Arthur Rankin Jr.
One half of the celebrated animation production company Rankin/Bass, Arthur Rankin, Jr. produced and directed some of the longest-running, universally adored holiday animated specials, including "Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer" (NBC, 1964) and "Frosty the Snowman" (CBS, 1969), as well as "The Hobbit" (NBC, 1977) and weekly series like "ThunderCats" (syndicated, 1985-89). Rankin/Bass's stop-motion "Animagic" process imbued their efforts with a level of wonder and technical finesse that was underscored by the charm and genuine warmth of their stories, which often surpassed the fabricated emotions of bigger-budgeted studio and network efforts. Rankin/Bass produced an enormous array of animated projects between 1964 and 1987, as well as several live-action features and TV films, though none of these were held in the same regard as their holiday specials, which became an essential part of the season itself through yearly screenings, generation after generation. Arthur Rankin, Jr.'s best work with Jules Bass was not unlike the holiday itself: magical, moving and altogether memorable.
Filmography
Movies
Credit | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
13% |
|
The King and I | Producer | $12.0M | 1999 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Mumm-Ra Lives | Executive Producer | - | 1987 |
No Score Yet |
|
Wind in the Willows |
Director, Producer |
- | 1987 |
63% |
|
The Life & Adventures of Santa Claus |
Director, Producer |
- | 1985 |
No Score Yet |
|
The Flight of Dragons | Director | - | 1982 |
75% |
|
The Last Unicorn |
Director, Producer |
- | 1982 |
No Score Yet |
|
The Bushido Blade | Producer | - | 1981 |
No Score Yet |
|
The Leprechauns' Christmas Gold |
Director, Producer |
- | 1981 |
20% |
|
Pinocchio's Christmas |
Director, Producer |
- | 1980 |
67% |
|
The Return of the King | Director | - | 1980 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Ivory Ape | Producer | - | 1980 |
14% |
|
Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July | Director | - | 1979 |
57% |
|
Jack Frost |
Director, Producer |
- | 1979 |
100% |
|
The Stingiest Man in Town |
Director, Producer |
- | 1978 |
No Score Yet |
|
The Bermuda Depths | Producer | - | 1978 |
71% |
|
The Hobbit |
Director, Producer, Production Design |
- | 1977 |
No Score Yet |
|
The Last Dinosaur | Producer | - | 1977 |
56% |
|
Nestor, the Long-Eared Christmas Donkey | Director | - | 1977 |
50% |
|
Rudolph's Shiny New Year |
Director, Producer |
- | 1976 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Little Drummer Boy: Book II | Director | - | 1976 |
No Score Yet |
|
Frosty's Winter Wonderland |
Director, Producer |
- | 1976 |
No Score Yet |
|
The First Easter Rabbit |
Director, Producer |
- | 1976 |
No Score Yet |
|
The First Christmas: The First Christmas Snow |
Director, Producer |
- | 1975 |
90% |
|
The Year Without a Santa Claus | Director | - | 1974 |
71% |
|
'Twas the Night Before Christmas |
Director, Producer |
- | 1974 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Marco | Producer | - | 1973 |
No Score Yet |
|
Here Comes Peter Cottontail |
Director, Producer |
- | 1971 |
93% |
|
Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town |
Director, Producer |
- | 1970 |
73% |
|
Frosty the Snowman | Director | - | 1969 |
75% |
|
The Little Drummer Boy | Director | - | 1968 |
63% |
|
King Kong Escapes | Producer | - | 1968 |
67% |
|
Mad Monster Party? |
Writer, Producer |
- | 1967 |
No Score Yet |
|
Cricket on the Hearth |
Director, Screenwriter, Producer |
- | 1967 |
No Score Yet |
|
The Daydreamer |
Screenwriter, Producer |
- | 1966 |
No Score Yet |
|
Willy McBean and His Magic Machine |
Director, Screenwriter, Producer |
- | 1965 |
95% |
|
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer | Producer | - | 1964 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Return to Oz | Producer | - | 1964 |
TV
Credit | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The New Saturday Superstar Movie | Director | 1972 |