List of Rankin/Bass Productions films

Last updated

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 and post-September 1974 are owned by Warner Bros. Discovery.

Contents

Television specials

TitleYearDirected byWritten byMusicAnimation ProductionStyleRef
Return to Oz 1964 F.R. Crawley
Thomas Glynn
Larry Roemer		 Romeo Muller Gene Forrell
Edward Thomas
James Polack		Crawley FilmsTraditional [1]
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer Larry Roemer Johnny Marks MOM ProductionStop-motion [2]
The Ballad of Smokey the Bear1966Joseph Schrank [3]
The Cricket on the Hearth 1967 Arthur Rankin, Jr.
Jules Bass 		Romeo Muller
Arthur Rankin Jr. 		Maury Laws TCJ Animation Center Traditional [4]
The Mouse on the Mayflower 1968 Romeo Muller Toei Animation [5]
The Little Drummer Boy Colin RomoffMOM ProductionStop-motion [6]
Frosty the Snowman 1969 Maury Laws
Jack Rollins
Steve Nelson 		Mushi Production Traditional [7]
The Mad, Mad, Mad Comedians 1970 Maury Laws [8]
Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town 1970 Jules Bass
Maury Laws 		Video Tokyo ProductionStop-motion [9]
Here Comes Peter Cottontail 1971 Jack Rollins [10]
Hans Christian Andersen's The Emperor's New Clothes 1972 Maury Laws [11]
Mad Mad Mad Monsters [lower-alpha 1] William J. Keenan
Lou Silverstone 		Mushi Production Traditional [12]
Willie Mays and the Say-Hey Kid [lower-alpha 1] Romeo Muller Topcraft [13]
The Red Baron [lower-alpha 1] Leonard Starr [14]
That Girl in Wonderland [lower-alpha 1] 1973Stu Hample [15]
'Twas the Night Before Christmas 1974Jerome Coopersmith [16]
The Year Without a Santa Claus William J. KeenanVideo Tokyo ProductionStop-motion [17]
The First Christmas: The Story of the First Christmas Snow 1975 Julian P. Gardner [18]
The First Easter Rabbit 1976 Topcraft Traditional [19]
Frosty's Winter Wonderland Romeo Muller Jack Rollins
Steve Nelson		 [20]
Rudolph's Shiny New Year Johnny Marks Video Tokyo ProductionStop-motion [21]
The Little Drummer Boy: Book II Julian P. Gardner Maury Laws [22]
The Easter Bunny is Comin' to Town 1977 Romeo Muller [23]
The Hobbit [lower-alpha 2] Topcraft Traditional [24]
Nestor, the Long-Eared Christmas Donkey Video Tokyo ProductionStop-motion [25]
The Stingiest Man in Town 1978 Fred Spielman Topcraft Traditional [26]
Jack Frost 1979 Maury Laws Video Tokyo ProductionStop-motion [27]
Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July Johnny Marks
Maury Laws
The Return of the King [lower-alpha 3] 1980 Maury Laws Topcraft Traditional [28]
Pinocchio's Christmas Video Tokyo ProductionStop-motion [29]
The Leprechauns' Christmas Gold1981 [30]
The Flight of Dragons 1982 Topcraft Traditional [31]
The Coneheads [lower-alpha 4] 1983 Al Franken
Tom Davis 		Bernard Hoffer [32]
The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus [lower-alpha 5] 1985 Julian P. Gardner Pacific Animation Corporation Stop-motion [33]
The Wind in the Willows [lower-alpha 6] 1987 Romeo Muller Maury Laws Cuckoo's Nest Traditional [34]
Santa, Baby!2001Lee DannacherPeter Bakalian
Suzanne Collins 		Glen Roven Pacific Animation Corporation
Hanho Heung-Up 		[35]

Feature films

TitleYearDirected byWritten byMusicAnimation ProductionStyle
Willy McBean and His Magic Machine 1965 Arthur Rankin Jr. Arthur Rankin Jr.Edward ThomasMOM ProductionStop-motion
The Daydreamer 1966 Jules Bass Maury Laws
Mad Monster Party? 1967Len Korobkin
Harvey Kurtzman
The Wacky World of Mother Goose Romeo Muller George Wilkins TCJ Animation Center Traditional
The Last Unicorn 1982Arthur Rankin Jr.
Jules Bass		 Peter S. Beagle Jimmy Webb Topcraft
The King and I 1999 Richard Rich Peter Bakalian
Jacqueline Feather
David Seidler 		William Kidd Rich Animation Studios

Animated TV series

With the exception of "The New Adventures of Pinocchio" (stop-motion), all of the TV shows were traditionally animated.

TitleYearAnimation ProductionNetworkNo. of
episodes
The New Adventures of Pinocchio 1960MOM Production Syndication 130
Tales of the Wizard of Oz 1961Crawley Films110
The King Kong Show 1966 Toei Animation ABC 26
The Smokey Bear Show 196917
The Tomfoolery Show 1970 Halas and Batchelor NBC
The Reluctant Dragon & Mr. Toad Show Mushi Production ABC
The Jackson 5ive 1971 Halas and Batchelor
Pegbar Production		23
The Osmonds 1972 Halas and Batchelor 17
Kid Power Topcraft
Festival of Family Classics Mushi Production (17 episodes)
Topcraft (3 episodes)		 Syndication 20
ThunderCats 1985 Pacific Animation Corporation 130
SilverHawks 198665
The Comic Strip 1987

Live-action productions

TitleYearDirected byWritten byMusicDistribution
King Kong Escapes 1967 Ishirō Honda Takeshi Kimura Akira Ifukube Universal Pictures (theatrical)
Marco 1973 Seymour Robbie Romeo Muller Maury Laws Cinerama Releasing Corporation (theatrical)
The Last Dinosaur 1977 Alexander Grasshoff
Shusei Kotani		 William Overgard ABC (television)
The Bermuda Depths 1978Tom Kotani
The Ivory Ape 1980 Bernard Hoffer
Maury Laws
The Bushido Blade 1981 Maury Laws Aquarius Releasing (theatrical)
The Sins of Dorian Gray 1983 Tony Maylam Ken August
Peter Lawrence		 Bernard Hoffer ABC (television)

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 4 Originally aired as part of The ABC Saturday Superstar Movie .
  2. ↑ The Hobbit (1977) is based on the 1937 novel of the name, written by J. R. R. Tolkien.
  3. ↑ The Return of the King (1980) is based on the 1955 volume of The Lord of the Rings novel of the same name, written by J. R. R. Tolkien.
  4. ↑ The Coneheads (1983) is based on the Coneheads sketches from Saturday Night Live , first airing in 1977.
  5. ↑ The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus (1985) is based on the 1902 children's story of the same name, written by L. Frank Baum.
  6. ↑ The Wind in the Willows (1987) is based on the 1908 children's story of the same name, written by Kenneth Grahame.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paul Frees</span> American actor (1920–1986)

Solomon Hersh Frees, better known as Paul Frees, was an American actor, comedian, impressionist, and vaudevillian. He is known for his work on Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Walter Lantz, Rankin/Bass and Walt Disney theatrical cartoons during the Golden Age of Animation, and for providing the voice of Boris Badenov in The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show. Frees was known as "The Man of a Thousand Voices", though the appellation was more commonly bestowed on Mel Blanc.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rankin/Bass Animated Entertainment</span> Former production company known mainly for animated holiday specials

Rankin/Bass Animated Entertainment 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' 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.

<i>Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer</i> (TV special) 1964 television film

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer is a 1964 stop motion Christmas animated television special produced by Videocraft International, Ltd. and currently distributed by NBCUniversal Television Distribution. 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. Since 1972, the special has aired on CBS. The network unveiled a high-definition, digitally remastered version of the program in 2005, re-scanned frame-by-frame from the original 35 mm film elements.

<i>Twas the Night Before Christmas</i> (1974 TV special) American TV series or program

'Twas the Night Before Christmas is a 1974 animated Christmas television special produced by Rankin/Bass Productions which 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 where it aired annually until 1994, when The Family Channel took over its syndication rights. AMC took over syndication rights for the special in 2018.

Paul Coker Jr. was an American illustrator. He worked in many media, including Mad, character design for Rankin-Bass TV specials, greeting cards, and advertising.

<i>The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus</i> 1902 childrens book by L. Frank Baum

The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus is a 1902 children's book, written by L. Frank Baum and illustrated by Mary Cowles Clark.

<i>The Year Without a Santa Claus</i> 1974 stop-motion television special

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 of the same name. It is narrated by Shirley Booth and starring the voices of Mickey Rooney, Dick Shawn, and George S. Irving. It was originally broadcast on December 10, 1974, on ABC.

<i>Here Comes Peter Cottontail</i> 1971 film by Arthur Rankin, Jr. and Jules Bass

Here Comes Peter Cottontail is a 1971 Easter stop motion animated television special produced by Rankin/Bass Productions, currently distributed by Universal Television and based on the 1957 novel The Easter Bunny That Overslept by Priscilla and Otto Friedrich. The special is narrated by Danny Kaye and starring Casey Kasem, Vincent Price, Joan Gardner, and Paul Frees. The special also features Steve Nelson and Jack Rollins' Easter song "Here Comes Peter Cottontail".

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.

<i>Frostys Winter Wonderland</i> 1976 film directed by Arthur Rankin Jr. and Jules 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bob McFadden</span> American actor

Robert McFadden was an American singer, impressionist, and voice-over actor perhaps best known for his many contributions to animated cartoons.

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.

<i>Santa Claus Is Comin to Town</i> (TV special) 1970 television special

Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town is a 1970 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.

<i>Frosty the Snowman</i> (TV special) 1969 film directed by Jules Bass

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 has aired annually for the network's Christmas and holiday season every year since.

<i>Jack Frost</i> (TV special) 1979 Christmas television special by Jules Bass

Jack Frost is a 1979 Christmas, Winter, and Groundhog Day stop motion animated television special produced by Rankin/Bass Productions. It was 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.

<i>Pinocchios Christmas</i> TV series or program

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 was originally aired on ABC on December 3, 1980. It aired annually during the Christmas season on Freeform and as of 2018 airs on AMC.

<i>A Miser Brothers Christmas</i> American TV series or program

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.

J. R. R. Tolkien's novels The Hobbit (1937) and The Lord of the Rings (1954–55), set in Middle-earth, have been the subject of numerous motion picture adaptations, whether for film (cinema), television, or streaming. There were many early failed attempts to bring the fictional universe to life on screen, some even rejected by the author himself, who was skeptical of the prospects of an adaptation. While animated and live-action shorts were made in 1967 and 1971, the first commercial depiction of the book onscreen was in an animated TV special in 1977. In 1978 the first big screen adaptation of the fictional setting was introduced in the animated The Lord of the Rings.

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.

References

  1. ↑ "Return to Oz (1964) - Trailers, Reviews, Synopsis, Showtimes and Cast". AllMovie. Retrieved December 9, 2012.
  2. ↑ Burl Ives. "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (1964) - Trailers, Reviews, Synopsis, Showtimes and Cast". AllMovie. Retrieved December 9, 2012.
  3. ↑ "The Ballad of Smokey the Bear (1966) - Trailers, Reviews, Synopsis, Showtimes and Cast". AllMovie. November 24, 1966. Retrieved December 9, 2012.
  4. ↑ Cricket on the Hearth (1967) - Jules Bass, Arthur Rankin Jr. | Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related | AllMovie , retrieved December 16, 2021
  5. ↑ "Mouse on the Mayflower (1968) - Trailers, Reviews, Synopsis, Showtimes and Cast". AllMovie. Retrieved December 9, 2012.
  6. ↑ the Vienna Boys Choir. "The Little Drummer Boy (1968) - Trailers, Reviews, Synopsis, Showtimes and Cast". AllMovie. Retrieved December 9, 2012.
  7. ↑ Jimmy Durante. "Frosty the Snowman (1969) - Trailers, Reviews, Synopsis, Showtimes and Cast". AllMovie. Retrieved December 9, 2012.
  8. ↑ The Mad, Mad, Mad Comedians at IMDb OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
  9. ↑ "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town (1970) - Trailers, Reviews, Synopsis, Showtimes and Cast". AllMovie. Retrieved December 9, 2012.
  10. ↑ "Here Comes Peter Cottontail (1971) - Trailers, Reviews, Synopsis, Showtimes and Cast". AllMovie. Retrieved December 9, 2012.
  11. ↑ "The Emperor's New Clothes (1972) - Trailers, Reviews, Synopsis, Showtimes and Cast". AllMovie. February 21, 1972. Retrieved December 9, 2012.
  12. ↑ "Mad Mad Mad Monsters (1972) - Trailers, Reviews, Synopsis, Showtimes and Cast". AllMovie. Retrieved December 9, 2012.
  13. ↑ Willie Mays and the Say-Hey Kid (1972) - | Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related | AllMovie , retrieved December 16, 2021
  14. ↑ The Red Baron (TV) (1972) , retrieved December 16, 2021
  15. ↑ That Girl in Wonderland (TV) (1973) , retrieved December 16, 2021
  16. ↑ "'Twas the Night Before Christmas (1974) - Trailers, Reviews, Synopsis, Showtimes and Cast". AllMovie. Retrieved December 9, 2012.
  17. ↑ Jules Bass'. "The Year without a Santa Claus (1974) - Trailers, Reviews, Synopsis, Showtimes and Cast". AllMovie. Retrieved December 9, 2012.
  18. ↑ "The First Christmas (1975) - Trailers, Reviews, Synopsis, Showtimes and Cast". AllMovie. Retrieved December 9, 2012.
  19. ↑ "The First Easter Rabbit (1976)". AllMovie. Retrieved December 27, 2020.
  20. ↑ "Frosty's Winter Wonderland (1976) - Trailers, Reviews, Synopsis, Showtimes and Cast". AllMovie. Retrieved December 9, 2012.
  21. ↑ "Rudolph's Shiny New Year (1976)". AllMovie. Retrieved December 27, 2020.
  22. ↑ Zero Mostel. "The Little Drummer Boy: Book 2 (1976) - Trailers, Reviews, Synopsis, Showtimes and Cast". AllMovie. Retrieved December 9, 2012.
  23. ↑ "The Easter Bunny Is Coming to Town (1977) - Trailers, Reviews, Synopsis, Showtimes and Cast". AllMovie. Retrieved December 9, 2012.
  24. ↑ "The Hobbit (1978) - Trailers, Reviews, Synopsis, Showtimes and Cast". AllMovie. Retrieved December 9, 2012.
  25. ↑ "Nestor the Long-Eared Christmas Donkey (1977) - Trailers, Reviews, Synopsis, Showtimes and Cast". AllMovie. Retrieved December 9, 2012.
  26. ↑ "The Stingiest Man in Town (1978) - Trailers, Reviews, Synopsis, Showtimes and Cast". AllMovie. Retrieved December 9, 2012.
  27. ↑ "Jack Frost (1979) - Trailers, Reviews, Synopsis, Showtimes and Cast". AllMovie. Retrieved December 9, 2012.
  28. ↑ "The Return of the King (1980) - Trailers, Reviews, Synopsis, Showtimes and Cast". AllMovie. May 11, 1980. Retrieved December 9, 2012.
  29. ↑ "Pinocchio's Christmas (1980) - Trailers, Reviews, Synopsis, Showtimes and Cast". AllMovie. Retrieved December 9, 2012.
  30. ↑ "Leprechaun's Christmas Gold (1981) - Trailers, Reviews, Synopsis, Showtimes and Cast". AllMovie. Retrieved December 9, 2012.
  31. ↑ "The Flight of Dragons (1982) - Trailers, Reviews, Synopsis, Showtimes and Cast". AllMovie. Retrieved December 9, 2012.
  32. ↑ "Mutations: The Coneheads briefly starred in a Rankin-Bass cartoon series". The Dissolve. Retrieved December 16, 2021.
  33. ↑ L. Frank Baum. "The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus (1985) - Trailers, Reviews, Synopsis, Showtimes and Cast". AllMovie. Retrieved December 9, 2012.
  34. ↑ "The Wind in the Willows (1987) - Trailers, Reviews, Synopsis, Showtimes and Cast". AllMovie. July 5, 1987. Retrieved December 9, 2012.
  35. ↑ "The Enchanted World of Rankin-Bass News". www.rankinbass.com. Retrieved December 16, 2021.

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.