Animation companies: Rankin/Bass - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

waichingliu81 · 04-15-2008, 01:48 PM

The company origins

The company was founded by Arthur Rankin, Jr. and Jules Bass in the early-1960s as Videocraft International. One of Videocraft's first projects was an independently produced series based on the character Pinocchio. It was done using "Animagic", a stop motion animation process using figurines (a process already pioneered by George Pal's "Puppetoons" and Art Clokey's Gumby and Davey and Goliath). This was followed by another independently produced series using more traditional cel animation and based on already established characters, Tales of the Wizard of Oz in 1961.

Throughout the decade of the 1960s, Videocraft produced other stop motion and traditional animation specials and films, some of which were non-holiday stories. For example, 1965 produced Rankin/Bass's first theatrical film, Willy McBean and his Magic Machine, the first of four films produced in association with Joseph E. Levine's Embassy Pictures. 1966 brought to life The Ballad of Smokey the Bear (narrated by James Cagney), the story of the famous forest fire-fighting animal seen in numerous public service announcements.

In 1972 and 1973, Rankin/Bass produced four animated TV-movies for The ABC Saturday Superstar Movie: The Mad, Mad, Mad Monsters, Willie Mays and the Say-Hey Kid, The Red Baron, and That Girl in Wonderland.

In 1977, Rankin/Bass produced an animated version of J. R. R. Tolkien's The Hobbit. It was followed in 1980 by an animated version of The Return of the King, the final volume of Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. (The animation rights to the first two volumes were held by Saul Zaentz, producer of Ralph Bakshi's animated adaptation The Lord of the Rings.) Other books adapted include The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle and Peter Dickens' "The Flight of Dragons".

In the 1970s, Rankin-Bass' Saturday-morning output included animated adventures of The Jackson 5ive (TV series)(Co-Produced with Motown Productions) and The Osmonds).

Rankin/Bass also produced the popular cartoon series, ThunderCats (1985), a cartoon and related toy-line about battling cat-like people in a post-apocalyptic future. It was followed by two similar cartoons about animal-like people, Silverhawks (1986), and Tigersharks (as part of the series The Comic Strip in 1987) which never enjoyed the same commercial success.

Rankin/Bass also attempted live-action productions, such as 1967's sequel King Kong Escapes, the 1976 telefilm The Last Dinosaur, and the 1978 made-for-TV movie The Bermuda Depths.

In addition to the 'name' talent that provided the narration for the specials, Rankin/Bass had its own company of voice actors. For the studio's early work, this group was based in Toronto, Ontario, where recording was supervised by veteran CBC announcer Bernard Cowan. This group included actors such as Paul Soles, Larry D. Mann, and Paul Kligman....Outside of the holiday specials, Larry Kenney had been with Rankin/Bass for years, doing characters on ThunderCats (notably as Lion-O) and SilverHawks.

Many of Rankin/Bass' traditionally cel-animated works were animated by the Japanese studio Top Craft, which was formed in 1972 as an offshoot of the legendary studio Toei Animation.

After its last output in 1987 the Rankin/Bass production company became dormant, and for many years to come, no new holiday or non-holiday specials or theatrical films were produced. Arthur Rankin Jr. split his time between New York City, where the company still has its offices, and his summer retreat in Bermuda; similarly, Jules Bass commuted between New York and Paris.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rankin_Bass

comedyfreak · 04-16-2008, 08:18 AM

My favorite Rankin/Bass production is Santa Claus Is Coming To Town.

tv star collector · 04-16-2008, 08:21 AM

For further reading about Rankin/Bass, I highly recommend Rick Goldschmidt's
book, The Enchanted World of Rankin/Bass. It's out-of-print, but well
worth searching for. Lots of info and profusely illustrated in color and black &
white.

waichingliu81 · 04-16-2008, 03:47 PM

here are two of rankin/bass's most notable hits

catlover79 · 04-16-2008, 03:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by comedyfreak

My favorite Rankin/Bass production is Santa Claus Is Coming To Town.

Mine is Rudolph.

waichingliu81 · 04-16-2008, 03:50 PM

god, i loved thundercats as a child. even though it was more of a boys cartoon, i thought it was really cool and i also loved the character designs as well. in fact, i preferred thundercats over he-man, and i still do to this day

rperegrine75 · 04-16-2008, 04:07 PM

I did not know that Rankin/Bass put out Thundercats and Silverhawks, They were great shows.

waichingliu81 · 04-16-2008, 04:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rperegrine75

I did not know that Rankin/Bass put out Thundercats and Silverhawks, They were great shows.

neither did i until i read a couple of months ago. btw, if you listen to the theme songs of those shows, you'll notice, if you can hear it really clearly they use the same set of singers in each of them. and yeah, i'm with you in saying they were great cartoons

04-15-2008, 01:48 PM	#1
waichingliu81 debbie allen Forum 4000 Club Member Join Date: Dec 28, 2006 Location: london, england, UK Posts: 4,347	Animation companies: Rankin/Bass The company origins The company was founded by Arthur Rankin, Jr. and Jules Bass in the early-1960s as Videocraft International. One of Videocraft's first projects was an independently produced series based on the character Pinocchio. It was done using "Animagic", a stop motion animation process using figurines (a process already pioneered by George Pal's "Puppetoons" and Art Clokey's Gumby and Davey and Goliath). This was followed by another independently produced series using more traditional cel animation and based on already established characters, Tales of the Wizard of Oz in 1961. Throughout the decade of the 1960s, Videocraft produced other stop motion and traditional animation specials and films, some of which were non-holiday stories. For example, 1965 produced Rankin/Bass's first theatrical film, Willy McBean and his Magic Machine, the first of four films produced in association with Joseph E. Levine's Embassy Pictures. 1966 brought to life The Ballad of Smokey the Bear (narrated by James Cagney), the story of the famous forest fire-fighting animal seen in numerous public service announcements. In 1972 and 1973, Rankin/Bass produced four animated TV-movies for The ABC Saturday Superstar Movie: The Mad, Mad, Mad Monsters, Willie Mays and the Say-Hey Kid, The Red Baron, and That Girl in Wonderland. In 1977, Rankin/Bass produced an animated version of J. R. R. Tolkien's The Hobbit. It was followed in 1980 by an animated version of The Return of the King, the final volume of Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. (The animation rights to the first two volumes were held by Saul Zaentz, producer of Ralph Bakshi's animated adaptation The Lord of the Rings.) Other books adapted include The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle and Peter Dickens' "The Flight of Dragons". In the 1970s, Rankin-Bass' Saturday-morning output included animated adventures of The Jackson 5ive (TV series)(Co-Produced with Motown Productions) and The Osmonds). Rankin/Bass also produced the popular cartoon series, ThunderCats (1985), a cartoon and related toy-line about battling cat-like people in a post-apocalyptic future. It was followed by two similar cartoons about animal-like people, Silverhawks (1986), and Tigersharks (as part of the series The Comic Strip in 1987) which never enjoyed the same commercial success. Rankin/Bass also attempted live-action productions, such as 1967's sequel King Kong Escapes, the 1976 telefilm The Last Dinosaur, and the 1978 made-for-TV movie The Bermuda Depths. In addition to the 'name' talent that provided the narration for the specials, Rankin/Bass had its own company of voice actors. For the studio's early work, this group was based in Toronto, Ontario, where recording was supervised by veteran CBC announcer Bernard Cowan. This group included actors such as Paul Soles, Larry D. Mann, and Paul Kligman....Outside of the holiday specials, Larry Kenney had been with Rankin/Bass for years, doing characters on ThunderCats (notably as Lion-O) and SilverHawks. Many of Rankin/Bass' traditionally cel-animated works were animated by the Japanese studio Top Craft, which was formed in 1972 as an offshoot of the legendary studio Toei Animation. After its last output in 1987 the Rankin/Bass production company became dormant, and for many years to come, no new holiday or non-holiday specials or theatrical films were produced. Arthur Rankin Jr. split his time between New York City, where the company still has its offices, and his summer retreat in Bermuda; similarly, Jules Bass commuted between New York and Paris. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rankin_Bass

04-16-2008, 08:18 AM	#2
comedyfreak Cheers! Forum Fanatic Join Date: Dec 14, 2005 Location: Sunny California Posts: 11,061	My favorite Rankin/Bass production is Santa Claus Is Coming To Town.
	__________________ www.facebook.com/comedyfreak

04-16-2008, 03:47 PM	#4
waichingliu81 debbie allen Forum 4000 Club Member Join Date: Dec 28, 2006 Location: london, england, UK Posts: 4,347	thundercats and silver hawks here are two of rankin/bass's most notable hits Attached Images

04-16-2008, 08:21 AM	#3
tv star collector I Love Susie Forum 4000 Club Member Join Date: Oct 18, 2005 Location: South Carolina Posts: 4,487	For further reading about Rankin/Bass, I highly recommend Rick Goldschmidt's book, The Enchanted World of Rankin/Bass. It's out-of-print, but well worth searching for. Lots of info and profusely illustrated in color and black & white.

04-16-2008, 03:50 PM	#6
waichingliu81 debbie allen Forum 4000 Club Member Join Date: Dec 28, 2006 Location: london, england, UK Posts: 4,347	god, i loved thundercats as a child. even though it was more of a boys cartoon, i thought it was really cool and i also loved the character designs as well. in fact, i preferred thundercats over he-man, and i still do to this day

04-16-2008, 04:07 PM	#7
rperegrine75 Member Occasional Poster Join Date: Apr 10, 2008 Location: Houston Posts: 57	I did not know that Rankin/Bass put out Thundercats and Silverhawks, They were great shows.