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Daveland Sandy Claws

Santa's Reindeer are folklore/pop-culture characters which can be seen in portrait-form in the seasonal Haunted Mansion Holiday overlay at Disneyland's Haunted Mansion and Haunted Mansion Holiday Nightmare in Tokyo Disneyland.

Origins[]

Figures[]

In the Santa Claus elements of Christmas mythology, Santa is traditionally portrayed as having eight flying reindeer. This role was cemented in the poem Twas the Night Before Christmas (1823) by Clement C. Moore where they are shown to pull Santa's sleigh as he makes deliveries and where he refers to them all by name.

The 1939 song Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer by Robert L. May popularized the iconography of Santa's titular ninth reindeer. This song (and its subsequent 1964 Ranken-Bass film adaptation) telling the story of a reindeer which was born deformed with an abnormal red, glowing nose leading to scorn from its peers. However when Santa realizes that Rudolph's mutation is convenient for him, he has Rudolph lead his sleigh-team through foggy nights with all the other reindeer deciding that they loved him.

Notable Members[]

  • Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer:
  • Dasher:
  • Dancer:
  • Prancer:
  • Vixen:
  • Comet:
  • Cupid:
  • Donder/Donner:
  • Blitzen/Blixen:

The Nightmare Before Christmas[]

The reindeer make brief appearances within this film, being members of Santa's sleigh-team used to enhance the dichotomy with Halloween Town's Christmas. When Jack Skellington first explains Christmas to the residents of the town, he refers to them as Rain-Gear which Santa wears as he flies through the night like a vulture.

They are frequently given counterparts in the film, most predominately being the skeletal reindeer created by Doctor Finkelstein to head Jack's coffin-sleigh team. Jack's dog Zero also serves as an analogue to Rudolph, using his glowing jack o'lantern nose to lead the skeleton reindeer on Jack's outing as Sandy Claws. The original poem even enhances this by mirroring the lyrics to Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer when Jack recruits him.

Other Notable Disney Appearances[]

  • Santa's Workshop: The reindeer serve their traditional roles in this Silly Symphonies Disney short.
  • Prep and Landing: In these short films by Disney, Dasher and Dancer serve as characters.
  • Mickey Mouse Appearances:
    • They appear in Mickey's Twice Upon a Christmas (2004).

Appearances[]

Haunted Mansion Holiday[]

The reindeer appear in portrait-form within the Portrait Corridor (or Loading Area in Tokyo Disneyland) where he is shown in his Nightmare Before Christmas incarnation. Santa is driving his flying sleigh helmed by four of his reindeer before the portrait changes to show Jack dressed up in his Sandy Claws costume, riding his own sleigh being pulled by three skeletal reindeer and headed by Jack's ghost dog Zero.

The skeletal reindeer and Zero whom are based on the reindeer also frequently appear throughout this attraction. They can be seen leading Jack's sleigh team in portrait form and in the Exit Crypt, mirroring the reindeer's role.

Other Disney Parks Appearances[]

  • The reindeer often appear as statues in Christmas themed parades where they are made to look like they are heading Santa's sleigh.
  • They can be seen through the window of his workshop in the North Pole segment of the seasonal, It's a Small World Holiday overlay of It's a Small World in Disneyland. He was also referenced by name throughout the attraction.

Trivia[]

  • While Santa is traditionally portrayed with having 8 reindeer (9 with Rudolph), in the attraction he is only shown to have four (with Rudolph being one of them).
  • The name Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer is technically under copyright by the Rudolph Company which is not owned by, nor affiliated with Disney. Disney is able to get away with featuring the reindeer due to his name and song being under copyright, but not his story or visage. As long as he is not referred to as Rudolph, they are able to use him.
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