Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer

Rudolph is one of the best known Christmas characters in the world. He was created by Robert L. May, a copywriter for Montgomery Ward Company, a large chain of department stores that spanned the United States. The company gave coloring books to customers every year, but in 1939 they decided to save some money and asked May to come up with a character and a story so that they could publish it in-house.

Influenced by The Ugly Duckling, May set about concocting a character and a story. He practiced the story on his 4 year old daughter and presented it to his superiors. At first they were doubtful, something about the "red nose" that could be associated with too much drinking. But May enlisted the aid of Denver Gillen who worked in the company art department. Gillen made some reindeer drawings after visiting the Chicago Zoo, added the famous red nose, and the bosses relented and Rudolph was born. The company distributed 2.4 million copies of the coloring book the first year and Rudolph has been a favorite ever since.

Now Rudolph is celebrated in song, film, animation, and story. His name will indeed "..go down in history".

Robert L. May, because he was working for Montgomery Ward when he created Rudolph, was not entitled to any royalties. The company owned all the rights. May's wife died around the time that he created Rudolph, and he went deep into debt due to her medical bills. In 1947 May persuaded Sewell Avery, Montgomery Ward corporate president, to turn over the rights to him. May's future was secure. May left his job in 1951, managed his copywrite for seven years, then returned to Mongomery Ward until his retirement in 1971. He lived quite comfortably until his death in 1976.

We all have our favorite Christmas films. I know I do. I also have favorite directors. The other day I found an amusing video, made about a decade ago for MAD TV. The film is an animation of the Rudolph story created in the styles of Martin Scorsese and Francis Ford Coppola. Enjoy!


Raging Rudolph/The Reinfather