This year marks the 50th anniversary of the original broadcast of everyone's favorite Christmas TV special
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer by Rankin/Bass. The animated special's influence and impact on Christmas culture is difficult to overestimate. Most of us can hardly imagine Christmas on television before its arrival in 1964.
Rudolph is not only referenced as most everyone's first Christmas TV special memory (remember our
Christmas in July mini-questionnaire?) but also their favorite. Those influenced by
Rudolph includes myself. It's easy for me to say that I mostly likely wouldn't have been inspired to research and write
Tis the Season TV--the encyclopedia of Christmas on television--without my lifelong attachment to
Rudolph. What is it about
Rudolph that makes it a common experience for us all?
Let us not forget that Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer existed before the 1964 Christmas TV special. The shunned creature was first penned by Robert L. May in 1939 as a Christmas giveaway booklet for the Montgomery Ward store. Yes--Rudolph celebrates his 75th birthday this year as well. Montgomery Ward eventually gave May the rights back to his story and May's brother-in-law Johnny Marks turned it into a song. The singing cowboy/actor Gene Autry's 1949 recording of the song
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer went to number one on the music charts--and continues to be one of the most popular Christmas songs each year. Mark another anniversary: Autry's version of
Rudolph celebrates turning 65 years old this year! So when Rankin/Bass created their animated version in 1964, the popular reindeer was already well-known to adults and children alike.
A summary of the animated TV special is not necessary--is there anyone who doesn't already know the story? And production details have been meticulously explored in the
book by Rick Goldschmidt. I can add that adorable misfits and themes of redemption and acceptance have been repeated in Christmas entertainment ever since. But what is
Rudolph's secret to success?
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| Rudolph's characters are clearly defined and have immense personality! |
Clearly,
Rudolph has not one but several clever things going for it. First of all, Rudolph was created to entertain everyone gathered around the television in 1964. Let me unpack this a little bit. Historically, Christmas TV entertainment prior to 1964 consisted of musical variety specials, holiday-themed installments of dramatic anthologies, and Christmas episodes of TV series. History was made in 1962 when
Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol was broadcast--it was the first animated Christmas TV special.
Click HERE to see my review of it again. (Although Walt Disney aired animated specials during the holidays on TV,
the specials were almost all clips from his previously released films
and shorts.) Original Christmas animation made just for TV viewers had begun with Magoo's Carol, making 1964's
Rudolph the second example of what has since become an institution. And like Magoo's Carol,
Rudolph also forwards its animated story with music--catchy songs that capture the emotional content in each scene.
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| Hands up if you can sing along to "We Are Santa's Elves," "A Holly Jolly Christmas," "There's Always Tomorrow," and "We're a Couple of Misfits?" |
Though animation was still considered children's entertainment,
Rudolph (and many of these earliest animated specials) were made with enough detail, sophistication, and style to entertain the parents and grandparents watching along with their kids. Remember--in 1964, most families still gathered around one TV set in the living room. Families split apart watching separate programming on many different sets and/or devices was not an option yet. While
Rudolph was certainly simple enough to entertain the youngest of viewers, it also offered interest, meaning and emotion to adult viewers as well.
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| How many of us have experienced a boss that under-appreciates us? |
One of the ways
Rudolph entertains adults is its eye-catching stop motion animation.
Rudolph wasn't made the same way Saturday morning cartoons were--it is not animated with individual painted or colored cels (think
The Flintstones or
Bugs Bunny--or even
Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol and
Frosty the Snowman). Rudolph comes alive by photographing still figures or puppets with slight variations in each successive photograph to simulate movement. Rankin/Bass coined their process Animagic but it's an animation technique known as stop motion that's nearly as old as filmmaking itself. Rankin/Bass' Animagic is not claymation--there is no clay involved. (However, claymation is also stop motion animation.) Though the movement by the figures in
Rudolph is slightly clunky by today's standards of computer-assisted animation, the images in
Rudolph still pop and look amazing. Nothing quite looks like Animagic--and that's part of Rankin/Bass and
Rudolph's continued popularity. So the look of the 1964 animated classic not only entertains children but it amazes adults as well.
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| Bumbles bounce--but they're not made of clay! |
As a juggernaut of an already well-established character with catchy music and eye-catching animation, it's no wonder that
Rudolph experienced high ratings its first years. Others looking to capitalize on the success of Christmas TV animation soon followed--the very next year debuted
A Charlie Brown Christmas, and the following year brought
How the Grinch Stole Christmas. Even Rankin/Bass continued making Christmas TV specials (along with their other animated projects) not the least of which includes
Frosty the Snowman, The Year Without a Santa Claus, Santa Claus is Comin' to Town, and
The Little Drummer Boy.
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| The merchandising of this animated TV special grows each year--do you have your Rudolph duct tape? |
Rudolph's real success is measured by its longevity.
Rudolph remains the longest running Christmas TV special--it has aired every year on network TV since 1964. Though the television industry and viewership has changed immensely since its debut,
Rudolph remains at the top of the list. Each year
Rudolph competes with an ever increasing number of cable TV programming options. Despite being released in home video--first on VHS and now on DVD--most people still want to watch it broadcast on TV. And, in the history of television, there is nothing to compare to
Rudolph's longevity. Name any other TV special (not just Christmas entertainment) that compares? The Super Bowl and The Olympics are high rated but the content/coverage is new with each successive broadcast.
Rudolph is the same animated special year after year.
This last point should not be overlooked. It is exactly because
Rudolph is the same year after year that it continues to be as popular as it is. Christmas is the time of year that we re-enact our favorite traditions. Watching
Rudolph is an American Christmas ritual just like decorating the tree and exchanging gifts. At Christmas time, we all want to remember the magic of the season and watching
Rudolph helps many of us return to our childhoods again. Though we have visual appetites for new Christmas entertainment, we all want to see our childhood favorites as well.
Rudolph's longevity is supported by the parents, grandparents, and yes--great-grandparents--who share this Christmas tradition with the next generation.
Rudolph turns 50 this year--how long have you been watching?
