Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (2025 film)

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer is an upcoming 2025 American 3D computer-animated Christmas musical fantasy comedy film produced by Illumination Entertainment. It is based on the homonymous story by Robert L. May, as well as the 1964 homonymous TV special.

It stars Natalie Palamides, Paul Soles, Idina Menzel, John Goodman, Mandy Patinkin, Lewis Black, Katie Crown, Ed O'Neill, Nick Kroll and Robert Downey Jr.

Plot
Sam the Snowman welcomes the viewers to Christmastown at the North Pole and introduces Santa and Mrs. Claus who live in a castle located left of the Christmas Tree Forest. Later on, Sam recalls the year Christmas was almost cancelled due to a big snowstorm and how a very special reindeer saved the day.

Donner, Santa's lead reindeer, and his wife have given birth to a new baby fawn named Rudolph. Upon admiring him, they are surprised to see that he's been born with a glowing red nose. When Santa arrives, he warns Donner that Rudolph won't make the sleigh team because of his nose. So, Donner decides to hide it by covering it with mud so Rudolph will fit in with all the other reindeer.

A year later, Rudolph goes out to the reindeer games where all the other new fawns will be inspected by Santa to pull the sleigh when they grow up, too. During flight practice, Rudolph becomes acquainted with a beautiful doe named Clarice who tells him he's cute, making Rudolph fly. However, while engaging in celebratory play with the other bucks, Rudolph's fake nose pops off, causing the others to make fun of him and not allow him to play anymore. He then meets up with Hermey, an elf who ran away from Santa's workshop because he wanted to be a dentist instead of making toys, so they run away together. Mr. Coal, the boss elf, hired his head assistant elf Nicholas to bring Hermey back. They then meet a prospector named Yukon Cornelius, who has searched his whole life long to find silver and gold, but never does. After escaping the Abominable Snow Monster of the North, they crash land on the Island of Misfit Toys where unloved or unwanted toys live with their ruler, a winged lion named King Moonracer who brings the toys to the island until he can find homes and children who'd love them. The king allows them to stay one night on the island until they can tell Santa to find homes for them by Christmas when they get home. However, Rudolph leaves the island on his own, still worried that his nose will endanger his friends. Suddenly, Nicholas appeared beside Yukon's bed and managed to sneak up on Hermey. But Hermey and Yukon escpaed on the sled.

Years go by and Rudolph grows up into a proud young stag. He then returns home, only to find that his parents and Clarice have been looking for him for months. He sets out once again to find them, only to find out that they had been kidnapped by the Abominable Snow Monster. Rudolph tries to save Clarice from being eaten, but the monster hits him in the head with a cave stalactite. A few minutes later, Hermey and Yukon return to Christmastown and try to save Rudolph. Hermey, oinking like a pig, lures the monster out of the cave and pulls out all his teeth after Yukon knocks him out. Yukon then drives the toothless monster back, only to fall over the cliff. Mourning Yukon's death, Rudolph, Hermey, Clarice, and the Donners return home where everyone apologizes to them. Nicholas and Mr. Coal appeared and Hermey thinks Nicholas is nice. Rudolph defeats Mr. Coal by falling into the Snow Monster's cave.

After hearing their story, Santa promises Rudolph that he'll find homes for the Misfit Toys, Hermey opens his own dentist's office a week after Christmas, and Donner apologizes for being hard on Rudolph. Before celebrating, Yukon returns with a reformed Abominable Snow Monster whom he hired to be the yearly tree decorator. Christmas Eve comes and while everybody's celebrating, Santa fears that he'll have to cancel Christmas if the storm doesn't let up. He makes the announcement, but is soon distracted by Rudolph's red nose. He asks Rudolph to help, Rudolph agrees, and they fly off to the island where the Misfit Toys, sad about being left alone and unloved, are suddenly cheered up when Santa arrives to pick them up. The special ends with Santa wishing the viewers a merry Christmas as he and Rudolph fly off into the night.

Main Cast

 * Natalie Palamides as Rudolph, the main protagonist
 * Paul Soles as Hermey, reprises his role from the original 1964 animated film
 * Idina Menzel as Clarice, Rudolph's love interest
 * John Goodman as Yukon Cornelius
 * Robert Downey Jr. as Santa Claus
 * Mandy Patinkin as Sam the Snowman
 * Lewis Black as Donner, Rudolph's father
 * Katie Crown as Mrs. Donner, Rudolph's mother
 * Ed O'Neill as Mr. Coal, the boss elf and the main antagonist
 * Nick Kroll as Nicholas, Mr. Coal's lieutenant and the former secondary antagonist
 * Keegan-Michael Key as Foreman the Head Elf
 * Steve Zahn as Fireball
 * Stephen Colbert as Coach Comet
 * Tom Kenny as Charlie in the Box
 * Tara Strong as Dolly
 * Strong also voices Lovey, Clarice's friend
 * Bill Fagerbakke as Spotted Elephant
 * Justin Long as Windup Mouse
 * Bryan Cranston as King Moonracer
 * Tom Kenny, Ben Stiller, Will Ferrell, Martin Clunes, David L. Lander, Dave Foley, Hugh Jackman, Steve Carnell, Sean Hayes and Bill Hader as Elves Male
 * Tara Strong, Joan Cusack, Kath Soucie, Elizabeth Daily, Alyson Stoner, Russi Taylor, Hayden Panettiere, Anne Hathaway, Fran Brill and Whoopi Goldberg as Elves Female
 * Jennifer Garner as Mrs. Claus
 * Frank Welker as Bumble the Abominable Snowmonster of the North, the former tertiary antagonist
 * Michael Beattie as Clarice's father
 * Beattie also voices Scooter
 * Mark Dindal as Train with Square Wheels
 * Graham Annable as Boat with Sinks
 * Katy Mixon as Abby, Clarice's friend
 * Kyle Balda as Bird Fish
 * Bala also voices Plane that Can't Fly and Edward, Fireball's friend
 * Eric Guillon as Misfit Cowboy

Additional Voices

 * Bill Farmer as The Dogs Sleighs
 * Bob Bergen as Jelly Gun
 * Debi Derryberry as Bunny Rabbits and Squirrels
 * Jess Harnell as Raccoons


 * Tom Hanks as Hank the Elf
 * Hanks also voices the Head Elf


 * Laraine Newman as Clarice's mother
 * Jim Cummings as Owls

Scenes

 * 1) Sam the Snowman (0:00)
 * 2) Opening Credits (3:06)
 * 3) Birthing of Rudolph (5:09)
 * 4) "Jingle Jingle Jingle" (7:39)
 * 5) Christmas Elves (9:09)
 * 6) "Hermey Misfit Solo" (10:59)
 * 7) "Rudolph Misfit Solo" (11:40)
 * 8) Reindeer Games (12:01)
 * 9) "We Are Santa's Elves" (13:03)
 * 10) Flight Practice (15:52)
 * 11) "There's Always Tomorrow" (19:39)
 * 12) "We're A Couple of Misfits" (23:54)
 * 13) Yukon Cornelius (27:45)
 * 14) "Silver And Gold" (29:28)
 * 15) Snowmonster Chase (33:38)
 * 16) Misfit Island (39:39)
 * 17) "The Most Wonderful Day of the Year" (41:27)
 * 18) Rudolph Grows Up (46:18)
 * 19) Rudolph Saves Clarice (50:50)
 * 20) Hermey and Yukon Save the Day (52:59)
 * 21) Hermey and Yukon Will Return to Christmas Town (56:17)
 * 22) Rudolph Having Fun with Tea Party in Misfit Island (59:28)
 * 23) Rudolph is Playing Ice Skating, Inflation & More (1:03:27)
 * 24) Dolly on Coffee (1:05:13)
 * 25) Rudolph Flying is Jump Out of Window in the Christmas Castle from King Moonracer (1:08:08)
 * 26) Dolly on Tape Recorder Voice (1:09:05)
 * 27) Christmas is Preparing (1:15:18)
 * 28) "Holly Jolly Christmas" (1:18:04)
 * 29) Christmas Eve (1:20:05)
 * 30) Return to Misfit Island (1:21:50)
 * 31) "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer"/End Credits (1:25:28)

Songs

 * 1) "Jingle Jingle Jingle" - Santa Claus
 * 2) "Hermey Misfit Solo" - Hermey
 * 3) "Rudolph Misfit Solo" - Rudolph
 * 4) "We Are Santa's Elves" - Elves
 * 5) "It Feels Like a Lump of Coal" - Mr. Coal
 * 6) "There's Always Tomorrow" - Clarice
 * 7) "We're A Couple of Misfits" - Rudolph performs by Crystal Scales and Hermey performs by Fred Savage
 * 8) "Silver and Gold" - Sam the Snowman
 * 9) "Bring Him Back" - Mr. Coal and Nicholas
 * 10) "The Most Wonderful Day of the Year" - Misfit Toys
 * 11) "Going Home Without Them" - Rudolph and Clarice
 * 12) "Jingle Jingle Jingle" (Reprise) - Santa Claus and Rudolph
 * 13) "I Am Santa's Elf" - Nicholas
 * 14) "I Would Forgiveness" - Rudolph and Clarice
 * 15) "Holly Jolly Christmas" - Sam the Snowman
 * 16) "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" - Sam the Snowman

Music
This is Illumination's seventh film not to be scored by Heitor Pereira, as the film was scored by John Debney; the first fourth being 2011's Hop (which was scored by Christopher Lennertz), 2012's The Lorax (which was scored by John Powell), 2016's The Secret Life of Pets (which was scored by Alexandre Desplat), Sing (which was scored by Joby Talbot) and 2017's The Three Robbers (which was scored by John Williams)

Home media
In addition to the short film Snow Minions which was released theatrically with the feature film, the releases also include a short film, titled Yukon's Sleigh Ride.

DVD release
The film was released to DVD on December 20, 2025 and to Blu-Ray on December 20, 2025. The exclusively-made short "Yukon's Sleigh Ride".

Trivia

 * The fourth Illumination Entertainment musical film, following The Lorax, Sing and The Three Robbers.
 * The second Illumination Entertainment Christmas film, following The Grinch.
 * This is the first Illumination Entertainment film to be rated G by the MPAA; all of that company's previous films were rated PG.
 * This is the first Universal's animated film to be rated G by the MPAA since The Tale of Despereaux.
 * This is the first Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer film to be animated feature created by Illumination Mac Guff.

Transcript
Main article: Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (2025 film)/Transcript

Short film
The film will be shown alongside Snow Minions is attached to this film.