Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (song) 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 Visit from Saint Nicholas" (public domain by the time the song was written), stating the
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer Gillen, to draw "cute reindeer", using zoo deer as models. The alert, bouncy character Gillen developed convinced management to support the idea. Maxton Books published the first mass-market edition of "Rudolph" in 1947 and a sequel, "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer Shines Again", in 1954. In 1992, Applewood Books published "Rudolph's Second Christmas", an unpublished sequel that Robert May wrote in 1947. In 2003, Penguin Books issued a reprint version of the original "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" with new artwork by Lisa Papp. Penguin also reprinted May's sequels, "Rudolph Shines Again" and "Rudolph's Second Christmas" (now retitled "Rudolph to the Rescue").