There are many different holiday figures and stories attached to Christmas, all with their own seemingly bizarre and unique story, yet still tying the magic of Christmas to them. But where exactly did these stories come from? Who wrote them? And Why? How much have they changed over their many years of existence?
Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer made his first debut in 1939 in a Montgomery Ward Department as a story for shoppers as a gimmick. The writer, Robert L. May, is said to have been inspired by his own experiences in school to write Rudolph’s backstory, having parallels of being unable to properly fit in with fellow classmates. The story exploded in popularity, selling over 2 million copies! After gaining the rights to the book, Robert was able to ask his brother-in-law to help him turn it into a song, which of course led to the classic movie.
In 1950, a man named Steve “Jack” Rollins created the infamous song “Frosty the Snowman” as a way to compete with the infamous Rudolph. Though not as popular, the song was a great success, getting its own black-and-white animated music video over a jazzier version of the song. This video would be the inspiration behind the design of its much more popular movie adaptation, which was made by Rankin/Bass. This was the first Rankin/Bass Christmas special to be made with traditional animation as opposed to stop-motion. This meant they had to use the help of some overseas animation studios to help them make the movie. However, little has changed since that iconic movie we all know and love, even inspiring a sequel, Frosty Returns!
Probably the most parodied Christmas story of all time, A Christmas Carol, as well as the iconic characters, have a rich history. The author, Charles Dickens, was born into the middle class, but due to unfortunate circumstances, had to take up a job at the age of 12. These horrible conditions he was put in is believed to play a major part in his writing. However, he also had a love for Christmas stories. The story itself went through many different stages, instead of ghosts, at one point, there were goblins! The entire story took about 6 weeks to write, and sold over 2 million copies in the 100 years that followed.
The ballet The Nutcracker was actually inspired by a book called The Nutcracker and the Rat King, which vaguely sported a similar plot. The first performance of The Nutcracker was not as positive as one would expect. Allegedly, the costumes and decorations were ‘bland’ and the Sugar Plum Fairy’s actor was criticized greatly. Despite this, however, after the writer, Pyotr Tchaikovsky, had passed, the ballet was able to gain popularity and become the ever popular and loved ballet we all know and love.