Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer is a 1964 Christmas stop motion animated television special about a misfit reindeer and his friends who look for a place that will accept them. It first aired Sunday, December 6, 1964, on the NBC television network in the United States. The special was based on the Johnny Marks song "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" which was itself based on the 1939 poem Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer written by Marks' brother-in-law Robert L. May.