Arthur Rankin, Jr.
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.
The Hobbit
(Director)
The Hobbit
(Production Design)
The Return of the King
(Production Design)
The Return of the King
(Director)
The Hobbit
(Producer)
The Last Unicorn
(Producer)
The Last Unicorn
(Director)
Rudolph's Shiny New Year
(Director)
The Easter Bunny Is Comin' to Town
(Director)
The Flight of Dragons
(Director)
Frosty's Winter Wonderland
(Director)
Frosty's Winter Wonderland
(Producer)
Jack Frost
(Director)
Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July
(Producer)
Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July
(Director)
Frosty the Snowman
(Director)
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
(Producer)
The Year Without a Santa Claus
(Director)
Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town
(Director)
The First Easter Rabbit
(Director)
The Life & Adventures of Santa Claus
(Director)
The Last Dinosaur
(Producer)
The Mad, Mad, Mad Monsters
(Producer)
The Bermuda Depths
(Story)
Marco
(Producer)
The Daydreamer
(Producer)
The Daydreamer
(Writer)
Willy McBean and His Magic Machine
(Director)
Here Comes Peter Cottontail
(Director)
Here Comes Peter Cottontail
(Producer)
Pinocchio's Christmas
(Director)
The First Christmas: The Story of the First Christmas Snow
(Director)
The Little Drummer Boy
(Producer)
'Twas the Night Before Christmas
(Director)
Nestor, the Long-Eared Christmas Donkey
(Director)
The Wind in the Willows
(Director)
The Leprechauns' Christmas Gold
(Director)
The Little Drummer Boy
(Director)
The Mouse on the Mayflower
(Director)
The Stingiest Man in Town
(Director)
The Mouse on the Mayflower
(Producer)
Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town
(Producer)
The Flight of Dragons
(Producer)
Jack O'Lantern
(Director)
The Leprechauns' Christmas Gold
(Producer)
The Year Without a Santa Claus
(Producer)
The Wacky World of Mother Goose
(Producer)
The Wind in the Willows
(Producer)
The Ivory Ape
(Producer)
The Little Drummer Boy Book II
(Producer)
Frosty the Snowman
(Producer)
The Bushido Blade
(Producer)
The Ivory Ape
(Story)
The Ivory Ape
(Executive Producer)
The King and I
(Adaptation)
The King and I
(Producer)
The Little Drummer Boy Book II
(Director)
The First Christmas: The Story of the First Christmas Snow
(Producer)
Santa, Baby!
(Executive Producer)
Pinocchio's Christmas
(Producer)
The Bermuda Depths
(Producer)
Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July
(Production Design)
The Coneheads
(Producer)
Jack Frost
(Producer)
Cricket on the Hearth
(Writer)
Cricket on the Hearth
(Director)
The Stingiest Man in Town
(Producer)
Ballad of Smokey the Bear
(Producer)
Mad Monster Party?
(Producer)
Mad Monster Party?
(Story)
The Red Baron
(Producer)
A Christmas Tree
(Director)
The Last Unicorn
(Production Design)
Nestor, the Long-Eared Christmas Donkey
(Producer)
The Coneheads
(Director)
That Girl in Wonderland
(Director)
Willy McBean and His Magic Machine
(Producer)
Willy McBean and His Magic Machine
(Writer)
Hans Christian Andersen's The Emperor's New Clothes
(Producer)
Hans Christian Andersen's The Emperor's New Clothes
(Director)
The Easter Bunny Is Comin' to Town
(Producer)
The Mad, Mad, Mad Comedians
(Director)
Rudolph's Shiny New Year
(Producer)
The Wacky World of Mother Goose
(Story)
The Red Baron
(Director)
The Mad, Mad, Mad Monsters
(Director)
The Sins of Dorian Gray
(Executive Producer)
Return to Oz
(Producer)
Willie Mays and the Say-Hey Kid
(Director)
Willie Mays and the Say-Hey Kid
(Producer)
The Life & Adventures of Santa Claus
(Producer)
The First Easter Rabbit
(Producer)
'Twas the Night Before Christmas
(Producer)
The Rudolph, Frosty & Friends Sing Along
(Director)
King Kong Escapes
(Technical Advisor)
King Kong Escapes
(Executive Producer)
ThunderCats
(Producer)
SilverHawks
(Producer)
ThunderCats
(Producer)
ThunderCats
(Executive Producer)
ThunderCats
(Archival Footage Coordinator)
Tomfoolery
(Producer)
Tomfoolery
(Director)
Hobbit
(Director)
TigerSharks
(Executive Producer)
The Jackson 5ive
(Producer)
The Jackson 5ive
(Director)
The Osmonds
(Producer)
The Osmonds
(Director)
The King Kong Show
(Executive Producer)
The New Adventures of Pinocchio
(Creator)
The Jackson 5ive
(Creator)
Festival of Family Classics
(Creator)
Rankin/Bass Animated
(Creator)