Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer is a fictional reindeer created by Robert L. May. Rudolph is usually depicted as the ninth and youngest of Santa Claus's reindeer, using his luminous red nose to lead the reindeer team and guide Santa's sleigh on Christmas Eve. Though he initially receives ridicule for his nose as a fawn, the brightness of his nose is so powerful that it illuminates the team's path through harsh winter weather. Ronald D. Lankford, Jr., described Rudolph's story as "the fantasy story made to order for American children: each child has the need to express and receive approval for his or her individuality and special qualities. Rudolph's story embodies the American Dream for the child, writ large because of the cultural significance of Christmas."
Rankin/Bass Animated Entertainment was an American production company located in New York City. It was 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 body parts and ubiquitous powdery snow using an animation technique called Animagic.
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer is a 1964 stop motion Christmas animated television special produced by Videocraft International, Ltd. It first aired 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 1949 Johnny Marks song "Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer" which was itself based on the poem of the same name written in 1939 by Marks's brother-in-law, Robert L. May. The concept was developed in New York City, the animation was done in Japan, the music was recorded in England, and most of the voice actors were from Canada. The production was completed in 18 months.
'Twas the Night Before Christmas is a 1974 animated Christmas television special produced by Rankin/Bass Productions that features Clement Clarke Moore's famous 1823 poem A Visit from St. Nicholas, the opening line of which is the source of the title of this animated special. The special first originally aired on CBS on December 8, 1974, and the network aired it annually until 1994, when The Family Channel took over its syndication rights. AMC took over syndication rights for the special in 2018.
The Legend of Frosty the Snowman is a 2005 Christmas animated television special film that was simultaneously released direct-to-video, and produced by Classic Media, Studio B Productions and Top Draw Animation.
The Year Without a Santa Claus is a 1974 stop-motion animated Christmas television special produced by Rankin/Bass Productions. The story is based on Phyllis McGinley's 1956 book. It is narrated by Shirley Booth and stars the voices of Mickey Rooney, Dick Shawn and George S. Irving. It was originally broadcast on December 10, 1974, on ABC.
Julius Caesar Bass was an American director, producer, lyricist, composer and author. Until 1960, he worked at a New York advertising agency, and then co-founded the film production company Videocraft International, later named Rankin/Bass Productions, with his friend, Arthur Rankin Jr. He joined ASCAP in 1963 and collaborated with Edward Thomas and James Polack at their music firm and as a songwriting team primarily with Maury Laws at Rankin/Bass.
Frosty's Winter Wonderland is a 1976 animated Christmas television special and a standalone sequel to the 1969 special Frosty the Snowman, produced by Rankin/Bass Productions and animated by Topcraft. It is the second television special featuring the character Frosty the Snowman. It returns writer Romeo Muller, character designer Paul Coker, Jr., music composer Maury Laws and actor Jackie Vernon as the voice of Frosty, while Andy Griffith stars as the narrator with the rest of the cast consisting of Shelley Winters, Dennis Day and Paul Frees. The special premiered on ABC on December 2, 1976.
Arthur Gardner Rankin Jr. was an American director, producer and screenwriter, who mostly worked in animation. Co-creator of Rankin/Bass Productions with his friend Jules Bass, he created stop-motion and traditional animation features such as Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Frosty the Snowman, Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town, and the 1977 cartoon special of The Hobbit. He is credited on over 1,000 television programs.
Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town is a 1970 American stop-motion Christmas television special produced by Rankin/Bass Productions in New York, New York. The film is narrated by Fred Astaire and stars the voices of Mickey Rooney, Keenan Wynn, Robie Lester, Joan Gardner, and Paul Frees, as well as an assistant song performance by the Westminster Children's Choir. The film tells the story of how Santa Claus and several Claus-related Christmas traditions came to be. It is based on the hit Christmas song, "Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town", which was written by J. Fred Coots and Haven Gillespie for Leo Feist, Inc. and introduced on radio by Eddie Cantor in 1934; and the story of Saint Nicholas.
Frosty the Snowman is a 1969 American animated Christmas television special produced by Rankin/Bass Productions. It is the first television special featuring the character Frosty the Snowman. The special first aired on December 7, 1969, on the CBS television network in the United States, airing immediately after the fifth showing of A Charlie Brown Christmas, both scored high ratings. The special aired annually for the network's Christmas and holiday season until 2023. After 55 years, NBC acquired the broadcast rights to the special, and will keep airing it yearly hereafter.
Nestor, the Long-Eared Christmas Donkey is a 1977 Japanese-American Christmas stop motion animated television special produced by Rankin/Bass Productions. It premiered on ABC on December 3, 1977. The story is based on the 1975 song of the same name, written by Gene Autry, Don Pfrimmer and Dave Burgess.
The Stingiest Man in Town is a 1978 animated Christmas musical television special based on Charles Dickens's 1843 novella A Christmas Carol. It was created by Arthur Rankin Jr. and Jules Bass, and features traditional animation rather than the stop motion animation most often used by the company. It was an animated remake of a long-unseen, but quite well received, live-action musical special which had starred Basil Rathbone, Martyn Green and Vic Damone. The live-action version had been telecast on December 23, 1956, on the NBC anthology series The Alcoa Hour, and was released on DVD in 2011 by VAI. The animated remake first aired December 23, 1978, in the United States on NBC, and was telecast in Japan the next day.
Jack Frost is a 1979 Christmas, Winter and Groundhog Day stop motion animated television special produced by Rankin/Bass Productions. It is directed by Jules Bass and Arthur Rankin Jr., written by Romeo Muller, narrated by Buddy Hackett, and starring the voices of Robert Morse, Debra Clinger and Paul Frees. The special premiered on NBC on December 13, 1979, and tells the tale of Jack Frost and his adventures as a human. It airs annually on AMC as part of its Best Christmas Ever programming block.
Maury Laws was an American television and film composer from Burlington, North Carolina.
Pinocchio's Christmas is a 1980 Christmas stop motion television special produced by Rankin/Bass Productions that is a holiday adaptation of the 1883 novel The Adventures of Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi. The special premiered on ABC on December 3, 1980. It aired annually during the Christmas season on Freeform and as of 2018 airs on AMC.
A Miser Brothers' Christmas is a 2008 Christmas stop motion spin-off special, based on the characters from the 1974 Rankin/Bass special The Year Without a Santa Claus. Distributed by Warner Bros. Animation under their Warner Premiere label and Toronto-based Cuppa Coffee Studios, the one-hour special premiered on ABC Family on Saturday, December 13, 2008, during the network's annual The 25 Days of Christmas programming.
The First Easter Rabbit is an animated Easter television special that premiered April 9, 1976, on NBC and later aired on CBS. Created by Rankin/Bass Productions, it tells the story of the Easter Bunny's origin. The special is loosely based on the 1922 children's book The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams. Burl Ives narrates the special, which also features the Irving Berlin song "Easter Parade". It marked Ives's return to a Rankin/Bass special for the first time since the company's 1964 stop motion television special Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer twelve years prior.
The Easter Bunny Is Comin' to Town is a 1977 American-Japanese musical Easter television special produced by Rankin/Bass Productions, using their "Animagic" stop motion animation. The special reunites the writer Romeo Muller, designer Paul Coker Jr., and narrator Fred Astaire from Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town, and stars the voices of Skip Hinnant, Bob McFadden, Meg Sargent, James Spies and Allen Swift. It premiered on ABC in the United States on April 6, 1977.
Best Christmas Ever is a seasonal program block on AMC, an American cable and satellite network. The block, launched in 2018, airs Christmas-themed television specials and feature films from late November until the day after Christmas.
