The classic stop-motion TV special “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” first aired in the United States on December 6, 1964.

Which Rudolph “movie”?

People sometimes mean different things by “the Rudolph movie,” so here are the two most common:

  • The famous stop‑motion Christmas TV special “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” premiered on NBC on December 6, 1964.
  • The animated theatrical film “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer: The Movie” was released in U.S. theaters on October 16, 1998.

Quick timeline

  • 1964: Original Rankin/Bass stop‑motion TV special debut on NBC.
  • 1998: Feature-length animated Rudolph movie released in cinemas.

So if you are thinking of the classic holiday TV special, it came out in 1964 ; if you meant the later full-length animated movie, that one came out in 1998.

Meta description:
Wondering when did Rudolph movie come out? The classic “Rudolph the Red- Nosed Reindeer” TV special premiered December 6, 1964, while the animated feature film version was released on October 16, 1998.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.