Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (TV special)

Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer
Promotional advertisement for the original NBC airing.
Based on	"Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" by Johnny Marks
Written by	Romeo Muller
Directed by	Larry Roemer
Narrated by	Burl Ives (as Sam The Snowman)
Country of origin	United States
Original language(s)	English
No. of episodes	1
Production
Producer(s)	Arthur Rankin, Jr. Jules Bass
Cinematography	Tadahito Mochinaga
Running time	55 minutes
Production company(s)	Rankin/Bass Productions
Distributor	NBCUniversal Television Distribution
Release
Original network	NBC (1964–1971) CBS (1972–present)
Original release	December 6, 1964
Chronology
Followed by	Rudolph's Shiny New Year
External links
Website

Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer is a 1964 Christmas stop motion animated television special produced by Rankin/Bass Productions and currently distributed by Universal Television. It first aired Sunday, 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 Johnny Marks song "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" which was itself based on the 1939 poem Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer written by Marks' brother-in-law, Robert L. May. Since 1972, the special has aired on CBS, with the network unveiling a high-definition, digitally remastered version of the program in 2005. As with A Charlie Brown Christmas and How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Rudolph no longer airs just once annually, but several times during the Christmas and holiday season on CBS. Unlike other specials that also air on several cable channels (including Freeform), Rudolph only airs on CBS. It has been telecast every year since 1964, making it the longest running Christmas TV special in history. 2014 marked the 50th anniversary of the television special and a series of postage stamps featuring Rudolph was issued by the United States Postal Service on November 6, 2014.

Sam the Snowman narrates the story of Rudolph, a reindeer who is born with a glowing red nose. His father, Santa's lead reindeer Donner, feels ashamed after Santa Claus tells him that he will not allow Rudolph to be in the sleigh team with his nose ("Jingle Jingle Jingle"). Donner uses a special cover to hide Rudolph's nose so Donner and his wife can send Rudolph to the Reindeer Games in a year's time.