Public Domain Super Heroes
Register
Advertisement
Yukon Cornelius
Yukon

Real Name

Yukon Cornelius

First Appearance

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (December 6, 1964)

Original Publisher

Rankin/Bass

Created by

Romeo Muller & Robert L. May

Origin[]

Yukon Cornelius is a character from the 1964 Rankin/Bass television special Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. He was an arctic prospector who met a reindeer who would later become Santa's 9th(see notes) and Hermey while they were trying to avoid the Abominable Snowmonster. Seemingly searching for valuable minerals at the North Pole, he was originally considered a greedy character (as he was referred to by Sam the Snowman).

Yukon accompanied the pair in their travels to the Island of Misfit Toys and back. He was a blustery but, benign, character and ended up helping not only the reindeer and Hermey, but also the Abominable Snowmonster, or "Bumble" as he refers to him, as well.

Throughout the special, Yukon was shown tossing his pick axe into the air, sniffing, and then licking the end that contacts the snow or ice. This lead the audience to believe that he was searching for either silver or gold, though it turned out that he was actually seeking peppermint, as revealed at the end of the original version of the special.

Notes[]

  • The character of Rudolph is not in the public domain and, thus, cannot be used without permission. He was created in 1939 by Robert L.May and his first appearance was renewed. However, he has been popularly referred to as "Santa's 9th Reindeer."
  • Like the character, the song, Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, is NOT in the public domain so avoid using details which are original to it.
  • The copyright year in Roman numerals for the special was mis-marked as MCLXIV (1164) instead of the correct MCMLXIV (1964). This invalidates the copyright under U.S. law at the time, which required a valid date of copyright be affixed to the production meaning that still images from the special and all of the characters unique to it are, as a result, in the public domain.

See Also[]

Advertisement