Yukon Cornelius is the self-proclaimed "greatest prospector in
the North".
He is always searching for gold or silver, throwing his pick in
the air, letting it land in the ground, then picking it up and
licking it only to find, "nothin'."
He leads audience to believe that he's searching for either gold
or silver, but is actually seeking peppermint as revealed at the
end of the original version of the special. Cornelius discovers a
"peppermint mine" by that method near Santa's workshop left
audiences assuming that he was attempting to find either silver or
gold by taste alone.
His greedy behavior inspires the song "Silver And Gold", sung by
Burl Ives. Yukon is a blustery but benign character and ends up
helping not only Rudolph and Hermey, but an abominable snowman, or
"bumble" (Yukon calls abominable snowmen "bumbles" because he has
trouble pronouncing "abominable")
Memorable quotes:
Yukon Cornelius: "Fog's as thick as peanut butter".
Hermey: "You mean pea soup".
Yukon Cornelius: "You eat what you like and I'll eat what I'll
like".
Yukon Cornelius: "We'll have to outwit the fiend with our
superior intelligence".
Rudolph: "How"?
Yukon Cornelius: "Douse your nose and run like crazy"!
Yukon Cornelius is part of RUDOLPH THE RED-NOSED REINDEER
CACHE:
N40 40 "The Bumble"/ Hermey the Elf
W074 23 Sam the Snowman/ Yukon Cornelius