Romeo Muller, Jr. is the man who created all of the characters in Rankin/Bass' Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer except for Rudolph himself! He is the man that deserves all of the credit!

 

c. 2014 Miser Bros Press/Rick Goldschmidt Archives

We talk a lot about writer Romeo Muller, Jr. in my new book!  Why?  He was the genius writer behind the Rankin/Bass Holiday TV specials and a big part of the reason they have lasted over fifty years!  He created, as a member of the writer's guild, all of the characters in Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, except for Rudolph himself (Which was created by Robert L. May), including the Island of Misfit Toys, Hermey the elf/dentist, Yukon Cornelius, Sam the Snowman, the Bumble, Clarice, Charlie-in-the-box, etc.   Strangely, I am not seeing his name represented in derivatives of his work and his estate is looking into.   At any rate, he is the creator of these classic characters and also wrote The Little Drummer Boy, Nestor, the long-eared Donkey, The Year Without A Santa Claus, Frosty the Snowman and Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town.   He created all of those characters in those specials as well, which were designed by Paul Coker, Jr., after the scripts were written.   Look for more information on him in our new book The Making of Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town and The Daydreamer!   I will be talking about Romeo in the hundreds of radio and TV interviews I do this season!