The Abominable Snowmonster of the North, called Bumble for short, is the sole antagonist in the 1964 Rankin/Bass television special, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. He is a gigantic white-furred yeti with long pointed fangs along with a hairless blue face, lips, hands and feet. "Bumble", a corruption of the term "abominable snowman", is so named by Yukon Cornelius.
Appearances in Christmas specials[]
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer[]
In the original special, the Abominable Snowmonster pursues Hermey, Rudolph, and Yukon throughout their adventures. Not only does the sight of Rudolph's glowing red nose drive him into a rage, narrator Sam the Snowman explains that he hates everything to do with Christmas as well.
Bumble is Yukon's longtime enemy, so much so that he is an expert on Bumble's strengths and weaknesses; in their first escape together as a group, the three set off to sea on an ice float from which Yukon chips an iceberg with his pick axe, since he knows that Bumble cannot float in water, which is proven when as soon as the Bumble tries to step into the water, he sinks underwater, and nearly drowns, but he is able to climb back onto dry land safely, seething in frustration at losing pursuit of them for the time being.
When Rudolph's family leaves the safety of the North Pole to find him, they become prisoners of the Abominable in his cave. Rudolph tries to fight the Bumble himself, but the Bumble knocks him out using a large stalagmite as a club. Luckily, Hermey and Yukon, having learned about Rudolph's plight from Sam the Snowman, arrive at the cave to save him and his family. Yukon and Hermey attempt to lure him from his cave and away from the trapped reindeer when Hermey makes the vocal sounds of a pig; Yukon knows that Bumble would prefer pork over deer meat any day. Yukon then knocks the monster unconscious by dislodging a large rock above the entrance to the cave and onto his head. Hermey then extracts all of his teeth while he is out cold, rendering him unable to eat any of them. Yukon sees this as his chance to engage the creature in hand-to-hand combat. As Bumble backs away toward a bottomless ravine now that he was no longer a threat without his teeth, he, Yukon, and his dogsled team fall over the cliff, into the ravine, and out of sight. Rudolph and the others believe the Bumble dead along with Yukon and his team.
To the amazement of everyone in Santa's Workshop, Yukon, Bumble, and the dogsled team later come knocking at the door. The sight of Bumble frightens everyone in the room, but Yukon insists that he has reformed his evil ways and has come seeking a job. Bumble shows everyone that, because he is so tall, he is able to place a star on top of a Christmas tree without the need for a ladder. Rudolph asks Yukon how they survived the fall. As an expert on the monster, Yukon was unconcerned about falling into the ravine, answering, "Didn't I tell you, boy? Bumbles bounce!"
Bumble did not appear in Rudolph's Shiny New Year and Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July, but he does return to assist his friends in Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and the Island of Misfit Toys. After having helped Yukon mine for peppermint, Bumble assists Rudolph and the gang in their plan to the capture the Toy Taker when he comes to the titular island. Bumble disguises himself as a giant plush bunny as part of the plan, but the Toy Taker leaves him behind because he is too big to fit on his blimp. Still wanting to help his friends, Bumble manages to create a makeshift ice floe by stomping the ground near the ocean. As he follows the blimp, he rescues Yukon Cornelius after he falls out of it.
Other Christmas productions[]
In The Simpsons episode "The Fight Before Christmas", Bumble makes a background cameo during Bart's Polar Express-inspired dream. He is also briefly seen waving at Marge and Maggie in the intro sequence for "I Won't Be Home for Christmas". He appears again in Maggie's dream in "The Nightmare After Krustmas", in which he, Santa, Jack Frost, and Wayne Gretzky team up to protect her from the Elf on the Shelf Gnome in Your Home. Unfortunately, they are scared off when the gnome is revealed to carry a gun.
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