Leonard is a polar bear and close friend of Rudolph and a major character of the 1998 film Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer: The Movie.
He is voiced by the late Bob Newhart, who also voiced Bernard in Disney's The Rescuers franchise and portrayed Papa Elf in Elf.
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer: The Movie[]
Leonard first appears when he catches Rudolph and Slyly in his cave and roars at them. Slyly claims that he and Rudolph are from the Bureau of Cave Safety and says that the cave will collapse and so has Leonard leave, but this is a lie as Slyly wanted the cave for him and Rudolph to stay in. Leonard returns moments later, enraged that he has been tricked, but when Rudolph apologies for what happened and explained why they did it, he lets the two stay.
Leonard later goes with Rudolph and Slyly to Ice Castle to rescue Rudolph's friend Zoey after she is captured by Stormella. However, Slyly stays behind in fear of Stormella's wolves, whilst Leonard and Rudolph continue on by crossing Stormella's bridge to get to the castle. When inside, the two hear Zoey singing and follow it and find her in a dungeon. But before they can free her, Stormella arrives and imprisons the two. Later, Slyly arrives and steals the key to the dungeon from Stormella and frees Leonard, Rudolph and Zoey. However, when the group tries to escape, they are confronted by Stormella, her butler Ridley, and her wolves and tries to harm Zoey. However, the light of Rudolph's nose causes her to fall down a cliff side. Leonard along with Slyly, Zoey, Ridley and the wolves help Rudolph save her.
After Stormella becomes nice, she lets the group leave and they are found by two elves named Boone and Doggle (who had been sent out by Santa Claus to find Rudolph and Zoey) who bring the group back to Santa's Village. After Rudolph accepts Santa's request to use his nose's light to help him and the Flyers get through Stormella's storm, Leonard along with Slyly and Zoey arrive to wish him good luck.
The next day on Christmas Day, Leonard and Slyly find presents for them from Rudolph where Leonard gets Rudolph's scarf, whilst Slyly gets Rudolph's old teddy bear. Later, Leonard along with the other villagers sing Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer as they welcome Rudolph, Santa and the Flyers back from their Christmas Eve deliveries.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- Leonard was named after Lenny from Of Mice and Men.
- Leonard was also inspired by Central Park Zoo's famous polar bear Gus, who died in 2013.
- It is unknown if Leonard now resides in Santa's Village or if he still lives in his cave and just visits.