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Rankin/Bass Animated Entertainment (founded and formerly known as Videocraft International, Ltd. and Rankin/Bass Productions, Inc.) was an American production company located in New York City, and known for its seasonal television specials, usually done in stop motion animation. Rankin/Bass's stop-motion productions are recognizable by their visual style of doll-like characters with spheroid ...
Rankin/Bass Productions was an American production company, best known for its animated seasonal television specials. Television series and films pre-1974 are owned by NBCUniversal through DreamWorks Animation and post-September 1974 are owned by Warner Bros. Entertainment.
- Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (1964) Perhaps the most famous Rankin/Bass production and one of the most iconic Christmas shows of all time, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer is a stop-motion holiday delight, one that has earned its spot as the longest-running holiday special in U.S. TV history.
- The Hobbit (1977) Long before Peter Jackson's Hobbit trilogy starring Martin Freeman, Rankin/Bass produced this original TV movie that was made when the work of J.R.R.
- Frosty the Snowman (1969) One of the most treasured family holiday specials that builds upon the classic song is Frosty the Snowman. In this special, a group of schoolchildren build Frosty and place a magician's hat on his head, bringing him to life.
- The Last Unicorn (1982) This oft-overlooked fantasy adventure from Rankin and Bass is a cult classic. With the same animation team behind The Hobbit and other Rankin/Bass productions, The Last Unicorn features a unique script and an impressive voice cast, including Mia Farrow, Alan Arkin, Jeff Bridges, Angela Lansbury, and Christopher Lee.
Dec 18, 2023 · Five years after Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Rankin/Bass transformed the historical legacy of another character forever in the first TV special to feature the snowman who came to life. When ...
- Contributor
- Brian Tallerico
- 49 min
- Company Origins
- Holiday Tales
- Talent
- Video and Broadcast Rights
- Legacy
The company was founded by Arthur Rankin, Jr. and Jules Bass on September 14, 1960, under the name Videocraft International. One of Videocraft's first projects was an independently produced series, The New Adventures of Pinocchio. The series was produced using "Animagic", a stop-motion animation process pioneered by George Pal's "Puppetoons" and Ar...
Videocraft began producing Christmas specials, many of which would be based on popular Christmas songs, with 1964's Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, based on Robert L. May's 1939 story and Johnny Marks' 1949 song of the same name. In 1967, they adapted Charles Dickens' Cricket on the Hearth, with Roddy McDowall voicing the titular Cricket Crocket. I...
Beginning with Burl Ives as Sam the Snowman in Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Rankin/Bass' holiday specials became known for their star-powered narration and quirky hosting characters. This included such stars as Andy Griffith, Buddy Hackett, Angela Lansbury and Art Carney. Pinocchio's Christmas and The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus were the ...
General Electric's Tomorrow Entertainment acquired the original Videocraft International in 1971. Rankin/Bass' pre-1974 library (including the "classic four" Christmas specials) remained under the ownership of GE until 1988, when Lorne Michaels' Broadway Video acquired the rights. In 1995, Broadway Video's children's division became Golden Books Fa...
In the years following Rankin/Bass' closure, a few unofficial sequels to their Christmas specials were produced by other animation studios. Broadway Video produced Frosty Returns, an indirect follow-up to Frosty the Snowman, which has accompanied the original special's annual broadcast on CBS every year since 1992, as well as on most of its DVD rel...
7. Frosty the Snowman. 7.3 (22K) Rate. TV Short. A living snowman and a little girl struggle to elude a greedy magician who is after the snowman's magic hat. Director Jules Bass Arthur Rankin Jr. Stars Jackie Vernon Billy De Wolfe Jimmy Durante. 8. Frosty's Winter Wonderland. 6.8 (3.7K) Rate.
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The Little Drummer Boy is a stop motion television special produced by Rankin/Bass Productions, based on the song of the same name. It was first televised in Canada on December 19, 1968, on the CTV Television Network, followed four days later by its American nationwide release on NBC. A sequel was broadcast in 1976. [ 1 ]
