This year, the holliest and jolliest Christmas special “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” turns fifty, and it airs tonight (December 9) on CBS. In honor of the anniversary, the USPS has released stamps featuring characters from the longest-running television special in history.
Based on a story published by Montgomery Ward in 1939, “Rudolph” first became a television star in the Rankin/Bass production on December 6, 1964.
But what makes “Rudolph” so enduring? Why do people watch it year after year? Is it the grandfatherly voice of Burl Ives as Sam the Snowman as he asks us to pull up an iceblock and lend an ear? The catchy tune “Holly Jolly Christmas?” Boisterous prospector of the north Yukon Cornelius? A bouncing bumble?
For me, it’s all of the above, and more. But I think part, if not most of the appeal, is the show’s theme of being a misfit. That there are those who will pick on you for being different, and you can either run away and hide or face the problem directly and embrace your uniqueness. However, for every person who doesn’t accept you for who you are, there’s a good chance someone else out there will.
This theme goes beyond Rudolph with his . . . non-conformity. Hermey the Elf wants to be a dentist, which is unheard of in elfdom. Elves make toys, but Hermey wants something more, and instead of being miserable in a job he hates, he sets off to follow his dreams, in spite of the lack of support. That’s another silver and gold nugget: follow your dreams, even if no one else understands.
Paul Soles, the voice of Hermey, says, “Everybody’s been to some degree separated out, found wanting, not quite fully fitting in . . . Either you’re too tall, you didn’t make the team, or you were too short or something like that. That’s one of the universal elements of the show.”
Of course, even in my undying love for the special, I have to realize it’s not perfect. The sound quality isn’t the best by today’s standards, and some of the dialogue is a little chauvinistic (“This is man’s work”), but the overall story continues to entrance me year after year. While other holiday specials have come and gone, “Rudolph” remains.
“Rudolph” trivia: Paul Soles also performed the voice of Peter Parker/Spider-Man in the original animated series, becoming the first person to portray the character.
Burl Ives was the narrator of the television movie “The Ewok Adventure,” which aired in 1984 and starred those lovable Ewoks from “Return of the Jedi.”