History Literature / RudolphTheRedNosedReindeer

May later wrote two follow-up books, ''[[Literature/RudolphShinesAgain Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer Shines Again]]'' [[note]] Later shortened as ''Rudolph Shines Again''[[/note]] (published in 1954) and ''Rudolph's Second Christmas'' (published in 1992, sixteen years after his death). ''Rudolph Shines Again'' focuses on Rudolph feeling unhappy after Santa's other reindeer start getting jealous of his fame and acting unfriendly towards him, which results in his red nose temporarily losing its shine. Rudolph later encounters and helps a group of rabbits who are desperately searching for their missing babies. ''Rudolph's Second Christmas'' has Rudolph discovering two kids named Sonny and Sis (originally known as Jimmy and Johan") who didn't get any Christmas presents that year, due to working at a failing circus which is constantly traveling to different places. ''Rudolph's Second Christmas'' (later renamed ''Rudolph to the Rescue'') sat unpublished for decades until May's daughters found his manuscript in 1991, and it was published the following year. An early version of "Rudolph's Second Christmas" was released in 1951 as a LP Record with Paul Wing narrating the story.

* EarnYourHappyEnding: In every incarnation of the story, Rudolph is laughed at, called names and excluded from reindeer games by the other reindeer in the beginning but by the end on the night of Christmas Eve, he finds a spot on Santa's sleigh. As the song says:
--> ''Then all the reindeer loved him. As they shouted out with glee: "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, you'll go down in history".''

* EarnYourHappyEnding: In every incarnation of the story, Rudolph is laughed at and called names by the other reindeer in the beginning but by the end on Christmas Eve, he finds a spot on Santa's sleigh. As the song says:

May later wrote two follow-up books, ''[[Literature/RudolphShinesAgain Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer Shines Again]]'' [[note]] Later shortened as ''Rudolph Shines Again''[[/note]] (published in 1954) and ''Rudolph's Second Christmas'' (published in 1992, sixteen years after his death). ''Rudolph Shines Again'' focuses on Rudolph feeling unhappy after Santa's other reindeer start getting jealous of his fame and acting unfriendly towards him, which results in his red nose temporarily losing its shine. Rudolph later encounters and helps a group of rabbits who are desperately searching for their missing babies. ''Rudolph's Second Christmas'' has Rudolph discovering two kids named Sonny and Sis didn't get any Christmas presents the year before, due to their working at a failing circus which is constantly traveling to different places. ''Rudolph's Second Christmas'' (later renamed ''Rudolph to the Rescue'') sat unpublished for decades until May's daughters found his manuscript in 1991, and it was published the following year. An early version of "Rudolph's Second Christmas" was released in 1951 as a LP Record with Paul Wing narrating the story.

* ''Rudolph's Second Christmas'' (1992): Another story starring Rudolph that was discovered by Robert May's daughters and originally illustrated by Michael Emberley. It was later renamed to "Rudolph to the Rescue'' in 2006 with new illustrations by Lisa Papp. Before it was published, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pvxmjwz7TO4 an early version of the story was released as a LP Record in 1951 with narration by Paul Wing.

May later wrote two follow-up books, ''[[Literature/RudolphShinesAgain Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer Shines Again]]'' [[note]] Later shortened as ''Rudolph Shines Again''[[/note]] (published in 1954) and ''Rudolph's Second Christmas'' (published in 1992, sixteen years after his death). ''Rudolph Shines Again'' focuses on Rudolph feeling unhappy after Santa's other reindeer start getting jealous of his fame and acting unfriendly towards him, which results in his red nose temporarily losing its shine. Rudolph later encounters and helps a group of rabbits who are desperately searching for their missing babies. ''Rudolph's Second Christmas'' has Rudolph discovering two kids named Sonny and Sis didn't get any Christmas presents the year before, due to their working at a failing circus which is constantly traveling to different places. ''Rudolph's Second Christmas'' (later renamed ''Rudolph to the Rescue'') sat unpublished for decades until May's daughters found his manuscript in 1991, and it was published the following year.

* ''Rudolph's Second Christmas'' (1992): Another story starring Rudolph that was discovered by Robert May's daughters and originally illustrated by Michael Emberley. It was later renamed to "Rudolph to the Rescue'' in 2006 with new illustrations by Lisa Papp. Before it was published, an early version of the story was included in the 1965 LP record by RCA Camden with narration by Paul Wing.

* ''Rudolph's Second Christmas'' (1992): Another story starring Rudolph that was discovered by Robert May's daughters and originally illustrated by Michael Emberley. It was later renamed to "Rudolph to the Rescue'' in 2006 with new illustrations by Lisa Papp. Before it was published, the story was included in the 1965 LP record by RCA Camden with narration by Paul Wing.

* ''[[WesternAnimation/RudolphTheRedNosedReindeer1948 Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer]]'' (1948): Rudolph's animation debut, a 8-minute short film by [[Creator/MaxAndDaveFleischer Max Fleischer]]. It's a near-identical adaptation of the original booklet and actually predates the song. A 1951 reissue added in the song. The short film was produced by the Jam Handy Organization who later created a [[https://imgur.com/a/XwPuFDu Christmas card featuring Rudolph.]]

* ''Rudolph's Second Christmas'' (1992): Another story starring Rudolph that was discovered by Robert May's daughters and originally illustrated by Michael Emberley. It was later renamed to "Rudolph to the Rescue'' in 2006 with new illustrations by Lisa Papp.

* ''Literature/RudolphShinesAgain'' [[note]] Originally titled "Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Shines Again" [[/note]] (1954): Robert L. May's official follow up to the 1939 story and illustrated by Marion Guild. The sequel would later get combined with the original 1939 story for [[https://pictures.abebooks.com/inventory/30607388129_3.jpg Rudolph's 25th Anniversary in 1964.]] A Little Golden Book version was released in 1982.

In the decades since the booklet's release, Rudolph has become the most iconic of Santa's reindeer, eclipsing the original eight from ''Literature/TwasTheNightBeforeChristmas''. As a result, he's [[ReferencedBy/RudolphTheRedNosedReindeer been referenced]] in numerous media. Rudolph is no exception to TheWikiRule and has his [[http://rudolphtherednosedreindeer.wikia.com/ own Wikia]]. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oVxAem7TQYg A reading of the original story can be viewed here.]]

* ''Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer'' (1939): The original 1939 booklet written by Robert L. May and illustrated by Denver Gillen first published by the department store "Montgomery Ward". For the story's 25th Anniversary in 1964, it was combined with its sequel [[https://pictures.abebooks.com/inventory/30607388129.jpg "Rudolph Shines Again"]] where it was illustrated by Marion Guild (who's illustrations stick closer to Denver Gillen's original illustrations).

* ''Literature/RudolphShinesAgain'' [[note]] Originally titled "Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Shines Again" [[/note]] (1954): Robert L. May's official follow up to the 1939 story and illustrated by Marion Guild. The sequel would later get combined with the original 1939 story for [[https://pictures.abebooks.com/inventory/30607388129_3.jpg Rudolph's 25th Anniversary in 1964]]. A Little Golden Book version was released in 1982.