Writer of Pop Culture

1964: Rudolph Flies for the First Time

On this day, during the foggy night, the Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer TV special flew for the first time on NBC in 1964. The special was created by Rankin/Bass, who also produced other classics like Frosty the Snowman and Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town, all of which are still airing on TV every Christmas season.

The stop-motion, herky-jerky animation special is still king. It’s the classic underdog (or underdeer) story about a reindeer who gets picked on because of a facial irregularity. However, he becomes the hero in the end by saving Christmas.

The story is narrated by a snowman voiced by Burl Ives (none of today’s viewers have any idea who he was) and on this day in 2024, the special returned to where it all began on NBC after airing many years on CBS. (Image: NBC)

---

1995: Queen’s Last Album

It was on this day in 1995 that the band Queen released its last album, Made in Heaven. It included tracks that featured Freddie Mercury’s last recordings which were recorded in 1991, the same year that the singer had passed away. It became the band’s ninth number one album which sold 20 million copies across the world.

---

2009: A Very Jim Carrey Christmas … Carol

Directed by Robert Zemeckis for Disney, this umpteenth film of A Christmas Carol used the same motion capture technique that Zemeckis has used for The Polar Express. The film starred Jim Carrey who not only played the role of Ebenezer Scrooge, but he also played the roles of Ghost of Christmas Past, Ghost of Christmas Present and Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come. It also starred Gary Oldman, Colin Firth, Bob Hoskins, Robin Wright Penn and Cary Elwes.

Carol was released in theaters on this day in 2009. Unfortunately, it received mixed reviews and while it did fairly well at the box office initially, the film ended up costing the studio over $50 million.

Return to November Page >>>