Arthur Rankin Jr.

Directing·Jul 19, 1924·New York City, New York, USA

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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.

Film	Credit
The Rudolph, Frosty & Friends Sing Along2024 · Director	Director
SilverHawks: The Origin Story1986 · Director	Director
The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus1985 · Director, Producer	Director, Producer
The Wind in the Willows1983 · Director, Producer	Director, Producer
The Coneheads1983 · Producer, Director	Producer, Director
The Last Unicorn1982 · Director, Producer	Director, Producer
The Flight of Dragons1982 · Director, Producer	Director, Producer
The Leprechauns' Christmas Gold1981 · Director, Producer	Director, Producer
Pinocchio's Christmas1980 · Director, Producer	Director, Producer
The Return of the King1980 · Director	Director
Jack Frost1979 · Director, Producer	Director, Producer
Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July1979 · Director, Producer	Director, Producer
The Stingiest Man in Town1978 · Director, Producer	Director, Producer
Nestor, the Long-Eared Christmas Donkey1977 · Director, Producer	Director, Producer
The Hobbit1977 · Director, Producer	Director, Producer
The Easter Bunny Is Comin' to Town1977 · Director, Producer	Director, Producer
The Little Drummer Boy: Book II1976 · Producer, Director	Producer, Director
Rudolph's Shiny New Year1976 · Director, Producer	Director, Producer
Frosty's Winter Wonderland1976 · Director, Producer	Director, Producer
The First Easter Rabbit1976 · Director, Producer	Director, Producer
The First Christmas: The Story of the First Christmas Snow1975 · Director, Producer	Director, Producer
The Year Without a Santa Claus1974 · Director, Producer	Director, Producer
'Twas the Night Before Christmas1974 · Director, Producer	Director, Producer
Festival of Family Classics: Alice in Wonderland1973 · Director	Director
That Girl in Wonderland1973 · Director	Director
A Christmas Tree1972 · Director	Director
The Red Baron1972 · Producer, Director	Producer, Director
Jack O'Lantern1972 · Director, Producer	Director, Producer
Willie Mays and the Say-Hey Kid1972 · Director, Producer	Director, Producer
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea1972 · Producer, Director	Producer, Director
The Mad, Mad, Mad Monsters1972 · Producer, Director	Producer, Director
The Emperor's New Clothes1972 · Director, Producer	Director, Producer
Here Comes Peter Cottontail1971 · Director, Producer	Director, Producer
Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town1970 · Director, Producer	Director, Producer
The Mad, Mad, Mad Comedians1970 · Director	Director
Frosty the Snowman1969 · Director, Producer	Director, Producer
The Little Drummer Boy1968 · Director, Producer	Director, Producer
The Mouse on the Mayflower1968 · Director, Producer	Director, Producer
Cricket on the Hearth1967 · Writer, Director	Writer, Director
Willy McBean & His Magic Machine1965 · Director, Writer, Producer	Director, Writer, Producer