Donner (Rankin/Bass)

Donner is the husband of Mrs. Donner, the father of Rudolph, the former lead reindeer of Santa Claus's sleigh team and one of the supporting characters in the 1964 film, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. He also makes a small appearances in its 1976 sequel Rudolph's Shiny New Year, its 1979 sequel Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July, and the 2001 sequel Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and The Island Of Misfit Toys.

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
In a cave in the North Pole one spring, Donner and his wife Mrs. Donner become parents to a son whom they name Rudolph, However, shortly after his birth, Rudolph's nose lights up much to the shock and dismay of his parents, Just then, Santa arrives and sees Rudolph's nose light up and says to Donner that he hopes it stops if Rudolph wants to pull the sleigh, After Santa leaves, Donner gets an idea to help with Rudolph's nose and puts mud on it, but it comes off, As Rudolph grows, Donner teaches him the life of living in the North Pole, but they briefly stop to hide from a snow monster named Bumble

A year later, Donner comes up with something else to help with Rudolph's nose, by putting a fake nose over it, to make him fit in with the other reindeer and Santa, but this causes Rudolph to talk funny. Donner then takes his son off to The Reindeer Games, where Rudolph befriends a young buck named Fireball and also meets a young doe named Clarice After being told by Clarice that she thinks he's cute, Rudolph leaps high in the air with joy, to the amazement of Donner, Santa and the other reindeer. However, during a playful tussle with Fireball, Rudolph's fake nose falls off revealing his real one. This causes Rudolph to be laughed at and called names by the other young reindeer and is banned from the rest of the games by the coach Comet, and Donner is told by Santa that he should be ashamed of himself for the red nose still being a problem.

After Rudolph ran away, Donner blames himself for this as he believes he was hard on his son and goes out to look for him, He turns down Mrs. Donner's offer to come with him, telling her that it's a man's work, but shortly after he leaves, Mrs. Donner and Clarice follow him. Months later, the three are captured by Bumble, just then Rudolph (after being informed by Santa of the trio's absence) arrives and tries to battle the monster only to be knocked unconscious, But Rudolph's friends Hermey and Yukon Cornelius arrive and knock out Bumble, giving Hermey time to pull out his teeth. After waking up and finding his teeth gone, Bumble still tries to attack them, so Yukon sacrifices himself to save the others by pushing Bumble off a cliff taking himself with him too, along with his dogs, which deeply saddens the others.

After returning home, Donner happily sees Rudolph finally being accepted by the other reindeer and later sees that Yukon survived the fall along with his dogs and a now reformed Bumble, On Christmas Eve, Santa says he can't deliver in the storm, but after seeing Rudolph's nose light up, he asks him to guide his sleigh through the storm, which Rudolph agrees too, Donner along with his wife and Clarice watch proudly as Rudolph guides the sleigh through the storm with his nose's light.

Santa Claus Is Comin To Town
Donner appears at the start of the film with the rest of the sleigh team (sans Rudolph) guiding Santa's sleigh, He didn't play a major role in the film.

The Year Without A Santa Claus
In this non-canon film, which takes place many years before Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Donner is seen near the end of the film with the rest of the sleigh team guiding Santa's sleigh into the night.

Rudolph's Shiny New Year
Donner along with Mrs. Donner make a small appearance in this non-canon film when Rudolph tells Happy about his origin, Unlike the previous film, Donner has darker fur and is animated instead of the usual stop motion from the Original film.

Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July
Like in Rudolph's Shiny New Year, Donner is shown in a flashback to Rudolph's birth However unlike the former and the original film, Donner, Mrs. Donner and Rudolph are joined by two other unknown reindeer (either other members of the sleigh team or family/friends of Donner and/or Mrs. Donner.

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and The Island Of Misfit Toys
Donner reappears in this non-canon sequel and has a minor role, His appearance has changed again, he is once again light brown (as he was in the 1964 film) and the white on his chest and underbelly is now slightly paler.

Description
Donner has light brown fur with white fur on his chest and muzzle, His ears have light tan fur on the inside with white fluff.

Donner has a black nose and antlers.

Donner has black eye lids.

Donner's eyes are black, and his antlers are large and branch off into small crescent shapes.

His build is very stocky, like that of a strong, older buck.

Donner has a good personality and he loves Rudolph.

Donner has a way to keep Rudolph normal, by simply applying mud onto his nose, making it like his nose Rudolph didn’t like it because he felt strange. Rudolph cuddles.
 * Romantic - Donner and Mrs. Donner
 * Familial - Donner and Rudolph
 * Familial - Donner, Mrs. Donner, and Rudolph

Fan art
Coming soon.

Trivia

 * It is unknown why Donner along with Comet didn't join Rudolph and the other reindeer in guiding Santa's sleigh through the storm. The most likely explanation is that it is left over from an early 1963 screenplay draft where he was unable to be on the team due to injuries from the snowstorm and is told to rest by Santa, but the ending part was left in to show how he is proud of Rudolph through dialogue.
 * It seems that as well as being the lead reindeer, Donner is also the eldest reindeer on the team as he is shown to have larger antlers than the other members of the team.
 * Donner put mud on Rudolph's nose to get around Santa's rules, unfortunately Mrs. Donner kissed the mud off, causing Rudolph's nose to glow.
 * Donner puts a fake nose on Rudolph's to make him look like the other reindeer and stop Santa's judgement from keeping him off the team.
 * Donner feels pretty bad about what happened with Rudolph, and he blames himself for the events Santa started by being judgmental.
 * Personality: Brave, stoic, caring, fatherly, mighty, generous, strict, stubborn, determined
 * Likes: Christmas, his family, Rudolph and his wife, his friends, acting strong
 * Dislikes: Danger, losing Rudolph, disrespect, his son (Rudolph) getting judged
 * Family: Rudolph (son), Mrs. Donner (wife)
 * Friends: Hermey, Yukon Cornelius, Santa
 * Enemies: Bumble (formerly), Santa (formerly)
 * Hobbies: Sparring with other bucks, flying, helping with Christmas Eve preparations
 * Favorites: His wife Mrs. Donner and his son Rudolph (Rankin/Bass)
 * Goals: Hiding Rudolph’s nose with mud (failed) Hiding Rudolph’s nose with a black prosthetic nose (failed). Trying to