The Real Reason Yukon Cornelius Licked His Pickaxe In Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer

An article from The Huffington Post details the story of the missing pickaxe scene. Due to the broadcast network's need to squeeze more commercial breaks into the movie's runtime, certain scenes have been edited out of the film to accommodate these promotional interruptions. One of the most significant is a moment referred to as "The Peppermint Mine Scene" during which Rudolph guides Santa to the Island of Misfit Toys. At one point during the scene, Yukon throws his axe into the air, and after it strikes the ground, he licks it and says, "Peppermint! What I've been searching for all my life! I've struck it rich. I've got me a peppermint mine ... Wahoooo!" 

There you have it. Yukon didn't have a proclivity for tasting dirt; he was searching for peppermint the entire time! Due to the scene being cut, modern audiences just think he has a bizarre axe-licking quirk. Fans were able to breathe a sigh of relief when the factoid was recently posted on Reddit with people commenting things like, "Wow, I'm really glad to learn this since I always pointed that out to others like, 'WTF, why is he licking the axe'? and 'I thought he was tasting for gold!' Haha it was still weird tho."

If you've always wanted to watch Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer the way it was meant to be seen, then you're in luck! Freeform has begun airing the Christmas special, and the network has included several scenes that were either changed or deleted from their original broadcast on NBC. This restoration includes "The Peppermint Mine Scene," so you can finally watch the film the way it was intended with Yukon's habits fully explained.