Portrayals
Although little information regarding the reindeer is disclosed in The Night Before Christmas, this has only allowed others to contribute to the backgrounds and folklore regarding them in other works (often portraying them with features more common to other species of deer or bovid). In part because of copyright issues, there is very little continuity between the various authors of reindeer-related works, resulting in widely varying depictions from author to author. Some have even created extra reindeer: but the only case so far in which another's addition to the traditional group achieved general acceptance in common parlance was in the case of Robert L. May's creation of "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer".
Since the original poem, other books, movies, and music have contributed to the Christmas reindeer lore. The 1994 version of the film Miracle on 34th Street, for example, asserts that reindeer can only fly on Christmas Eve. Similarly, the famous 1964 Rankin-Bass stop-motion special on Rudolph asserts that Rudolph is the son of Donner (the 1998 movie has him instead as Blitzen's son).
Read more about this topic: Santa Claus's Reindeer
Famous quotes containing the word portrayals:
“We attempt to remember our collective American childhood, the way it was, but what we often remember is a combination of real past, pieces reshaped by bitterness and love, and, of course, the video past—the portrayals of family life on such television programs as “Leave it to Beaver” and “Father Knows Best” and all the rest.”
—Richard Louv (20th century)