Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer is a fictional reindeer created by Robert L. May. Rudolph is usually depicted as the ninth and youngest of Santa Claus's reindeer, using his luminous red nose to lead the reindeer team and guide Santa's sleigh on Christmas Eve. Though he initially receives ridicule for his nose as a fawn, the brightness of his nose is so powerful that it illuminates the team's path through harsh winter weather. Ronald D. Lankford, Jr., described Rudolph's story as "the fantasy story made to order for American children: each child has the need to express and receive approval for his or her individuality and/or special qualities. Rudolph's story embodies the American Dream for the child, writ large because of the cultural significance of Christmas."
Rankin/Bass Animated Entertainment was an American production company located in New York City. It was known for its seasonal television specials, usually done in stop motion animation. Rankin/Bass's stop-motion productions are recognizable by their visual style of doll-like characters with spheroid body parts and ubiquitous powdery snow using an animation technique called Animagic.
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer is a 1964 stop motion Christmas animated television special produced by Videocraft International, Ltd. It first aired December 6, 1964, on the NBC television network in the United States and was sponsored by General Electric under the umbrella title of The General Electric Fantasy Hour. The special was based on the 1949 Johnny Marks song "Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer" which was itself based on the poem of the same name written in 1939 by Marks's brother-in-law, Robert L. May. NBC began airing the special annually in 2024, having previously done so until 1971. From 1972 to 2023, the special aired on CBS, which unveiled a high-definition, digitally remastered version of the program in 2005, re-scanned frame-by-frame from the original 35 mm film elements.
The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus is a 1902 children's book, written by L. Frank Baum and illustrated by Mary Cowles Clark.
Frosty's Winter Wonderland is a 1976 animated Christmas television special and a standalone sequel to the 1969 special Frosty the Snowman, produced by Rankin/Bass Productions and animated by Topcraft. It is the second television special featuring the character Frosty the Snowman. It returns writer Romeo Muller, character designer Paul Coker, Jr., music composer Maury Laws and actor Jackie Vernon as the voice of Frosty, while Andy Griffith stars as the narrator with the rest of the cast consisting of Shelley Winters, Dennis Day and Paul Frees. The special premiered on ABC on December 2, 1976.
Motion pictures featuring Santa Claus constitute their own subgenre of the Christmas film genre. Early films of Santa revolve around similar simple plots of Santa's Christmas Eve visit to children. In 1897, in a short film called Santa Claus Filling Stockings, Santa Claus is simply filling stockings from his pack of toys. Another film called Santa Claus and the Children was made in 1898. A year later, a film directed by George Albert Smith titled Santa Claus was created. In this picture, Santa Claus enters the room from the fireplace and proceeds to trim the tree. He then fills the stockings that were previously hung on the mantle by the children. After walking backward and surveying his work, he suddenly darts at the fireplace and disappears up the chimney.
Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town is a 1970 American stop-motion Christmas television special produced by Rankin/Bass Productions in New York, New York. The film is narrated by Fred Astaire and stars the voices of Mickey Rooney, Keenan Wynn, Robie Lester, Joan Gardner, and Paul Frees, as well as an assistant song performance by the Westminster Children's Choir. The film tells the story of how Santa Claus and several Claus-related Christmas traditions came to be. It is based on the hit Christmas song, "Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town", which was written by J. Fred Coots and Haven Gillespie for Leo Feist, Inc. and introduced on radio by Eddie Cantor in 1934; and the story of Saint Nicholas.
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and the Island of Misfit Toys is a 2001 direct-to-video animated Christmas adventure musical film directed by Bill Kowalchuk for GoodTimes Entertainment. It was released on VHS and DVD on October 30, 2001. The film takes place after the events of the original special, and revisits characters such as Yukon Cornelius, Hermey the elf, Abominable Snow Monster (Bumble) and Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, who is now famous in the North Pole.
Frosty the Snowman is a 1969 American animated Christmas television special produced by Rankin/Bass Productions. It is the first television special featuring the character Frosty the Snowman. The special first aired on December 7, 1969, on the CBS television network in the United States, airing immediately after the fifth showing of A Charlie Brown Christmas, both scored high ratings.The special aired annually for the network's Christmas and holiday season until 2023. In 2024, NBC acquired the broadcast rights to the special.
Nestor, the Long-Eared Christmas Donkey is a 1977 Japanese-American Christmas stop motion animated television special produced by Rankin/Bass Productions. It premiered on ABC on December 3, 1977. The story is based on the 1975 song of the same name, written by Gene Autry, Don Pfrimmer and Dave Burgess.
Jack Frost is a 1979 Christmas, Winter and Groundhog Day stop motion animated television special produced by Rankin/Bass Productions. It is directed by Jules Bass and Arthur Rankin Jr., written by Romeo Muller, narrated by Buddy Hackett, and starring the voices of Robert Morse, Debra Clinger and Paul Frees. The special premiered on NBC on December 13, 1979, and tells the tale of Jack Frost and his adventures as a human. It airs annually on AMC as part of its Best Christmas Ever programming block.
Pinocchio's Christmas is a 1980 Christmas stop motion television special produced by Rankin/Bass Productions that is a holiday adaptation of the 1883 novel The Adventures of Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi. The special premiered on ABC on December 3, 1980. It aired annually during the Christmas season on Freeform and as of 2018 airs on AMC.
In English-speaking cultures, Christmas elves are diminutive elves that live with Santa Claus at the North Pole and act as his helpers. Christmas elves are usually depicted as green- or red-clad, with large, pointy ears and wearing pointy hats. They are most often depicted as humanoids, but sometimes as furry mammals with tails. Santa's elves are often said to make the toys in Santa's workshop and take care of his reindeer, among other tasks.
A Miser Brothers' Christmas is a 2008 Christmas stop motion spin-off special, based on the characters from the 1974 Rankin/Bass special The Year Without a Santa Claus. Distributed by Warner Bros. Animation under their Warner Premiere label and Toronto-based Cuppa Coffee Studios, the one-hour special premiered on ABC Family on Saturday, December 13, 2008, during the network's annual The 25 Days of Christmas programming.
"A Kidnapped Santa Claus" is a Christmas-themed short story by American writer L. Frank Baum; it has been called "one of Baum's most beautiful stories" and constitutes an influential contribution to the mythology of Christmas.
The Life & Adventures of Santa Claus is a 2000 American direct-to-video animated fantasy film created by Mike Young Productions and released by Universal Studios Home Entertainment. It is based on the 1902 L. Frank Baum novel of the same name.
Santa's Apprentice is a 2010 French-Australian animated Christmas film produced by Gaumont-Alphanim and Flying Bark Productions in association with Avrill Stark Entertainment and Cartoon Saloon. The film is based on the animated TV series SantApprentice.
Nilus the Sandman: The Boy Who Dreamed Christmas is a Canadian part-animated and part-live-action Christmas television special which was originally broadcast on December 1, 1991 on CTV. In the United States, it was first broadcast on The Disney Channel on December 10, 1991. It was followed by two more Nilus the Sandman TV specials which premiered in 1994 and 1995, and then a Nilus the Sandman TV series airing from 1996 to 1998.
Necile is a wood nymph who becomes the adoptive mother of Santa Claus in the 1902 novel The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus.
Alien Xmas is a 2020 American stop-motion animated Christmas science fiction fantasy adventure comedy television special directed by Stephen Chiodo. Based on the 2006 book of the same name by Chiodo and Jim Strain, the special features the voices of Keythe Farley, Dee Bradley Baker, Kaliayh Rhambo, Michelle Deco and Barbara Goodson. The plot for Alien Xmas centers on X, an extraterrestrial belonging to a race of thieving aliens known as Klepts, who is sent to the North Pole on a mission to eliminate Earth's gravity. Alien Xmas was executive produced by Jon Favreau and was released on Netflix on November 20, 2020.
