History WesternAnimation / RudolphTheRedNosedReindeer

* AllOfTheOtherReindeer: It's a given, considering Rudolph is the TropeNamer. Except for Clarice, every young reindeer who finds out about his nose starts calling Rudolph by such offensive nicknames as "Firesnout", "big nose" and "Rainbow Schnoz". And Comet encourages them to make him a social outcast.

* {{Jerkass}}: While AllOfTheOtherReindeer naturally qualify, Santa Claus himself is actually quite abrasive in this edition, first tersely dismissing the elves' song, and storming out, and later, after Rudolph's nose is made public, he not only doesn't stop the other reindeer from ridiculing him, but actually treats Rudolph just as bad as they do. [[TokenGoodTeammate Clarice]] is an exception though. Not only does she not ridicule him, but she also compliments him, [[spoiler:and even becomes his girlfriend in the end.]]
** He even tells Donner he should be ashamed for his son's uncontrollable, uncurable physical abnormality.

* EarlyInstallmentWierdness: This was the first stop-motion Christmas special from Creator/RankinBassProductions and the character designs are generally cruder and more stylized and doll-like than in their subsequent specials, including the two ''Rudolph'' sequels. The black-haired, vaguely European Mrs. Claus is also very different from the later specials' Mrs. Claus with her red-streaked white hair (which was fully red [[WesternAnimation/SantaClausIsCominToTown in her youth]]), and the elves here are both male and female in equal numbers, with [[PinkGirlBlueBoy the males in blue suits and the females in pink]], while the later specials, including the ''Rudolph'' sequels, show mostly male elves in red suits. Oen a more minor note, it can be slightly strange to hear Santa voiced by an actor who isn't either Creator/PaulFrees or Creator/MickeyRooney.

** Mrs. Donner's lack of antlers in the scene of Rudolph's birth is actually FridgeBrilliance. Female reindeer shed their antlers in spring, which is when that scene takes place.

** The original 1964 broadcast differs from later versions through Rudolph's and Hermy's performance of "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FwlOUAAyPQE We're a Couple of Misfits]]," Donner expressing pride in his son guiding Santa's sleigh, Clarice calling Rudolph a hero, and Yukon Cornelius striking peppermint, and elves dropping presents from the sleigh during [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KC5QFhZ7ZMo&feature=plcp the end credits]]. The 2019 airing of the special on Creator/{{Freeform}} restored Yukon striking peppermint, and Donner and Clarice watching Rudolph and Santa taking off.

A second plot thread follows Hermey, one of Santa's elves. Unlike all the other elves, who are content to hammer out toys for all the good little children of the world, Hermey has dreams of being a dentist. His rage-prone supervisor won't tolerate this talk of dentistry, however, and Hermey runs away. He meets Rudolph, and they run away together. Together they meet a prospector named Yukon Cornelius, who is searching the wilds of the frozen north for gold. They have adventures that include finding an Island of Misfit Toys where unwanted toys go, and they have to flee from the scary giant Abominable Snow Monster. The whole story is narrated by Sam the Snowman, voiced by Burl Ives.

The Special is also used as inspiration for the North Pole aesthetic for the Jon Favreau and Will Ferrell Christmas Film, {{Film/Elf}}, particularly the Elf Attire and use of Stop-Motion Characters.

** Beginning in 2005, ''Rudolph'' got screwed by CBS when they decided to make room for commercials by cutting the "We Are Santa's Elves" instrumental and Donner's and Yukon Cornelius' scenes of the ending again, and also syncing a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lxzBEylQegQ shortened "We're a Couple of Misfits"]] to the animation of "Fame and Fortune" (this edited version is, to put it bluntly, a mess). They also time-compress the show slightly.

* {{Adorkable}}: Rudolph, both as a child and as an adult, especially with stuffy, pouty voice.

* TakingYouWithMe: Subverted. Yukon Cornelius tackles the Abominable Snow Monster over a cliff, but they [[DisneyDeath both survive.]]

** During the opening for the "We are Santa's elves" song, the Head Elf jarringly switches from his normal Yosemite Sam-esque growl to a nasally Porky Pig-like whine, clearly voiced by a different actor, for several lines with no explanation.[note]Though, as detailed under FridgeBrilliance, this may have been deliberate, as he may have been trying to kiss up to Santa and not yell while he was in the room.[/note]

** During the opening for the "We are Santa's elves" song, the Head Elf jarringly switches from his normal Yosemite Sam-esque growl to a nasally Porky Pig-like whine, clearly voiced by a different actor, for several lines with no explanation.

* {{Narrator}}: Sam the Snowman

* ExtremelyShortTimespan: While the first special takes place over the course of at least a year, ''Rudolph's Shiny New Year'' starts immediately after the end of it and is set in the span of less than a week.
* FeatheredFiend: Eon the Terrible from ''Shiny New Year'', though it's hard to blame him if you look at things from his perspective.

* ImmediateSequel: ''Rudolph's Shiny New Year'' starts on the very same night that Rudolph made his famous flight to save Christmas.
* ImmortalsFearDeath: Aeon's motivation in the sequel. He's not ''technically'' immortal, but he's clearly lived several millennia, and as such, he's ''terrified'' of dying, and thinks he can stave off death by kidnapping the New Year. (And he succeeds, just not the way he figured.)

* {{Narrator}}: Sam the Snowman in the original special, and Father Time in ''Shiny New Year''.
* NewYearHasCome: ''Rudolph's Shiny New Year'' deconstructs New Year's Eve as being an ordained and necessary ritual that must occur at midnight on December 31st for time to continue flowing.

* WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds: If you think about it from his perspective, Aeon the Terrible from ''Shiny New Year''--Yes kidnapping an infant and trying to avert the coming of the new year is a jerk move, but Aeon can only live for one aeon (hence his name) and if the new year comes, that deadline will finally be up and he'll be reduced to ice and snow. In short, Aeon isn't so much malicious as he is ''terrified of dying''. [[spoiler:Fortunately, Rudolph and Happy manage to avert that fate for him]].

* Creator/{{Freeform}}'s 2019 telecast ''finally'' restored the Peppermint Mine ending, and the whole version of "We're a Couple of Misfits", but also made some smaller edits for commercials.

* AdaptationalJerkass: Speaking for even general legend, Santa isnt exactly the jolly, warm father figure that he's always been in this special. In fact, he's kind of a complete asshole until the third act. The first time we see him, he's insulting and dismissive about the elves' singing. Later, he angrily tells Donner he should be ashamed for Rudolph's nose.

** Most [=DVDs=], Blu-Ray Discs, and digital copies released by either Golden Books Family Entertainment or Classic Media feature the cut that most closely matches the original broadcast. It includes "We're a Couple of Misfits" and the uncut "We Are Santa's Elves," and also places Donner's and Yukon Cornelius' final scenes right before the scenes of the Misfit Toys becoming presents. However, it does not include the original end credits sequence (as the original color version was presumed lost for some time until a 16mm copy was discovered by a random collector in 2018, with plans to eventually include it on a Rankin-Bass documentary), and Classic Media [=DVDs=] produced from 2005-2006 are inexplicably missing Donner's and Yukon Cornelius' final scenes.

* {{Abusive Parents}}: Some of the things Rudolph's father says and does are seriously close to the border of emotional abuse. Although [[ValuesDissonance considering the time when the creators were growing up and when the movie was released]], it probably wasn't intended to come off as abusive and was meant to be a typical father-son relationship. Men being hard on their sons was considered the norm, whether it was fair or not, and could still be considered reasonably well-adjusted. To be fair though, the narrator does state that Donner felt pretty bad about the way he treated Rudolph when Rudolph runs off.

** The original 1964 broadcast differs from later versions through Rudolph's and Hermy's performance of "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FwlOUAAyPQE We're a Couple of Misfits]]," Donner expressing pride in his son guiding Santa's sleigh, Clarice calling Rudolph a hero, and Yukon Cornelius striking peppermint, and elves dropping presents from the sleigh during [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KC5QFhZ7ZMo&feature=plcp the end credits]]. The 2019 airing of the special on Creator/{{Freeform}} restored Yokon striking peppermint, and Donner and Clarice watching Rudolph and Santa taking off.