Berry based this tale on "Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer," giving Rudolph a bit of an attitude as he delivers the toys. Unlike Santa, however, Rudolph is copyrighted, and Berry had to give the publishing rights to Johnny Marks, who wrote the original Rudolph. Perhaps if Berry had used "Randolph" (another reindeer he mentions), he could have kept the publishing. That's what the makers of the British TV special Robbie the Reindeer did.
The song is sometimes known as "Run Run Rudolph," which is how it appears on Lynyrd Skynyrd's cover. Other artists to record the song include Sheryl Crow, Bryan Adams, The Grateful Dead, Jimmy Buffett, Dwight Yoakam, Bon Jovi and Keith Richards.
This was used in the 1990 movie Home Alone in one of those pre-9/11 airport scenes where the family rushes to the gate and barely makes their plane (minus Macaulay Culkin). Other films the song has appeared in include Diner, The Santa Clause 2, Cast Away and Jingle All the Way.
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