History WesternAnimation / RudolphTheRedNosedReindeer1964

* SpellMyNameWithAnS: Is it Hermey, Hermie, or Herbie? ("Hermey" seems to be the official spelling.)

* TheSongRemainsTheSame: With the exception of the 1980s Brazilian Portuguese TV dub (this was [[AvertedTrope averted]] in the previous dub), most foreign dubs (including Spanish, Greek, and Japanese) leave all of the songs in English.

* PapaWolf: Donner goes out to look for Rudolph when the big storm hits:

* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: Charlie-in-the-Box, the sentry on the Island of Misfit Toys (voiced by Alfie Scopp), sounds similar to old Vaudeville and Radio-era comedian Ed Wynn.

* NeverSayDie: When [[spoiler:Yukon Cornelius]] initially falls down the cliff with the Abominable Snowman, the narrator remarks that the others are sad about the loss of their friend but makes no direct mention of death.

* {{Narrator}}: Sam the Snowman, voiced by Burl Ives

* LargeHam: Yukon Cornelius.

* HeelFaceTurn: Boss Elf finally realizes that Hermey's dentistry dream really does have potential after hearing how he pulled the Abominable Snow Monster's teeth and lets Hermey open shop as a dentist, with the first appointments set for as early as the week after Christmas. (Ironically, Boss Elf is the first one who needs an appointment, it seems.) The Abominable Snow Monster itself makes the turn after Yukon outwits it with Hermey's help.

* HaventYouSeenXBefore: "What's the matter? Haven't you ever seen a talking snowman before?"
** In a way, it almost lampshades ''WesternAnimation/FrostyTheSnowman''...

* DefeatMeansFriendship: After Yukon Cornelius defeats the Abominable Snow Monster.

* ChaseStopsAtWater: Rudolph, Hermey, and Yukon Cornelius are being chased by the Abominable Snow Beast when they come to the edge of the water. Cornelius cuts an ice floe as a makeshift raft and floats out to sea, while the Abominable falls into the water.

* ArtisticLicenseMusic: The Elf Forman claims the tenor section of his song was weak. While this may be the case InUniverse, to the viewers there was actually a tenor and it was quite clear.

* DefeatMeansFriendship: The Abominable Snowmonster.

* DyingMomentOfAwesome: {{Subverted}}: Yukon appears to fall off a cliff while wrestling the Abominable Snowmonster, but they both survive. See DisneyDeath.

* HeelFaceTurn: Boss Elf finally realizes that Hermey's dentistry dream really does have potential after hearing how he pulled the Abominable Snowmonster's teeth and lets Hermey open shop as a dentist, with the first appointments set for as early as the week after Christmas. (Ironically, Boss Elf is the first one who needs an appointment, it seems.) The Abominable Snowmonster itself makes the turn after Yukon outwits it with Hermey's help.

** 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 in the fridge page for this, 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]]

* ChaseStopsAtWater: Rudolph, Hermie, and Yukon Cornelius are being chased by the Abominable Snow Beast when they come to the edge of the water. Cornelius cuts an ice floe as a makeshift raft and floats out to sea, while the Abominable falls into the water.

* OutcastRefuge: The Island of Misfit Toys is a refuge for toys who are defective in some way (a boat that can't float, a cowboy that rides an ostrich, a Jack-in-the-Box named Charlie). They are collected by King Moondancer in the hopes that one day they might find a home with a child who will love them. Rudolph and Hermie, who are considered misfits in the North Pole, ask to stay in the island forever, but Moondancer tells them that only toys are allowed to stay.

* TriumphantReprise: "We're a Couple of Misfits" functions as one for both Rudolph's and Hermie's earlier renditions of "Why Am I Such a Misfit?".

* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: 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. On a more minor note, Santa's voice actor is neither Creator/PaulFrees nor Creator/MickeyRooney, who later became Rankin Bass's two mainstay voice actors for the role.

* AnimatedAdaptation: The Rankin/Bass special is a loose adaptation of the original story from 1939 by Robert May. However, the special marked the ''second'' animated appearance of Rudolph, after the [[WesternAnimation/RudolphTheRedNosedReindeer1948 1948 theatrical short]] made by [[Creator/MaxAndDaveFleischer Max Fleischer]] for the Jam Handy Organization.

* AnimatedAdaptation: The Rankin/Bass special is a loose adaptation of the original story from 1939 by Robert May. However, the special marked the second animated appearance of Rudolph after his animation debut in 1948.

* AnimatedAdaptation: The Rankin-Bass special is a loose adaptation of the original story from 1939 by Robert May. However, the special marked the second animated appearance of Rudolph after his animation debut in 1948.

** The Rankin-Bass specials take place in a timeline distinct from the original Robert L. May book and its sequel ''Literature/RudolphShinesAgain'' from 1954.

* AdultsAreUseless: With the exception of Mrs. Donner, Yukon Cornelius, and King Moonracer, every adult is rather unsupportive towards Rudolph regarding his problems. Comet in particular ''shuns'' Rudolph after the latter is made into a laughing stock due to his exposed red nose. Even SantaClaus himself isn't innocent, as he openly tells Donner that he should be ''ashamed'' of Rudolph's disorder.

* AdultsAreUseless: With the exception of Mrs. Donner, Yukon Cornelius, and King Moonracer, every adult is rather unsupportive towards Rudolph regarding his problems. Comet in particular ''shuns'' Rudolph after the latter is made into a laughing stock due to his exposed red nose. Even SantaClaus himself isn't innocent either, as he openly tells Donner that he should be ''ashamed'' of Rudolph's disorder.

* AdultsAreUseless: With the exception of Mrs. Donner, Yukon Cornelius, and King Moonracer, every adult is rather unsupportive towards Rudolph regarding his problems. Comet in particular ''shuns'' Rudolph after the latter is made into a laughing stock due to his exposed red nose. Even [[SantaClaus Santa]] isn't innocent himself, as he openly tells Donner that he should be ''ashamed'' of Rudolph's disorder.

* AdultsAreUseless: With the exception of Mrs. Donner, Yukon Cornelius, and King Moonracer, every adult is rather unsupportive towards Rudolph regarding his problems. Comet in particular ''shuns'' after the latter is made into a laughing stock due to his exposed red nose. Even [[SantaClaus Santa]] isn't innocent himself, as he openly tells Donner that he should be ''ashamed'' of Rudolph's disorder.