Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (song) Rudolph's general acceptance in the mythology as the lead reindeer of Joulupukki, the Finnish Santa. Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (song) "Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer" is a song by songwriter Johnny Marks based on the 1939 story "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" published by the Montgomery Ward Company. Gene Autry's recording hit No. 1 on the U.S. charts the week of Christmas 1949. In 1939 Marks's brother-in-law, Robert L. May, created the character Rudolph as an assignment for Montgomery Ward and Marks decided to adapt the story of Rudolph into a song. The song had an added introduction, paraphrasing the poem "A
Olive, the Other Reindeer seen in 2015. The story was based on the 1997 children's book by Vivian Walsh and illustrated by J. Otto Seibold. In the song, "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer", the lyric "All of the other reindeer" can be misheard in dialects with the cot–caught merger as the mondegreen "Olive, the other reindeer". Drew Barrymore voices the title character. The special was nominated for the Emmy Award for Outstanding Animated Program. The story follows an anthropomorphic Jack Russell Terrier named Olive, who does not act like a dog. While in town, she meets Martini, a con artist penguin, from whom she buys