Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (lost color negatives to original credits sequence of Christmas special; 1964): Difference between revisions

Revision as of 18:15, 5 December 2021

Title card.

Status: Lost

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer is the first Rankin/Bass stop motion animated Christmas special that first aired on December 6, 1964 on NBC and produced by Videocraft International, Ltd (Rankin/Bass Productions in the late 60s).

Different Endings

Original Ending

When the special first aired, King Moonracer asked Rudolph to hold a promise where he would have Santa come to the Island of Misfit Toys, and pick them up in his sleigh, giving them to the children of the world. However, fans of the special protested at the first credits sequence, and the ending entirely, because Rudolph and Santa weren't seen fulfilling the promise.^[1].

New Ending

Rankin-Bass responded by making an entirely new sequence where they drop off the toys from the Island of Misfit Toys to the children of the world, discarding the original sequence entirely. However it was discovered that parts of the original credits sequence was featured in the updated credits sequence. (Hinting that the original ending in color is in the vault of Rankin/Bass Productions). But to make room for the new scene in 1965, the scene where Yukon discovered a peppermint mine was cut until it was restored when Freeform started airing the special in 2019 (under the license of Universal Studios Home Entertainment).

Availability

While the black-and-white version of the original ending was uploaded to YouTube on the MiserBrosPress channel on August 9th, 2011. Rick Goldschmidt revealed in the comments of the B&W credits video that he found the original credits sequence in full color. However the colorized version has yet to be released on YouTube as of December 2021.

Gallery

The black and white version of the original credits sequence.

The new credits sequence alongside the newly-added scene

Reference

↑ NBC News article about the special’s original ending. Retrieved 03 Dec '19

[1] NBC News article about the special’s original ending. Retrieved 03 Dec '19

[1]

@@ Line 5: / Line 5: @@
 |status=<span style="color:red;">'''Lost'''</span>
 }}
-Debuting on NBC on December 6th, 1964, is the classic Christmas special ''Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer'', created by Rankin-Bass. There are actually two credits sequences to this special. The first one is the one that first aired with the special. Basically, it just shows an elf displaying presents with the names of the staff of Rankin Bass who worked on the special and then dropping them from the sleigh. However, the second credits sequence has an interesting story.
+'''Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer''' is the first Rankin/Bass stop motion animated Christmas special that first aired on December 6, 1964 on NBC and produced by Videocraft International, Ltd (Rankin/Bass Productions in the late 60s).
-Originally, King Moonracer asked Rudolph to hold a promise where he would have Santa come to the Island of Misfit Toys, and pick them up in his sleigh, giving them to the children of the world. However, fans of the special protested at the first credits sequence, and the ending entirely, because Rudolph and Santa weren't seen fulfilling the promise.<ref> [https://www.nbc26.com/news/national/why-the-original-ending-to-rudolph-the-red-nosed-reindeer-was-heartbreaking NBC News article about the special’s original ending.] Retrieved 03 Dec '19</ref>
+==Different Endings==
+===Original Ending===
+When the special first aired, King Moonracer asked Rudolph to hold a promise where he would have Santa come to the Island of Misfit Toys, and pick them up in his sleigh, giving them to the children of the world. However, fans of the special protested at the first credits sequence, and the ending entirely, because Rudolph and Santa weren't seen fulfilling the promise.<ref> [https://www.nbc26.com/news/national/why-the-original-ending-to-rudolph-the-red-nosed-reindeer-was-heartbreaking NBC News article about the special’s original ending.] Retrieved 03 Dec '19</ref>.
-Rankin-Bass responded by making an entirely new sequence where they drop off the toys to the children of the world, discarding the original sequence entirely. The black-and-white version of the original ending was eventually uploaded to YouTube, and it is currently unknown if the '''original color version''' still exists.
+===New Ending===
+Rankin-Bass responded by making an entirely new sequence where they drop off the toys from the Island of Misfit Toys to the children of the world, discarding the original sequence entirely. However it was discovered that parts of the original credits sequence was featured in the updated credits sequence. (Hinting that the original ending in color is in the vault of Rankin/Bass Productions). But to make room for the new scene in 1965, the scene where Yukon discovered a peppermint mine was cut until it was restored when Freeform started airing the special in 2019 (under the license of Universal Studios Home Entertainment).
+==Availability==
+While the black-and-white version of the original ending was uploaded to YouTube on the MiserBrosPress channel on August 9th, 2011. Rick Goldschmidt revealed in the comments of the B&W credits video that he found the original credits sequence in full color. However the colorized version has yet to be released on YouTube as of December 2021.
 ==Gallery==
-{{Video|perrow  =1
+{{Video|perrow  =2
    |service1     =youtube
    |id1          =KC5QFhZ7ZMo
    |description1 =The black and white version of the original credits sequence.
+  |service2     =youtube
+  |id2          =uoSocfZZ468
+  |description2 =The new credits sequence alongside the newly-added scene
 }}
 ==See Also==
 *[[Frosty the Snowman (found original June Foray voice recording of animated Christmas special; 1969)]]