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Rudolph’s Origin and History

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Reindeer
Here is Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer’s origin and history. You know Dasher, and Prancer, and the other reindeer, but do you recall, the most famous of all the reindeer? Well, sure you do. Rudolph is the reindeer that had a very shiny nose.

That shiny red nose is what led the way for Santa and his sleigh. The origin of the reindeer was not exactly that way. In fact, an artist named Robert L May created Rudolph.

The story may very well have been created for his small daughter who was facing the horrible situation of a bed-ridden mother who was dying from cancer. However the reason that Rudolph became more than just a bedtime story was because it was part of May’s job. His creativity is what made his job, the work of art that we all have grown to love and include in our holidays every year.

As an assignment from his employer Montgomery Ward, the character Rudolph came to life. At this time, Robert was in his mid 30s and filled with creativity, though he had some depression and stress. Even when the critics came about to knock the lack of probability of this tiny reindeer, it really did not matter. The character was a real hit and still is to this day.

Rudolph’s story was a way to sell coloring books originally. However, it in no way stopped there. In fact when in 1947 he finally received the copyright of the little Red Nosed Reindeer, the entire idea grew and grew.

In 1944 the first small theatrical cartoon short came out. It was not much, but it hit pretty well. This was a bit more faithful to the idea of the original story than that of the song. Either way, it all came together.

In 1949 Johnny Marks created the fun filled song we all sing even to this day. Though there have been some variations, the main idea remained the same. The song led the way to much more.

Then to add to the media growth of this children’s character and folklore, Golden Book publishing took a hold of the idea and published the famous children’s book. This has been changed little over the years. Though, finding an original of this story would be a rarity.

Then the animated television special came out in 1964. This television show never changed in the original popularity. The fact is that this same story is shown every year by one of the major television stations.

In 1976 there was then a sequel that included Rudolph’s Shiny New Year. Then again another cartoon came out in 1979 another sequel that Rudolph’s and Frosty’s Christmas in July. From this point there have been additional story lines and even family additions.

The animated feature length film was finally created in 1998. The story line included a villain, love and a sort of sidekick. The film was not on the big screen long before it made it to video. However, this video now resides in many homes around the world.

When you consider the origin and history of Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer you may be able to see how such a small figure really could guide the way of such a precious idea in our hearts. The entire theme is that this small Red Nosed Reindeer was just a little different. This did not make him bad, but it definitely created a reason for conflict and segregation. Therefore, we now know that when someone is different, there is probably an important reason behind it.