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Photo of Arthur Rankin, Jr.

Arthur Rankin, Jr.

Producer, Director, Writer, Actor, Additional Credits
Born July 19, 1924Died January 30, 2014 (89 years)
Arthur Rankin, Jr. (July 19, 1924 - January 30, 2014) was an American-born, Bermudian director, producer and writer, mostly working in animation.

The son of actor Arthur Rankin, in the early 1960s he founded the film production company Videocraft International (now called Rankin/Bass) with Jules Bass. The two worked closely together for many years, co-directing and producing a wide array of stop motion animated features and cartoons, perhaps most famously the holiday-themed TV specials, such as 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 (1974 TV special), and Jack Frost. He is also credited with devising the story for many Rankin/Bass productions, including the featurefilms The Daydreamer and Mad Monster Party?.

In 1977 Rankin and Bass produced a version of J. R. R. Tolkien's The Hobbit. The pair also teamed on a wide variety of animated TV series, including ThunderCats and Silverhawks. The pair last teamed on the 1987 TV special based on The Wind in the Willows. Rankin's last producing credit was on the 1999 animated version of The King and I, in which Bass was not involved, since Arthur was a supervising animator in The Fox and the Hound and The Black Cauldron.

Rankin's grandfather was Harry Davenport, perhaps best known as Dr. Meade in Gone with the Wind (1939).

Description above from the Wikipedia article Arthur Rankin, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Movies & Shows on Plex

  • The Last Unicorn
  • The King and I
  • The Last Dinosaur
  • The First Christmas: The Story of the First Christmas Snow

Known For

  • Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
  • The Last Unicorn
  • Frosty the Snowman
  • ThunderCats
  • Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town
  • The Year Without a Santa Claus
  • The Hobbit
  • ThunderCats (2011)
  • Jack Frost
  • Rudolph's Shiny New Year
  • 'Twas the Night Before Christmas
  • Frosty's Winter Wonderland
  • Mad Monster Party?
  • The Little Drummer Boy
  • The Flight of Dragons
  • The Return of the King
  • The Life & Adventures of Santa Claus
  • Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July
  • Nestor, the Long-Eared Christmas Donkey
  • SilverHawks
  • King Kong Escapes
  • The King and I
  • The Little Drummer Boy Book II
  • The Easter Bunny Is Comin' to Town

Filmography

2011
ThunderCats (2011) (TV Series)
2001
Santa, Baby! · as Executive Producer
1999
1987
TigerSharks (TV Series) · as Executive Producer
1987
The Comic Strip (TV Series) · as Executive Producer
1986
SilverHawks (TV Series)
1985
1985
ThunderCats (TV Series)
1983
1983
1983
The Sins of Dorian Gray · as Executive Producer
1982
1982
1981
1981
1980
1980
1980
1979
1979
1978
1978
1977
1977
1977
1977
The Last Dinosaur · as Executive Producer
1976
1976
1976
1976
1975
1974
1974
1973
1972
1972
1972
1972
1972
The Osmonds (TV Series)
1972
1971
Jackson 5ive (TV Series)
1971
1970
1970
1970
1970
1969
1969
1968
1968
1967
1967
1967
1967
King Kong Escapes · as Executive Producer
1966
1966
The King Kong Show (TV Series) · as Executive Producer
1966
1965
1964
1964
1961
1960

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