HAPPY HOLIDAYS FROM EYE LIKEY

 (A Tiny look behind the scenes*)
RANKIN AND BASS
A homage to the 2 guys and talented crew of artists, writers and actors that brought these classics to life.  



The company was founded by Arthur Rankin,  Jr. and Jules Bass in the early-1960s under the name Videocraft International. 


RANKIN & BASS
circa 1960






RANKIN & BASS
circa 1974 BABY!


60's AD









Sam The Snowman


BURL IVES
Voice of The Snowman
and Singer / Narrator of the show










BILLIE MAE RICHARDS
voice of Rudolph 



Hermy the elf 


PAUL SOLES
Voice of Hermy the elf.





Johnny Marks 
1909-1985
American songwriter
WRITER OF " RUDOLPH THE RED-NOSED REINDEER"
Although he was Jewish, he specialized in Christmas songs and wrote many holiday standards, including "Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer" , "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree"  , "A Holly Jolly Christmas" , "Silver and Gold" and "Run Rudolph Run" (recorded by Chuck Berry).




Head Elf


CARL BANAS
Voice of Head Elf





 Arthur Rankin Jr.

Animator at work

 

 The voice cast for Rudolph at RCA Victor Studios in Toronto in 1964 (l-r): Bernard Cowan (recording supervisor and miscellaneous voices),  Arthur Rankin,  Jr. (producer),  Paul Kligman (Donner),  Paul Soles (Hermey),  Corinne Conley (Mrs. Claus),  Alfie Scopp (Charlie-in-the-box),  Larry D. Mann (Yukon Cornelius),  Billie Mae Richards (Rudolph)


Maury Laws 
served as musical director for the Rankin/Bass holiday specials.


Charlie in the Box



ALFIE SCOPP 
Voice of  Charlie in the Box



Masaki Iizuka
Animator









SANTA BEFORE RESTORATION

here are very few left in existence The materials used were flexible and sprayed down with a type of flock to avoid reflection for filming purposes. The Spray had some acidity to it and eventually would cause the figure(s) to deteriorate over time. Some do still exist in private collections







Clarice




JANIS ORENSTEIN
Voice of Clarice
 (Sorry, portrait unavailable)













The Original RUDOLPH Being Restored


RUDOLPH TODAY



Yukon before they changed to his classic blue jacket





LARRY D. MANN

Voice of Yukon Cornelius

 

















Frosty the Snowman 
is a 1969 Rankin/Bass Christmas Special, telling the story of how a snowman was brought to life by a magic top hat. Frosty the Snowman is unusual among the Rankin/Bass œuvre in that it features hand-drawn animation (Courtesy of Mushi Productions), instead of R/B's usual "Animagic" Stop Motion puppet process. The script is by Rankin/Bass' favorite writer, Romeo Muller, and as usual, is built around a classic holiday tune (although technically, the original song doesn't actually mention Christmas at all), though the usual additional original songs by Maury Laws and Jules Bass are conspicuously missing. It is notable that in the audio album version of this special, June Foray voices Karen, and indeed all the children's parts, whereas the televised version uses the voices of actual (uncredited) children.





In 1969, the Rankin-Bass company produced a thirty-minute animated television special of Frosty the Snowman that featured the voices of comedians Jimmy Durante as narrator and Jackie Vernon as the title character.


JIMMY DURANTE

Voice behind the narrator 






JACKIE VERNON
Voice of Frosty






Professor Hinkle



BILLY DE WOLFE
voice of Professor Hinkle






The Mailman


  Fred Astaire 
Voice of Mailman







  Fred Astaire, 
Was one of the grestest dancers of all time 






MICKEY ROONEY
1920-2014
Voice of SANTA
ROONEY was an iconic American actor of film, television, Broadway, radio, and vaudeville. Beginning as a child actor, his career extended over 80 years, making him one of the most enduring performers in show business history. 











TONTA KRINGLE

 JOAN GARDNER
Voice of Tona Kringle








PAUL FREES
Voice of Burger Meister





The Winter Warlock


KEENAN WYNN
Voice of the Winter Warlock AKA. WINTER


















Mrs. Clause



SHIRLEY BOOTH
Voice of Mrs Clause 
& Narrator of the show




GEORGE S. IRVING
Voice of Heat Miser











 

DICK SHAWN
Voice of Snow Miser











___________________________________________

you just saw the brilliant works of 
THE AMAZING ARTISTS AND ANIMATORS WHO WORKED ON THE VARIOUS FILMS 


Paul Coker Jr.  
Steve Nakagawa  
Osamu Dezaki  
Sadao Miyamoto  
Akio Sugino  
Don Duga  
Kizo Nagashima  
Takeo Nakamura
Ichiro Komuro
Tadahito Mochinaga
Hiroshi Tabata



ABOUT RANKIN AND BASS :

AUTHUR RANKIN Jr. 
1924-2014 

Rankin began his career as an art director for the American Broadcasting Company in the 1940s.[3] In 1955, he and Jules Bass formed the production company Videocraft International to produce television commercials.[1] In 1960, they moved into the area of animation, and changed the name of their company to Rankin/Bass Productions.[1][3] The two worked closely together for many years, co-directing and producing a wide array of stop motion animated features and cartoons, which Rankin had referred to as "Animagic".[1] In addition to directing, Rankin primarily created the script and sketched the character concepts, which would be made into the wooden puppets by Japanese artists.[1] Maury Laws, a musical director for Rankin/Bass, stated that Rankin was inspired by the film King Kong, and that Rankin "wanted every detail right" in creating these shorts.[1] Some of the most famous features were the holiday-themed TV specials,[3]such as Willy Mcbean and his Magic Machine, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Santa Claus is Comin' to Town, Rudolph's Shiny New Year, The Year Without a Santa Claus, Frosty the Snowman, Twas the Night Before Christmas, and Jack Frost.


JULES BASS 
b 1935

Bass was born in Philadelphia. Educated at New York University, he first worked at an advertising agency in New York until the early 1960s, when he founded the film production company Videocraft International (now called Rankin/Bass) with Arthur Rankin, Jr. He is best known for his collaborations with Arthur Rankin, Jr., co-directing and producing a wide array of stop motion animated features and cartoons.[2] He composed the score for some of these films, collaborating with Maury Laws. Bass also served as lyricist for several songs.  AUTHUR RANKIN Jr. Rankin began his career as an art director for the American Broadcasting Company in the 1940s.[3] In 1955, he and Jules Bass formed the production company Videocraft International to produce television commercials.[1] In 1960, they moved into the area of animation, and changed the name of their company to Rankin/Bass Productions.[1][3] The two worked closely together for many years, co-directing and producing a wide array of stop motion animated features and cartoons, which Rankin had referred to as "Animagic".[1] In addition to directing, Rankin primarily created the script and sketched the character concepts, which would be made into the wooden puppets by Japanese artists.[1] Maury Laws, a musical director for Rankin/Bass, stated that Rankin was inspired by the film King Kong, and that Rankin "wanted every detail right" in creating these shorts.[1] Some of the most famous features were the holiday-themed TV specials,[3]such as Willy Mcbean and his Magic Machine, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Santa Claus is Comin' to Town, Rudolph's Shiny New Year, The Year Without a Santa Claus, Frosty the Snowman, Twas the Night Before Christmas, and Jack Frost.  
___________________________



Videocraft produced programs themed for the Christmas holidays during the 1960s. Many of their specials,  like Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer,  were based on popular Christmas songs. In 1968,  Greer Garson's dramatic narration carried through The Little Drummer Boy,  set during the birth of the baby Jesus. Also in 1968,  Videocraft became Rankin/Bass Productions and adopted a new logo,  although they retained a Videocraft byline in the new closing logo credit until 1971., The following year (1969),  Jimmy Durante sang and told the story of Frosty the Snowman,  with Jackie Vernon voicing the title character - a snowman magically brought to life., 1970 brought another famous Christmas special,  Santa Claus is Comin' to Town. Rankin/Bass was able to enlist Fred Astaire as narrator S. D. (Special Delivery) Kluger,  a mailman answering the many questions about Santa Claus which told his origin. The story revolved around a young Kris Kringle (voiced by Mickey Rooney) and the Burgermeister Meisterburger. Kringle later marries the town's schoolteacher,  Miss Jessica., In 1974,  Rankin/Bass produced yet another popular Christmas special,  The Year Without a Santa Claus,  based on Phyllis McGinley's 1956 book of the same name. Two supporting characters created specifically for the special,  Snow Miser and Heat Miser,  are unusual fictional characters in the annals of television; Beginning with Burl Ives as Sam the Snowman in the 1964 production of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer,  the Rankin/Bass Christmas specials became known for their list of well-known star-powered narration and quirky hosting characters.