The Reindeer are characters in the Life and Adventures of Santa Claus.
Background[]
The Reindeer can help Santa Claus in his toy deliveries by pulling his sleigh at night on Christmas Eve, as long as they are back before daybreak by order of Will Knook. They all have names that rhyme: Flossie, Glossie, Reckless, Speckless, Racer, Pacer, Fearless, Peerless, Ready, and Steady. They stay young and strong by bathing in special water from the Fairies and eating special plants from the Ryls.
The reindeer are brown and white with light brown antlers, brown eyes, and black hooves.
Appearance[]
The reindeer are first seen pulling Santa's sleigh as he and his little helpers wave goodbye to the Immortals before Herb begins the story.
In the story, as Claus finds the snow much deeper before heading out for the village, two deer named Flossie and Glossie come by and offer to help, for they always wanted to see the world. Unfortunately, their backs aren't strong enough for Claus to ride on, so Santa builds a sleigh while Flossie and Glossie ask Will Knook if they can go with him, to which Will agrees as long as they're back before sunrise.
Claus hitches up the deer after loading up the toys and they take him to the village, but all the doors are locked. Luckily, the reindeer won't let their friend give up, so they put the sleigh on the roof for him to go down the chimney.
When they return to the Valley of Hohaho, they arrive rather late and Will gets angry. He is about to cut off the deal and set stinging gnats on Flossie and Glossie when the Prince of the Knooks objects, having talked it over with Ak. The Prince agrees to let Claus use the deer again, but on three conditions, besides not being late again: First condition, the toymaker is to use no more and no less than ten deer. Second condition, the deer are to eat special plants and bathe in special water to stay young and strong. Third condition, the toys can only be delivered once a year on Christmas Eve. Claus agrees to these terms, and ten days later on Christmas Eve, he heads out again while discovering that the reindeer can fly.
This continues for many more years, even after Santa becomes immortal. In the end, the reindeer return on time with Santa and his helpers as they are welcomed back by the Immortals.
Video Game[]
The reindeer appear in the video game as non-playable characters. Two of them can talk and are characters the players can interact with.
Trivia[]
- In the 1985 TV special and the 2000 movie, Santa only used eight reindeer just like in many different stories. And in both versions, none of the deer could talk like in the book. But they will talk in the Disney film.
- In the 2000 Universal movie, the reindeer were female. In the Disney movie, they will be male just like in the book.
- The reason the reindeer have names that rhyme and why Santa only uses ten of them could be because when the book was written, A Visit from Saint Nicholas and Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer probably hadn't even been written back then.
- Flossie and Glossie are the only two reindeer who can talk and are both voiced by Timothée Chalamet.