RUDOLPH THE RED-NOSED REINDEER, the longest-running holiday special in television history, will air its 40th anniversary broadcast Dec. 1 at 8:00 pm on the CBS Television Network. To celebrate, CBS announces its first-ever animated on-air promotional campaign that will feature 3D caricatures of current network personalities along with Rudolph and friends.

Rudolph, Sam the Snowman and the Abominable Snowmonster will be joined in their Animagic world by similarly hand-crafted likenesses of CBS stars Marg Helgenberger, Kevin James, David Letterman, William Petersen, Jeff Probst, Doris Roberts, Ray Romano and Charlie Sheen and CBS Sports announcers Greg Gumbel and Phil Simms for holiday promotional spots on the network and customized spots for CBS affiliates.

The unique Rankin and Bass-inspired campaign, to launch in late November, will also include a two-minute, behind-the-scenes making of the unique, elaborate stop-motion Rudolph spots on American Airlines in-flight broadcast, CBS Eye on American.

What a great way to involve the CBS family in a special holiday celebration than to tie into this classic animation style for a first-of-its kind promotion. Now, Americas Most Watched Network reaches as far as the North Pole in its quest to bring viewers some holiday cheer!, said George Schweitzer, evp, CBS Marketing and Communications.

In the network promos, after the Sam the Snowman proclaims This is going to be the best holiday ever, Rudolph, the perplexed Rudolph asks: Yeah, but whered you find those new elves? The elves are, in fact, the CBS stars who are helping at the North Pole-based CBS Holiday Workshop -- along with the reformed, benevolent Abominable Snowmonster -- before jumping aboard Santas sleigh.

CBS affiliates will have the opportunity to broadcast customized versions of the holiday promotional spots -- and a modified version to promote their local toy/charity drives.

The 8 to 10 inch tall sculpted wax models of the CBS personalities in the promotional spots were based on a series of sketches. Costumers then fashioned appropriately styled fabric garments for each of the tiny figures. This project was supervised by Ileene Mittleman, vp, CBS Advertising and Creative Services, and Michael Pollack, exec director, CBS Advertising and Promotion.

In addition, RUDOLPH rights holder Classic Media announced that international partners Mosaic Pictures (U.K.) and Espacci (Japan) will release a special edition of the classic on DVD in their respective territories. As an added bonus, Grammy Awardwinning artists Destinys Child record their own version of the famous holiday title song, which will be included exclusively in the DVD package as a free CD single.

In the U.K., RUDOLPH THE RED-NOSED REINDEER airs on BBC Television. The special will premiere this year on Kids Station, Japans leading childrens broadcast outlet.

Moreover, Doug Schwalbe, Classic Medias head of worldwide distribution, announced that the special has been sold in three additional territories, including 7 Network Australia, TV3 New Zealand, and Channel 12 in Singapore.

Classic Media manages some of the worlds most recognizable family properties across all media including feature film, television, home video, and consumer products. The companys library features a diverse collection of popular animated and live-action characters such as: Casper the Friendly Ghost, Mr. Magoo, Richie Rich, Peter Cottontail, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, The Lone Ranger, Lassie, Underdog, Little Lulu, pat the bunny and Lamb Chop.