Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (1964) on Netflix

TV-G196447mAdventure Animation Comedy Family Fantasy Musical

Donner's fawn Rudolph is born with a nose that glows red. Expelled from the reindeer games, he joins Hermey, an elf who dreams of dentistry, and Yukon Cornelius, a prospector.

Netflix3.9/5
IMDb8.0/1042,669 votes
Rotten Tomatoes95%

Featurette

Watch the featurette on YouTube

Plot summary

Donner, Santa's lead reindeer, and his wife find that their fawn Rudolph has a nose that glows red. Donner hides it under mud, then gives Rudolph a prosthetic nose so he can fit in. In spring Rudolph goes to the reindeer games, where young fawns learn to fly and Santa watches. A doe named Clarice calls him cute. During the celebration the prosthetic falls off, the other reindeer mock him, and Coach Comet sends him away. Rudolph then joins Hermey, an elf who wants to become a dentist, and Yukon Cornelius, a prospector hunting silver and gold.

Cast

Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (1964)

Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.

The company's stop-motion Animagic process was filmed at MOM Productions in Tokyo, and each figure cost $5,000 to make, including Rudolph and Santa.
Billie Mae Richards voiced Rudolph but was credited in the original production as Billy Richards, her husband, because Rankin and Bass did not want to reveal that a woman had done the part.
In 1965, a General Electric executive had the song "We're a Couple of Misfits" replaced by "Fame and Fortune"; the original song was restored in 1998.
Sam the Snowman was first voiced by Larry D. Mann, but Burl Ives replaced him; Ives was hired to appease NBC and sponsor General Electric.
The special was published with an invalid copyright notice that identified its year of publication as 1164 instead of 1964, because an M was omitted from the Roman numeral.
It has been telecast every year since 1964, making it the longest continuously running Christmas TV special in the United States.
SPOILER
The original version did not include Santa picking up the toys on the Island of Misfit Toys; after viewers wrote letters, the scene was animated and added in 1965, according to Jules Bass.