Christmas 2017: Yukon Cornelius' Odd Behavior in 'Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer' Explained
The odd pickax-licking behavior of Yukon Cornelius in "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" has finally been explained.
While the 1964 stop-animation movie "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" has been a holiday staple entertainment since its release, the behavior of one of its characters has baffled the viewers, both young and old. As seen in the movie, whenever Yukon Cornelius, the failed prospector Rudolph and Hermey the elf meet on their way to the island of Misfit Toys, hits his pickax on the ground, he always licks it afterward.
However, it has been revealed that there is actually an explanation on why Yukon Cornelius licks his pickax after striking it on the ground. According to Rick Goldschmidt, author of "The Making of the Rankin/Bass Holiday Classic: Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer," there is actually a scene from the original movie that explains the character's odd behavior.
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Though the full version of "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" movie shows Cornelius licking the pickax one last time and saying, "Peppermint! What I've been searching for all my life! I've struck it rich! I've got me a peppermint mine! Wahoo," this scene was deleted beginning 1965, and this edited version is the one shown on TV every Christmastime.
To the uninitiated, "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" started as a coloring book written by Robert L. May, who was commissioned by Montgomery Ward, a Chicago-based department store in 1939. The coloring books were intended as presents to kids from the store's Santa and as a way to entice parents to buy presents from the store.
May's story about Rudolph was based on his personal experience as a victim of bullying in his youth due to his shyness and small stature, blending it with some inspiration from "The Ugly Duckling."
In 1947, "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" was finally released in book form. The following year, upon May's prodding, his brother-in-law, songwriter Johnny Marks, created a song based on May's story. While a nine-minute cartoon directed by Max Fleischer and featuring the song by Marks, was shown in theaters, it was not released as a standalone song until the "Singing Cowboy" Gene Autry, recorded and released it in 1949, selling more than 2 million copies in that year alone.
With the popularity of the song, NBC decided to produce the stop-animation Christmas special "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer," and released it in 1964.
