". A 1951 re-release added a choral version of the song to the credits and removed the Montgomery Ward name.

Distribution

The reissue is widely available on

public domain The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work A creative work is a manifestation of creative effort including fine artwork (sculpture, paintings, drawing, sketching, performance art), dance, writing (literature), filmmaking, ...

videotapes Videotape is magnetic tape used for storing video and usually sound in addition. Information stored can be in the form of either an analog or digital signal. Videotape is used in both video tape recorders (VTRs) and, more commonly, videocassette ...

and

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kin ...

s, as well as online. The original version is stored at the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library is ...

; there, it was posted online in 2014.

In other media

The song and the scenes were added in ''Very Merry Christmas Songs'', the Christmas video volume from Disney's '' Sing Along Songs''. It was also featured on

Rifftrax RiffTrax is an American company that produces scripted humorous commentary tracks which are synced to mostly public domain feature films, education shorts, and television episodes. With the talents of former ''Mystery Science Theater 3000'' (''M ...

in 2009.RiffTrax
/ref>

References

External links

* * * {{Rudolph 1948 films 1948 animated films 1948 short films 1940s American animated films 1940s animated short films 1940s Christmas films American animated short films American Christmas films Animated Christmas films Films based on poems Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer Santa Claus in film Jam Handy Organization films Films about deer and moose 1940s English-language films