question: Who wrote the original story in 1939 about Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer which went on to be an animated musical movie in 1998 starring an American actor best known for playing Dan Conner on the ABC TV series 'Roseanne'?
answer: Robert L. May
context: Title: Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July
  Passage: Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July (commonly known by its on-screen title as Rudolph and Frosty: Christmas in July, or simply Rudolph and Frosty) is an American crossover Christmas television special produced by Rankin/Bass, featuring characters from the company's holiday specials including "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" and "Frosty the Snowman".  It was filmed in Japan through "Animagic", a stop-motion animation process in the style of "Rudolph".  The film premiered in the US on November 25, 1979 on the ABC network.
  Title: John Goodman
  Passage: John Stephen Goodman (born June 20, 1952) is an American actor.  Early in his career, he was best known for playing Dan Conner on the ABC TV series "Roseanne" (1988–1997), for which he won a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in 1993.  He is also a regular collaborator with the Coen brothers on such films as "Raising Arizona" (1987), "Barton Fink" (1991), "The Big Lebowski" (1998), "O Brother, Where Art Thou? " (2000), and "Inside Llewyn Davis" (2013).  Goodman's voice roles in animated films include Pacha in Disney's "The Emperor's New Groove" (2000), and Sulley in Pixar's "Monsters, Inc." (2001), and "Monsters University" (2013).
  Title: Mister Magoo's Christmas Carol
  Passage: Mister Magoo's Christmas Carol is a musical adaptation of Charles Dickens's famous short story "A Christmas Carol" starring the cartoon character Mr. Magoo.  Aside from the 1950 marionette special "The Spirit of Christmas", it was the first animated holiday program ever produced specifically for television, originally airing in December 1962, and the only one until the stop-motion special "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" was first shown in December 1964.  The special also inspired the 1964 TV series "The Famous Adventures of Mr. Magoo".  It featured the voice of Jim Backus as Magoo, with voice-over appearances by Paul Frees, Morey Amsterdam, Joan Gardner, and Jack Cassidy.
  Title: Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer: The Movie
  Passage: Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer: The Movie is a 1998 American animated musical film about Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, who first appeared in a 1939 story by Robert L. May.  The film was the first theatrical feature from GoodTimes Entertainment, long known as a home video company.  It stars John Goodman, Eric Idle, Whoopi Goldberg, Debbie Reynolds, Richard Simmons and Bob Newhart.  The film disappointed at the box-office, recouping only $113,000 of its $10 million budget.
  Title: Larry D. Mann
  Passage: Larry D. Mann (18 December 1922 – 6 January 2014) was a Canadian actor.  He was best known as "The Boss" in a series of Bell Canada television commercials in the 1980s and for voicing the character of Yukon Cornelius in "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer".
  Title: Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (TV special)
  Passage: Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer is a 1964 Christmas stop motion animated television special produced by Rankin/Bass Productions and currently distributed by Universal Television.  It first aired Sunday, December 6, 1964, on the NBC television network in the United States, and was sponsored by General Electric under the umbrella title of "The General Electric Fantasy Hour".  The special was based on the Johnny Marks song "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" which was itself based on the poem of the same name written in 1939 by Marks' brother-in-law, Robert L. May.  Since 1972, the special has aired on CBS, with the network unveiling a high-definition, digitally remastered version of the program in 2005.  As with "A Charlie Brown Christmas" and "How the Grinch Stole Christmas", "Rudolph" no longer airs just once annually, but several times during the Christmas and holiday season on CBS.  Unlike other holiday specials that also air on several cable channels (including Freeform), "Rudolph" only airs on CBS.  It has been telecast every year since 1964, making it the longest running Christmas TV special in history.  2014 marked the 50th anniversary of the television special and a series of postage stamps featuring Rudolph was issued by the United States Postal Service on November 6, 2014.
  Title: Romeo Muller
  Passage: Romeo Earl Muller, Jr. (August 7, 1928 – December 30, 1992) was an American screenwriter and actor most remembered for his screenplays such as for the 1964 TV special "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer".
  Title: Rudolph's Shiny New Year
  Passage: Rudolph's Shiny New Year is a 1976 Christmas/New Year's stop motion animated television special and a sequel to the 1964 special "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" produced by Rankin/Bass Productions.  The special premiered on ABC on December 10, 1976.  Three years later, it was also aired on TV Asahi in Japan on December 24, 1979 under the Japanese dub title 赤鼻のトナカイ ルドルフ物語 ("Akahananotonakai Rudorufu Monogatari").
  Title: Will Hanrahan
  Passage: William (Will) Hanrahan is a British television/radio producer and presenter best known for working on BBC programmes such as "Watchdog" and "Good Morning".  Since 1994 he has headed an independent TV company which currently produces studio programming and documentaries for the BBC and Sky TV, A&E, Foxtel, CBS, Discovery and UKTV.  He is a three-times Royal Television Society Award winner and his programmes are currently airing in over 70 countries.  He has executive produced for both the BBC and ITV working with Alistair McGowan on the BBC Restoration project, and Chris Tarrant on the BBC Four History of the World in 100 objects series.  He has recently executive produced a TV series with the renowned Italian criminologist, Massimo Picozzi, for the skyitalia series 'Segreti, Bugie e Omicidi, an Italian language documentary season which helped launch CI Italia.  He is a law graduate with experience in consumer and legal programming.  In 2013/14, Hanrahan also returned to radio presenting as a guest host on BBC Radio in 2014 and 2015.  In 2017, his legal TV series 'The Jury Room' for CBS Reality also saw him present a six-part Podcast.
  Title: The Wind in the Willows (1987 film)
  Passage: The Wind in the Willows is a 1987 American animated musical television film directed by Arthur Rankin, Jr. and Jules Bass.  It is an adaptation of "The Wind in the Willows" by Kenneth Grahame.  Set in a pastoral version of England, the film focuses on four anthropomorphised animal characters (Moley, Ratty, Mr. Toad, and Mr. Badger) and contains themes of mysticism, adventure, morality, and camaraderie.  The film features the voices of Charles Nelson Reilly, Roddy McDowall, José Ferrer, and Eddie Bracken.  The screenplay was written by Romeo Muller, a long-time Rankin/Bass writer whose work included "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer", "The Hobbit", and "The Flight of Dragons", among others.
citations: John Goodman Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer: The Movie