The 12 Posts of Christmas, Day 8: A Couple of Misfits

Inside: Like many folks, I grew up watching Rudolph. I still manage to catch it every year. Wouldn’t be Christmas without my favorite couple of misfits.

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Rudolph and Hermey, a couple of misfits. — Rudolph and Hermey, my favorite couple of misfits.

Confession time: I admit to being an adult who watches Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer. And singing along with the songs. It just wouldn’t be Christmas without my favorite couple of misfits.

Growing up watching Rudolph and Hermey, I could identify. I felt like a misfit myself. But I could watch these characters who understood the sting of cruel words and see how they rose above it and ended up helping others–even those who treated them badly. Great story!

In celebration of this classic TV Christmas special, here are some fun facts you probably don’t know about Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer.

Did You Know. . .

In the original TV version, Rudolph, Hermey, and Yukon Cornelius visit the Island of Misfit Toys and promise them they’ll help when they get back to Christmas town, but then the toys are not mentioned again. After the show first aired, so many children wrote the producers complaining that nothing had been done to help the Misfit Toys that Rankin-Bass produced an additional short scene in which Santa’s sleigh, led by Rudolph, lands on the island to pick up the toys and find them new homes. This became the version we all know and love!
Yukon Cornelius wasn’t looking for silver or gold when he throws his pick axe into the icy ground, removes it, and licks it. According to the original concept for the show, Yukon was searching for the Peppermint Mine, which he eventually found. The scene was restored in the 1998 home video version and has remained in the story since then.
In 1964 the puppets made for filming cost $5,000 each.
Hermey is the only male elf with hair on the top of his head, and the only elf without pointed ears.
The song “Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer” existed before the movie. Written in 1939, the song was recorded by Gene Autry in 1947, making it widely popular.
The faithful sled dogs pulling Yukon Cornelius’s sled include a poodle, a cocker spaniel, a Saint Bernard, a collie, and a dachshund.
The face of Sam the Snowman was designed to resemble the actor Burle Ives who supplied the voice for the character.
In 1939, Montgomery Ward department employee, Robert May, created the character Rudolph the Reindeer for an ad campaign.
The elf costumes for the 2003 hit movie Elf were patterned after the clothes worn by the elves in Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer.
The song “We Are Santa’s Elves” was cut from the TV special in 1979 (for reasons unknown) only to be added back in ten years later.
At the close of the movie, Rudolph is shown pulling Santa’s sleigh with a team of six other reindeer instead of eight.

If you didn’t happen to catch those lovable misfits yet this season, make time before the end of year to reacquaint yourself with this wonderful classic.

Children not required.