Rudolph | |
---|---|
Gender |
Male |
Species |
Reindeer |
Eye Colour |
Brown |
Fur/Hair Colour |
Fur: Light Brown and Cream (as a newborn) |
Home |
|
Family |
Blitzen (father) |
Friends |
His mate Zoey, Slyly, Leonard, Santa Claus, Stormella, Ridley, Flyers, his cousin Arrow, Aurora, Glitter, Sparkle, Twinkle, his schoolteacher Mrs. Prancer, Boone, Doggle, Stormella's Wolves |
Enemies |
Stormella (formerly), Ridley (formerly), Arrow (formerly), Stormella's Wolves (formerly) |
Voiced By |
Eric Pospisil (yearling) |
Appears In |
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer: The Movie |
This article is about the 1998 character. For the character from the 1948 animated film, see Rudolph (1939) and for the Rankin/Bass character, see Rudolph (Rankin/Bass)
Rudolph (born on June 5, 1984) is the son of Blitzen and Mitzi, the nephew of Dasher, Comet, and Cupid, the cousin and former rival of Arrow, the best friend, primary love interest, later mate of Zoey, the lead reindeer on Santa's sleigh team, and the main protagonist of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer: The Movie and it's sequel book Rudolph Saves The Sprites. Rudolph wants to be like his dad but after causing accidents, Rudolph runs away from home and he eventually is lost. But with the help from an arctic fox named Slyly, and a white polar bear named Leonard. He finds his way home and he reunited with his parents.
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer: The Movie[]
Early Life[]
Rudolph is first seen in his house as a newborn fawn taking his first steps, He stumbles into a pile of hay, causing him to sneeze, and his nose to light up for the first time.
He is later seen with his parents showing him their village, where he meets his uncles Dasher, Comet, and Cupid. Rudolph is tickled by Cupid, and as a result his nose glows again, so Donner says to them that Rudolph has allergies. This causes him to be laughed at by the other villagers, He leaves with his parents to see Santa's toy factory, where he is given a teddy bear by one of the elves and witnesses Stormella threatening to cast a storm if anyone crosses her Ice Bridge and whoever crosses her bridge will be captured and trapped in her ice dungeon.
As a Yearling[]
A year later Rudolph starts school, where he is ridiculed and bullied by his mean-spirited cousin Arrow and the other students because of his nose, except for a young doe named Zoey whom Rudolph later becomes admired with and Mrs. Prancer Rudolph's teacher. Rudolph leaves the school, where he meets Santa, who tries to convince him that his nose is grand.
Meanwhile later at The Christmas Eve Launch, Rudolph watches his father, along with the other Flyers including his uncles guide Santa's sleigh off into the night, Afterwards he acts out a speech about himself joining the team (which includes thanking his parents, Santa, and most of all the doe of his dreams: Zoey) and accepting a Medal of Valor, Zoey heard all this when she was standing behind Rudolph (Rudolph couldn't see) when Zoey then started giggling (Zoey also fell in love with Rudolph). Rudolph heard it and his nose began to shine, Zoey told Rudolph not to be embarrassed, and thanked her very much for the nice words. She tells him that she wants to be his friend and that she doesn't care what others think, as she thinks Rudolph's nose is unique like him. She motions him to the mistletoe. The two then notice that they are under a mistletoe to which Zoey tells Rudolph that it means, he has to kiss her. Zoey couldn't wait for Rudolph to kiss her. Once Rudolph's dreams almost came true, their lips touching each other by the time Arrow appeared. Zoey then tells him not to get jealous, Arrow denies this instead being jealous of Rudolph by calling him "Ruddy the Red-Nose Reject" as Arrow seemed very jealous. He called Zoey to go with him. Zoey didn't want to go at all, but it was a must. Arrow calls Rudolph a loser as he leaves. Zoey smiles kindly back, thus showing that Rudolph is her true love. Rudolph also realizes what the smile meant, and he jumps around in joy.
Teenage Life and Saving Christmas[]
Years later, a now teenaged Rudolph is seen with Zoey preparing to compete in The Junior Reindeer Games, Before the start of the games, Zoey gives him her pendant for good luck (thus showing that she is now in love with Rudolph) and gives him a kiss. At the start line for the first game, "The Sleigh Race", Arrow, notices the pendant on Rudolph and reminds him that Zoey is "his doe", Rudolph replies that Zoey "isn't a trophy and shouldn't be treated like one".
During the race, Rudolph and his elf driver Doggle see Arrow cheating by ramming his sleigh into another competitor, causing them to crash, When neck-neck with Arrow, Rudolph is able to jump over a broken sleigh (which had also been knocked off course), When nearing the finish line, Arrow starts taunting Rudolph by saying that Zoey is the only one nice to Rudolph because she feels sorry for him, Rudolph tells him that isn't true, but Arrow replies that Zoey told him so. Overcome with rage, Rudolph's nose starts to glow and blinds Arrow, causing him and his elf driver to crash, allowing Rudolph and Doggle to win. Unfortunately, the referee disqualifies Rudolph for this incident and makes Arrow winner instead, much to the anger of Blitzen and Zoey. Later, Rudolph overhears Blitzen arguing with the referee, saying that his red nose wasn't Rudolph's fault, and that it was just an accident even when the true troublemaker and causer of the cheating chaos was Arrow, (attempting to persuade him that Rudolph couldn't have controlled his nose's glow and avoided blinding Arrow). Rudolph thinks that his father is ashamed of him, and decides to run away from home, leaving a letter he wrote to his parents. Along with that an Angered Zoey tells Arrow that she doesn't want to be his mate anymore.
After running away, Rudolph goes into a cave and meets a arctic fox named Slyly, who at first tries to make him leave the cave, but after Rudolph fights him off, he lets him stay. In the morning the cave is blocked by an avalanche so the two are forced to find a new home. They find a cave owned by a polar bear named Leonard, and he tricks both him and Slyly into leaving. However Leonard realizes he's been doing something wrong, and returns in anger. After Rudolph apologizes though, Leonard lets both him and Slyly stay. Later that night, Rudolph has a nightmare about the remarks people made about his nose and wakes up to get some fresh air. Whilst he is out there he meets "The Sprites of the Northern Lights", Twinkle, Sparkle, Glitter, and Aurora, who tell him that they are the ones that are the admirers of his nose and that everyone has a light inside them but only a few have a light bright enough for the whole world to see. They reveal that Zoey has been captured by Stormella and teach him how to control his nose by telling him to think about everyone he loves and everyone who loves him and to let this love be the light of his heart.
Rudolph and Leonard travel to Stormella's fortress Ice Castle and find Zoey in an ice dungeon, but are caught and imprisoned by Stormella, As a result of Zoey crossing her Ice Bridge, Stormella reveals that she will ruin Christmas with a storm of the century. During this time, Rudolph and Zoey confess their feelings for each other. Afterwards, Slyly arrives and steals the key to free them. The group starts to leave, but are confronted by Stormella (who is joined by her wolves and her penguin butler Ridley), who threatens to harm Zoey. Rudolph jumps in front of Zoey and his nose glows to protect her, causing Stormella to fall over the edge of a cliff. With the others help, however, Rudolph saves her. As thanks, Stormella grants Rudolph one wish, so he asks for her to be nice and turns down her offer to give him a normal nose. Stormella becomes nice, but says that she can't call off her storm. The group are then found by Doggle and Boone, who were sent out by Santa to find Rudolph and Zoey. They return home, where they are happily welcomed back by their parents and the other villagers.
After seeing the light coming from Rudolph's nose, Santa asks him to guide his sleigh through the storm, to which Rudolph gladly accepts. After good luck wishes from his friends and a kiss from Zoey, Rudolph is given a Medal of Valor by Santa, before guiding the other Flyers through the storm to deliver the presents. The next day it is shown that Rudolph left presents for the others, such as his teddy bear for Slyly, his red scarf for Leonard, and Santa leaves a new ice statue for Stormella. When Rudolph returns from the flight, everyone including a reformed Arrow celebrates and sings "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer".
Rudolph Saves The Sprites[]
In this book set after the film, Rudolph along with his now mate Zoey look for the Sprites after they fail to show up at Santa's Winter Celebrations to put on their light show, after Santa, Blitzen and the other Flyers were unable to find them.
He and Zoey follow a path of blossoms that lead to Ice Castle and find the Sprites in an ice cage and uses his nose's light to melt the bars. Rudolph and Zoey also learn that Ridley took the Sprites to put on a surprise private light show for Stormella since she has never been invited to Santa's Winter Celebrations (due to her being wicked in the past). Rudolph says that Stormella is nice now and maybe Santa wouldn't mind if she came.
On the day of the light show, and a reformed Stormella is guest of honour and the Sprites spell out a message in the sky: THANKS RUDOLPH. and even Arrow was reformed. But he doesn't even show this until you see him sing "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer."
Appearances[]
Rudolph had a light brown coat with white spots as a yearling, and dark brown and cream fur and short antlers as a teenager. He also has black tipped ears, brown eyes, blond hair, and a bright red nose. Like all Flyers, he wears a Medal of Valor.
In the books Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer: A Retelling of the New Animated Movie and Rudolph Saves The Sprites, Rudolph's appearance remains the same except his antlers are smaller than they are in the film and look more like the antlers his Rankin/Bass counterpart had as a older yearling.
Rudolph takes after both of his parents: He has Mitzi's fur colour and her grace and style whilst he has Blitzen's eye colour and smile. Though it's unknown where Rudolph inherited his blond hair from as neither Blitzen or Mitzi have blond hair. Though he may have gotten it from either Cupid or Comet as they are the only two of Rudolph's uncles to have blond hair or he might have gotten it from one of Mitzi's relatives.
According to the song "What About His Nose?", Rudolph has Mitzi's grace and style and Blitzen's smile.
Songs sung by Rudolph[]
Relationships[]
- Romantic/Love - Rudolph and Zoey
- Familial/Formerly Antagonistic - Rudolph and Arrow
- Familial - Blitzen and Rudolph
- Familial - Mitzi and Rudolph
- Friendly - Rudolph and Slyly
- Friendly - Rudolph and Leonard
- Friendly/Formerly Antagonistic - Rudolph and Stormella
Trivia[]
- At an early story development meeting, a Good Times merchandising exec claimed that the team's biggest challenge would be how to translate a reindeer with long spindly legs into a huggable plush doll. She proposed a "cuter and more cuddly" Rudolph character design reminiscent of a Care Bear with short stubby legs and a heart-shaped birthmark on his chest. Thankfully, that idea was scrapped.
- Heated behind-the-scenes discussions took place over Rudolph's age and the exact length of his antlers. The writer believed that Rudolph should mature into adulthood (as in the '64 Rankin/Bass version), but a merchandising exec insisted that a younger Rudolph would make a cuddlier plush toy.
- At the treatment stage, the writer proposed a very different opening; Longing for a child of their own, Blitzen and Mitzi patiently wait as a flock of storks deliver babies to other expectant reindeer parents. Blitzen and Mitzi remain long after the other reindeer couples depart with their newborns until they lose hope that their package will ever arrive. Meanwhile, the stork carrying Rudolph suffers a terrible cold and accidentally loses his bundle after a violent sneeze. Baby Rudolph lands on a drifting ice floe until The Sprites of the Northern Lights take pity on him. They endow baby Rudolph with a glowing nose so Blitzen and Mitzi will notice and rescue him. Blitzen and Mitzi believe baby Rudolph is the answer to their prayers and his glow as a miracle that saved his life and made them a family. The writer hoped this approach would begin the story on a dramatic note, help distinguish it from other versions of Rudolph, explain the origin of his nose, and establish a personal relationship with the sprites that would run through the rest of the story. However, one Good Times executive worried the beginning was too similar to "Dumbo" and the producer rejected the idea as too dark and potentially frightening for young children.
- When Boone and Doggle safely return Rudolph and friends to Santa's village toward the end of the movie, an earlier draft of the script had Mitzi planting a sloppy welcome home kiss on Rudolph's cheek. Rudy blushed and said, "Aw, Mom! Not in public!" A Good Times exec insisted that the screenwriter remove the line because "Rudolph would never say that".
- Rudolph's name means "famous wolf" in German.
- The word "Rudý" means "red" in Czech.
- Despite their relation, Rudolph and Arrow never address each other as cousins in the film. Probably because, Arrow doesn't want to be reminded that he's related to Rudolph.
- Despite their differences, Rudolph and Arrow share the same goal in life; to be Flyers like their fathers.
- In the book Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer: A Retelling of the New Animated Movie, Rudolph is shown to have smaller antlers than he does in the film and that they are smaller than Arrow's that remain the same size they are in the film. This is either a mistake or the illustrators wanted to make Rudolph younger than Arrow.
- Rudolph appeared as a float in The 72nd Annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.