Without Yukon Cornelius, there’d be no Rudolph. He was the real hero that foggy Christmas Eve. And that peppermint prospector goes heeled!*
I love Christmas movies. I never make it through them all every year but I try. Of course, there are a few we never miss. Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer is one of the essentials.
While Rudolph may get all the glory for saving Christmas with his shiny nose, I think Yukon Cornelius deserves the most credit.
Loyal to his friends, brave, and clever, Cornelius quickly devised a plan that saved Rudolph and his parents and girlfriend from being eaten by the ‘Abominable.’ (Not that I blame the snowman for trying. Deer are a delicious staple of my own diet.)
Perhaps the reason Cornelius acted with such confidence in the face of danger was because he was armed. (That, and because he has a beard to rival Santa’s, which would give any man swagger!)
Throughout the movie, he openly carries a revolver. (I’d feel a lot better if he used a holster rather than just tucking it in his belt!)
(BTW, did you know the Scarecrow in the Wizard of Oz also carried a handgun? Near the end of the movie, when they confront the witch, he is holding a revolver. Unlike Cornelius, however, the Scarecrow must’ve been carrying his firearm concealed throughout the rest of the movie.)
Given his presumptive background, it’s no wonder Cornelius was so prepared. If you’ve ever read the tense opening scene in White Fang, which is set in the Yukon Territory during the Klondike gold rush, you’ll know there are plenty of wild things besides the “Bumble” (as Cornelius calls the monster) that would love to eat you. The men in Jack London’s imagination also had a gun; I won’t spoil for you how the scene unfolds.
So, as any prospector worth his salt must be, Yukon Cornelius was well-equipped. In addition to his gun, he carried a pickaxe, knife, hammer, bedroll, canteen. And for some reason, he also had an ink pen in his breastpocket.
Maybe it was for completing paperwork.
The Yukon is in Canada, but it’s adjacent to Alaska. I once oversaw ATF’s operations in Alaska. It was then that I learned there is a town there named “North Pole.” If that’s the North Pole where the movie was set, and if Cornelius moved across the U.S.-Canada border to get there, he would have to deal with U.S. laws governing temporary importation of his firearm.
That involves ATF Form 6NIA, the right circumstances, and some waiting time. Otherwise, he might become known as Inmate Cornelius.
I love writing posts about Christmas movies almost as much as I love watching them. So far, I’ve written about A Christmas Carol, Die Hard, and First Blood. (Oh, you don’t think of Rambo at Christmas? Then read this.)
Really though, this post, as with the others, was just a silly excuse to say Merry Christmas!
*You can add “going heeled” to the list of slang I know for being armed.