Trivia for
Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer (1964) (TV) More at IMDbPro »

• 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.
  
  
• Billy (Billie Mae) Richards also provided the voice for Smoothie Bear in a series of animated commercials for Kraft Peanut Butter.
  
  
• 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.
  
  
• Yukon Cornelius' stalwart sled dogs include a Cocker Spaniel, a Poodle, a Saint Bernard, a Collie, and a Dachshund.
  
  
• At the conclusion of "Holly Jolly Christmas", Hermie the elf can be seen dancing (and flirting) with an equally attentive girl elf, suggesting a budding romance.
  
  
• 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.
  
  
• The face of Sam the Snowman was intentionally designed to resemble "Rudolph"'s scriptwriter, Romeo Muller.
  
  
• According to brother Ken Muller, Romeo Muller actually intended the elf to be named "Herbie", after a childhood friend. Rudolph's sweetheart was named "Clarice" in honor of the bride-to-be of another close friend.
  
  
• Billie Mae Richards ("Rudolph") and Paul Soles ("Hermey") are now neighbors in an Ontario retirement community.
  
  
• When Yukon Cornelius throws his pick axe into the ground and takes it out and licks it, he's checking neither for gold nor silver. The original concept for the special stated that Yukon was in fact searching for the elusive peppermint mine, which he found eventually.
  
  
• After an outcry of protest insisting on a happy ending for the Misfit Toys, new scenes were animated depicting Santa's sleigh rescuing them and finding homes for them all.
  
  
• When the film was first released, the technology of using an articulated metal armature inside the figures was considered so amazing that TV guide devoted four pages to the story. They failed to mention that the "new" technology had been pioneered years before, most prominently inside the gorilla King Kong (1933).
  
  
• 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.
  
  
• With the exception of Charlie-In-The-Box, none of the Misfit Toys has a name.
  
  
• Original puppets of Santa & young Rudolph from the 1964 production went on tour in Nov 2007. When purchased by their new owner, both were in poor condition...Santa had mold under his beard & half of his mustache was gone, while Rudolph's nose was gone. The owner took them to stop-motion animation studio Screen Novelties International, who restored them "as a labor of love" for expenses only- $4000. The puppets originally cost $5000 each in 1964.
  
  
• 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.
  
  
• The 1964 showing did not have Santa picking up toys from the Island of Misfit Toys at the end. A letter-writing campaign ensued and the new ending was added in 1965. Also in 1965, sponsor General Electric insisted on replacing the song "We're a Couple of Misfits" with "Fame and Fortune", a change that lasted until 1998, when "Misfits" was put back in.
  
  
• Rudolph, Clarice, Donder, Yukon Cornelius, Charlie-in-the-Box, Bumble, and Santa Claus all appeared in a Holiday TV commercial for AFLAC in 2007.
  
  
• The reindeer Rudolph was actually created by Chicago's State Street Marshal Field's department store in the 1950s.
  
  
• 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.
  
  

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