One of my all time favorite Christmas t.v. shows is on tonight! Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer from 1964 is a true classic! Here are some facts about it. Make sure to tune in tonight!
–During the original network TV airing, commercials for General Electric featured Santa’s elves from the show.
–Although Yukon Cornelius says he needs “gunpowder” and he has a revolver tucked in his belt, the politically correct toys released in 1999 in America have a knife instead of a revolver.
–Hermie is the only elf without pointed ears. He’s also the only male elf with hair on top of his head.
–Why is Dolly for Sue, who is apparently a perfectly ordinary doll, living on the Island of Misfit Toys? This gripping debate raged on for decades, until official word from Rankin-Bass recently decided the issue: Dolly for Sue is a “misfit” because she has psychological problems – she feels unloved.
–Although the animations were filmed in Japan, the entire soundtrack for “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” was recorded in a studio near Yonge Street in Toronto, Ontario; most of the singing and speaking cast were Canadian.
–The song “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” was a seasonal standard long before it was used in the film.
–But Who’s Counting Dept.: When Santa’s sleigh finally takes off into the storm near the end of the film, it’s being pulled by SIX reindeer instead of eight, with Rudolph leading the way.
–Also seen in “Holly Jolly Christmas”: As Rudolph tests his nose pre-flight by firing it up at full power, the elf standing closest to him is wearing protective sunglasses!
–Although the Rudolph puppet – which still exists – appears to be about three feet tall when viewed on screen, it’s only an illusion: in reality, “Rudolph” is palm-sized – approximately the same size as a very small kitten.
–Rudolph was to have been delivered to Donner and his wife by stork, but when General Electric brought in Burl Ives as the narrator, the scene was scrapped and never filmed, so that it now appears that Rudolph was born naturally.
–The Santa puppet is 8″ tall. Young Rudolph is only 4″ tall. Rudolph’s nose really lights. The puppets are made from wood, wire and fabric and are quite fragile. The Japanese company that handled animation made several copies of each puppet, since they didn’t last long under the constant handling of stop-motion posing. None of these copies are known to exist.
–Copies of both the Santa and Rudolph puppets were recently found in storage in the attic of a woman that used to work for Rankin-Bass. The puppets were in remarkably good condition, considering it was estimated they were in storage since the late 1960s, with only a little yellowing of Santa’s hair, beard, and white trim on his coat. The pair now travel the country to various trade shows and conventions.
LOVE this movie! We have a DVD set of these old ones.
My all time favorite!
I have all the characters hanging on my Christmas tree; a display of vignettes from the show atop the entertainment center in the living room; Santa’s castle, the sleigh and reindeer, Yukon Cornelius and his sleigh and dogs, and all the characters (again!) on the bookcase at the top of the stairs; a Charlie in the Box pin I wear every day throughout the season; and a refrigerator magnet that stays out year-round! To say I love Rudolph is a vast understaement!
Such a fun post! I love Rudolph! My favorite is How the Grinch Stole Christmas. It just doesn’t seem like Christmas without it 🙂
Happy Thursday,
Jen
I just recorded this movie last night and can’t wait to watch it! One of my classic Christmas movies 🙂
interesting! I loved watching it every year when I was a kid 🙂
While I am a Rudolph fan…I must say that A Christmas Story trumps all 🙂 Just stopping by to say hi – from your newest follower!!
~Working Mommy
What a wonderful classic! Ever since hubby got into dental school I keep quoting that one elf “But I want to be a dentist” haha Thanks for your interesting posts!
I LOVE that show!!! I even have all the characters that I put out for Christmas. They always make me smile when I see them!! 🙂
Isn’t it great that the truly vintage Christmas shows just get better and better as we age?
Oh I also love this Christmas show! It was so much fun to read all these facts!! Thanks for the info. xxx
Thank you for the fun facts! Rudolph is one of my favorites too! It was actually not shown on danish television when I was a kid but I had it on VHS (yes, I’m that old;)
Love your Christmas layout!
This has got to be one of my all-time favourites, showcases some of my favourite Christmas songs. I purchased the DVD a couple of years ago hoping my children would fall in love with the story as much as I had. Unfortunately, I had temporarily forgotten about the Abominable Snowman and how I would always freak out as a child whenever he would appear on the screen. My kids must have inherited my fear of that white furry thing because as soon as they see him, they run screaming from the room. I am sure they will grow to love it as much as I do!
Your blog is always so GLAM! and reading this post was great… what a wondnerful way for me to wind the evening down…
Thanks!
Cat
Enjoy the show tonight!!!