How does "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" sound in Japanese?
The world is about to find out.
A video shot Saturday at Richmond’s annual Christmas parade has become a global hit on YouTube, prompting news media from the United Kingdom to Japan to inquire about the fate of a famous reindeer snagged on a West Broad Street traffic light.
Henrico County resident Lisa Salita captured the moment early in the parade when Rudolph’s head popped as balloon handlers tried to steer him around the light at Meadow Street.
"No, don’t go further this way!" Salita cries as her husband, Andy, shouts, "You’re tearing Rudolph!"
And so the world’s most famous reindeer gets a hole in the head and Richmond gets publicity from around the world for the mishap at Meadow.
"We’ll take the credit for the brilliant PR move," joked Robert Kelly, chairman of the 2010 Dominion Christmas Parade.
Kelly has been involved with Richmond’s Christmas parade for 27 years, but he hadn’t seen anything like this since Gumby got the same treatment from a traffic light in the 1992 parade and deflated to a pile of rubber on the street.
That was before YouTube. Salita’s video was shown first by WTVR on Saturday night and picked up by CBS affiliates. Then the Daily Mail in Britain published a story with a link to YouTube.
That’s when Japanese news outlets starting calling Lisa Salita, a business consultant for Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield and a divinity student at Union Presbyterian Seminary.
"They were asking me to explain more about Rudolph and parades and balloons and American culture," she said.
By Wednesday about 11 p.m., the YouTube video had been viewed more than 394,000 times. At one point Wednesday, it ranked No. 3 among shared videos.
The Salitas captured Rudolph’s unfortunate head shot only because the Mills Godwin High School Marching Band happened to be directly behind the balloon. Their son, Michael, 17, is a senior drummer in the band, and their daughter, Helen, 15, is a sophomore clarinetist.
For the family, the video has become a subject of hilarity, but with a touch of pathos.
"It’s really sad, but it really is funny," Lisa Salita said.
As for Rudolph, he made it to the parade finish, albeit with head bowed. His owner, StarBound Entertainment, should be able to patch the tear easily, Kelly said. "He will definitely ride again next year."
mmartz@timesdispatch.com
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